The quest to make it to an eighth consecutive State tournament for Coach Jon Thomas and his guys started with Marysville in the first round of Sub-State action and despite some solid three-point shooting from the Bulldogs the Thunder sounded with the 66-54 victory.

Marysville struck first in the contest with a three-pointer by Chase Green, but Nemaha Central countered with a 7-0 run resulting in a Bulldog timeout. The timeout didn't stop the Thunder's run as they continued to stymie Marysville and take advantage of their post advantage, feeding the ball inside and led 20-9 after the first quarter. Nemaha Central headed into halftime with the 29-17 lead and added to that with a 22-17 third period, going on to earn the 66-54 win.

The Bulldogs kept themselves in the equation with their three-point shooting on the night going 13-34 from behind the arc, while only making five field goals inside the three-point line. Green led the Bulldogs, hitting five three's for 15 points, while Zach Pieschl posted 14 points, 12 of which came in the fourth quarter. The loss ends Marysville season at 6-15.

Nemaha Central with the win improved to 16-5 on the season and had an all-around performance with 10 different guys scoring on the night. Luke Holthaus led the Thunder attack posting 20 points, notching 13 of his 20 in the first half, while cleaning up inside the paint. Devin Henry joined Holthaus in the double figure category scoring 11 points.

The win pushes Nemaha Central to the Semifinals of the Class 3A Sub-State at Sabetha on Friday where they will face off with Maur Hill-Mount Academy who topped Hiawatha in their opening round game.