Championship Saturday is set for the MNAC girls and boys basketball tournament. The MNAC semifinals were played on Thursday at the Indian gym in Broken Bow. The boys semifinals were played first. In the first of the boys semis, #2 seed Sandhills/Thedford got past Twin Loup 53-39. Twin Loup fell behind early but battled back in the 2nd quarter to get to within 25-21 but S/T scored the final five points of the first half to make the score 30-21 at the half. The Knights would extend the lead in the 2nd half on their way to a 53-39 victory. Sandhills/Thedford had three players finish in double figures led by Brady Dahlberg who had a team high 16. Kyle Cox had 15 points and Aydyn Hall 13 for the Knights. Twin Loup was led by Quincy Ryker who led all scorers with 23 points. Sandhills/Thedford will face top seed South Loup for the boys championship. South Loup got by Sandhills Valley 55-33. South Loup led 31-19 at the half but outscored the Mavericks 17-5 in the third quarter to pull away and secure the win. South Loup was led by Trey Connell who had a game high 23 points. Cache Gracey finished in double figures with 17 for the Bobcats. Sandhills Valley was led by Cooper Layher who had a team high 11 points.
The MNAC girls championship game will feature top seed Sandhills/Thedford against #2 seed Brady. The Brady Lady Eagles squeaked by the #3 seed Arthur County 32-30. Brady led for the majority of the game but Arthur County never lost touch as the game stayed close throughout. Arthur County had the ball late with a chance to tie but the shot would not fall and Brady held on to advance. It was a balanced scoring attack for Brady led by Payton Stienike who had team high nine points. Lydia McGown had eight points and Keaton Fattig had seven for the victorious Eagles. Arthur County was led by Jaedin Johns who had a game high 17 points. Top seed Sandhills/Thedford held on in their semifinal against Anselmo-Merna. The Lady Knights jumped out quickly and led 35-13 at the half but AM fought back in the 2nd half and got to within 12 in the 4th quarter but the first half deficit was too much to overcome as the Lady Knights picked up the victory 55-37. S/T was led by Dayle Haake who had a game high 25 points and Lily Thornton was the leading scorer for Anselmo-Merna with a team high 11.
Here is the schedule for MNAC championship Saturday at Broken Bow high school.
2:30 – Boys 3rd place consolation – Twin Loup vs Sandhills Valley
4 p.m. – Girls 3rd place consolation – Anselmo-Merna vs Arthur County
5:30 – Boys Championship – South Loup vs Sandhills/Thedford
7 p.m. – Girls Championship – Sandhills/Thedford vs Brady
All four games on championship Saturday will be broadcast on KBBN 95.3 FM and kbbn.com. A live video stream of all games, accompanied by the radio call, will also be available through sandhillsexpress.com on the Sandhills Express You Tube channel and Sandhills Express Facebook page.
