Championship Saturday is set for the MNAC basketball tournament. In the opening game of Thursday’s semifinal round, South Loup advanced to the girls championship game with a 50-29 win over Sandhills Valley. South Loup jumped out to a 13-5 lead after the first quarter and never gave up the lead on their way to the win. The Lady Bobcats were led by Bryn Schwarz who had a team high 14 points and Ava Pandorf added 13. Sandhills Valley was led by Abigale Nicholson who had a game high 17. South Loup will face Twin Loup in the girls championship game. Twin Loup pulled away from Sandhills Thedford in the 2nd half for a 58-43 win. Twin Loup was led by Kathryn Folkers who had a game high 15 points. Dayle Haake led Sandhills Thedford with a team high 11.
The MNAC boys championship will feature South Loup vs Mullen. Mullen fell behind Hyannis early 2-0 then scored the next 11 points and never looked back on their way to an impressive 49-20 win as they handed Hyannis just their 3rd loss of the season. Clayton Moore led the Broncos with a game high 17 points. The top seed South Loup survived a tough test from Sandhills Thedford collecting a 40-34 win. Sandhills Thedford’s defense held South Loup well below their scoring average but the Bobcats were able to advance. Cache Gracey had 10 points for South Loup and Kyle Cox had 12 points for Sandhills Thedford.
The schedule for Saturday is as follows
Girls 3rd place game – Sandhills Valley vs Sandhills Thedford
Boys 3rd place game – Sandhills Thedford vs Hyannis
Girls championship – South Loup vs Twin Loup
Boys championship – South Loup vs Mullen
Games will begin at 2:30 from North Platte Community College. All games will be broadcast on KBBN 95.3 FM with a live video stream of all games available on the Sandhills Express Facebook page and You Tube channel.
