The quarterfinals of the Mid Nebraska Activities Conference girls basketball tournament were played Monday night. Top seed Sandhills/Thedford collected its 9th win of the season defeating Arthur County 41-21 to advance to Thursday’s semifinal round. The Knights had a balanced offensive attack led by Tenley Rasmussen who finished with a team high 9 points. Sandhills/Thedford will play Twin Loup in the semifinals. Twin Loup edged Mullen 41-35 outscoring Mullen 12-7 in the final quarter to pick up the win. Twin Loup was led by Kathryn Folkers who had a team high 13 points. Whitney Jennings of Mullen led all scorers with a game high 17 points. Twin Loup improves to 10-5 on the season. On the other side of the bracket, South Loup collected its ninth win of the season with an impressive 45-16 win over Hyannis. South Loup was led by Taylor Ross who finished with a game high 15 points. South Loup will face Sandhills Valley in the semifinals. Sandhills Valley, the #7 seed in the tournament, upset #2 seed Anselmo-Merna in a thriller 50-47. AM trailed by ten entering the fourth quarter but fought back to regain the lead. Down the stretch it was Sandhills Valley who found a way to claim the win hitting clutch free throws in the final minute. The free throw line was a big storyline in the game as Sandhills Valley finished 17 of 20 from the line and Anselmo-Merna was 19 of 27. Abigale Nicholson finished with 22 points for Sandhills Valley and was 11 of 12 from the free throw line including a perfect 6 for 6 in the fourth quarter. Shaylyn Safranek equaled that point total also finishing with 22 points to lead the Lady Coyotes. The MNAC girls semifinals will take place Thursday at North Platte Community College.
The MNAC boys quarterfinals take place Tuesday. Games will be played at Arnold and Mullen. In Arnold, Sandhills/Thedford plays Cody Kilgore at 5:30 central followed by top seed South Loup vs Arthur County. Games from Arnold will be broadcast on KBBN 95.3 FM and kbbn.com. A live video stream of the games, accompanied by the radio call, will be available on the Sandhills Express Facebook page and You Tube channel. On the other side of the bracket, games will be played in Mullen beginning with Hyannis vs Sandhills Valley at 5:30 followed by the #2 seed Mullen facing Brady. Winners of Tuesday’s games will advance to the semifinal round on Thursday.
