The North Central Thunder varsity girls faced a pair of difficult opponents last weekend. First off they would host Strasburg/Zeeland on Friday in Eureka. dropping a relatively narrow 43-36 decision. Thursday in Hoven they would come up on the short end of an 61-36 outcome vs. Potter County.

Against S/Z they would trail 16-10 after a quarter and would then shave that to a five-point deficit at intermission, 21-16.

The hosts then maintained their deficit to five points this time at 34-29 with a quarter to play.

Some reasons might be Addison Wagner with 24 points and five additional S/Z players would enter their scorebook that evening.

Meanwhile, Amree Vander Vorst would answer with a game high 26 points with six treys. But futher NC scoring would taper off to six points from Alaina Dosch with her six points on two treys. And Katelyn Engelhart and Sydney Bertsch each scored two points for the Thunder.

The Thunder totaled 11 floor shots including their treys and were 6-10 in free throw tries. The visitors ended up with 13 accurate baskets that featured two treys and were 15-17 in free throws.

NC grabbed 27 rebounds led by Bertsch with six boards. The visitors would counter with 27 rebounds led by Wagner's 10 for an impressive double-double. The Thunder had 18 turnovers and S/Z 20 miscues.

Versus Potter County the hosts would lead 20-10 after a quarter and 28-24 at halftime. They then led 50-26 with a quarter to play.

The Battlers were led by Kayden Cronin with 15 points, followed by Olivia Mickelsen and Danika Kaup with nine points each. Six more hosts would score at least one point.

The Thunder countered with 15 points from Vander Vorst including three treys. Ella Batie and Dosch each contributed seven points and Dosch included one trey. Lindsey Geier, Engelhart and Kaidence Bulgin each added two points followed by Bertsch with her free throw.

The Thunder had 14 baskets that featured their treys and added a 4-9 free throw effort. The Battlers totaled 24 baskets with two treys and were 9-17 in their free throws.

The Battlers employed a 33-23 rebounding lead paced by 10 from Mickelsen. Engelhart had four for the Thunder. The Thunder had 29 turnovers; the Battlers 18.

The NC girls and boys hosted Aberdeen Christian on Tuesday in Bowdle.