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HARTINGTON — Frigid starts hindered Hartington-Newcastle in recent games as the Wildcats dropped a pair of games over the past week at Laurel-Concord-Coleridge 51-26 in Lewis & Clark Conference action and 45-41 to Crofton in non-league play at home.
On Jan. 20, Hartington-Newcastle fell behind 15-6 in the first quarter to the Warriors and 12-5 on Jan. 17 in Laurel.
Against Crofton, the Wildcats battled back the rest of the game but couldn’t quite overcome the first-quarter deficit.
HNS trimmed the lead to 27-19 at the half 31-26 after three frames.
The Wildcats put up a game-high 15 points in the final eight minutes but it wasn’t enough as they fell by the 45-41 final.
Riley Sudbeck led the Hartington- Newcastle offense with 12 points on the night while Turner Dendinger tossed in 10.
Bailey Paden added eight, Dayton Sudbeck tacked on five and Carsen Hopping and Lane Heimes each had three.
Riley Sudbeck completed a double- double by grabbing 12 rebounds, Dayton Sudbeck hit the glass for six caroms.
Against the Bears, Hartington- Newcastle trailed by seven at the first rest stop and by 10 at the half.
“LCC out-sized us at nearly every position,” HNS coach Tylor Fincher said. “We worked hard and moved the ball pretty well, but we just didn’t make many shots.”
Riley Sudbeck got things going from the tip with the first five points of the ball game.
He hit a long ball to put the Wildcats up 3-0 then scored on an in-bounds play to make it 5-0 with just under two minutes gone in the first.
Unfortunately, Hartington-Newcastle wouldn’t score again in the period and the Bears went on a 12-0 run to end the frame.
With 6:53 left before the half, Dendinger converted a couple of foul shots then Riley Sudbeck scored on another in-bounds play to make it 12-9.
After a couple of LCC buckets, Dayton Sudbeck scored to make it 17-11 and Riley made a great move inside to make it 21-12 a couple of minutes later.
Trailing 23-13, Dayton Sudbeck scored off an offensive rebound and Riley splashed a long ball just inside the 3-point line to make it 23-17, but again, the Wildcats went cold over the last two minutes of the half and the Bears secured the double-digit lead at the intermission.
LCC hit a 3 to open the third before Dendinger made a beautiful pass to Riley Sudbeck for a bucket, but the Bears started widening the gap and led 45-21 before a Riley Sudbeck heave at the buzzer rattled in to make it 45-24.
Riley Sudbeck again paced the offense with 18 points, Dayton added four.
In the rebounding column, Riley Sudbeck grabbed seven, Hopping pulled down five.
Hartington-Newcastle was set to travel to Plainview for a conference contest with the Pirates on Jan. 24 before taking on Winnebago in Hartington Jan. 26.
The Lewis & Clark Conference Tournament is set to tip off Jan. 30 and run through Feb. 6 with the finals set for Wayne State College.
HNS 5 12 7 2 — 26 LCC 1215 18 6 — 51
SCORING
HNS - Riley Sudbeck, 18; Dayton Sudbeck, 4; Cole Heimes, 2; Turner Dendinger, 2. LCC - Jake Rath, 20; Tyler Olson, 9; Gibson Roberts, 8; Carter Kvols, 8; Dylan Taylor, 6.
REBOUNDS
HNS - Riley Sudbeck,7; Carsen Hopping, 5; Dayton Sudbeck, 4; Brayden Lammers, 4; Turner Dendinger, 3; Mason Buschkamp, 2; Lane Heimes, 1; Bailey Paden, 1. LCC Jake Rath, 13; Carter Kvols, 5; Tyler Olson, 4; LandonLeonard,3;GibsonRoberts,3;Bradyn Urwiler, 2; Dylan Taylor, 1; Kolby Hansen, 1.
ASSISTS
HNS - Dayton Sudbeck, 3; Turner Dendinger, 2; Carsen Hopping, 1. LCC - Jake Rath, 1; Bradyn Urwiler, 1.
STEALS
HNS - Carsen Hopping, 4; Lane Heimes, 2; Dayton Sudbeck, 1; A Evens, 1; Riley Sudbeck, 1. LCC - Gibson Roberts, 4; DylanTaylor, 2; Carter Kvols, 2; Tyler Olson, 1. HNS 6 13 7 15— 41 Crofton 15 12 4 14 — 45 SCORING
HNS - Riley Sudbeck, 12; Turner Dendinger, 10; Bailey Paden, 8; Dayton Sudbeck, 5; Lane Heimes, 3; Carsen Hopping, 3.
REBOUNDS
HNS - Riley Sudbeck, 12; Dayton Sudbeck, 6; Lane Heimes, 3; Carsen Hopping, 2; Cole Heimes, 2; Turner Dendinger, 2; Cole Rosener, 1; Bailey Paden, 1; Mason Buschkamp, 1.
