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HARTINGTON — Hartington-Newcastle took an 18-4 Wynot team to the wire Feb. before falling 44-41 at home after squeaking past Wausa Feb.7, 42-40, also at home.
A sluggish start hindered the Wildcats against the Blue Devils.
In fact, HNS didn’t score in the first eight minutes and trailed 22-14 at the half.
“It was a great game for us at this time of the season,” Hartington-Newcastle coach, Tylor Fincher said. “We fell short at the end but our slow start really gave us a mountain to climb.”
Fortunately, the Wildcat defense was up to the task and limited Wynot to just seven points in that opening first quarter.
Hartington-Newcastle did come back, but the Blue Devils kept the Wildcats at arms-length in the second half.
“It seemed like we would make a run at them,” Fincher said. “Then one of their guys would step up and hit a three.”
Wynot did can 10 long balls in the contest, six of them by Dylan Heine.
The Wildcats nibbled away at the advantage the entire second half, outscoring the Blue Devils 12 -11 in the third and 1511 in the final stanza, but just couldn’t get in front.
“Our free throws hurt us in this game,” coach Heimes said.
The Blue Devils ended the night a frigid 2-for-10 from the foul line.
Riley Sudbeck paced HNS with 13 points and 13 rebounds to record another doubledouble on his season.
Carsen Hopping added nine, Dayton Sudbeck had six while Cole Heimes and Turner Dendinger each chipped in five.
Dayton Sudbeck also led the Wildcats on the glass with 14 rebounds. Lane Heimes had three assists.
Against the Vikings, Hartington-Newcastle led 20-9 at the intermission then held on to come away with the win by a basket.
“This was a great win for us against a very good Wausa team,” Fincher said. “We have been battling a couple of injuries so it was great to see some other guys step up and make some big plays down the stretch.”
Hopping paced the Wildcats early in the game and Dendinger hit a couple of huge 3’s in the second half to keep the lead around 10 points.
Cole Heimes and Bailey Paden sealed the win in the final minutes with some huge free throws.
Hopping finished with 11 points on the night to lead the Wildcat offense.
Dayton Sudbeck added eight, Paden and Dendinger each tossed in six, Cole Heimes chipped in five while Lane Heimes, Ayden Rosener and Mason Buschkamp each contributed two. Dayton Sudbeck grabbed six boards and registered three steals.
The Wildcats will finish the regular season at home against Osmond-Randolph on Feb. 17 before getting set for the D1-4 SubDistrict Tournament Feb. 21 and 23. Bancroft-Rosalie, Howells-Dodge and Lyons-Decatur Northeast will join HNS in the SubDistrict.
Wynot 7 15 11 11—44 Hart-New. 0 14 12 15—41 Wynot Hart-New FG 16-42 15-46 3PT 10-28 5-17 FT 2-10 6-18 REb 20 33 TOs 10 20 SCORING
Hartington Newcastle- Riley Sudbeck, 13; Carson Hopping, 9; Dayton Sudbeck, 6; Turner Dendinger, 5; Cole Heimes, 5; Cole Rosener, 2; Lane Heimes, 1. Wynot - Dylan Heine, 18;, Killian Steinhaus, 9; Chase Schroeder, 7; Andrew Haberman, 5; Joseph Sudbeck, 2; Kotner Koch, 2. Koch 2.
REBOUNDS
Hartington Newcastle- Dayton Sudbeck, 14; Riley Sudbeck, 13. Wynot - Chase Schroeder, 8; Dylan Heine, 5.
