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HARTINGTON — Just after getting through the Nebraska School Activities Association’s mandated moratorium at the end of 2023, Old Man Winter imposed his own moratorium in the second week of 2024.
As the “old Fella” brought a pile of snow, a lot of wind and some less than chilly temperatures, I’ve spent the past 10 days sitting around the house (in my case, driving my Wife crazy) watching whatever sports I can find and... good grief, did you know they have a professional kick ball league, a professional wiffle ball league and a three-way soccer league?
At any rate, with the lack of actual sporting events to attend, my mind started wandering and I thought this would be the appropriate time to judge where all of our teams are in their respective seasons.
The high school basketball teams were heading into the meat of their schedules as conference tournaments will get underway later this month while wrestling is heading into the highlight of its season with districts set for Feb. 9 and 10 and the Nebraska State Individual Championships set for Feb. 15 -17 at the CHI Health Center in Omaha.
Hartington-Newcastle, Cedar Catholic and Wynot have enjoyed success on the hardwood thus far this season and look to finish strong down the stretch as the season resumes (hopefully) soon.
The Wildcat boys have struggled to score this season, but seem to have a propensity to play some tough defense.
“I feel we have played some great basketball at times and lost some games we should have won,” HNS coach Tylor Fincher said. “I still think we have the potential to surprise a lot of people as the season progresses.”
The Wildcats are sitting at 3-8 after a couple of tough losses recently to Bloomfield, 48-42 on Jan. 2 and Winside by a bucket on Jan. 5.
“I’m really surprised we have only three wins thus far,” Fincher said. “I thought we would have a winning record at this point of the season.”
If the weather cooperates, Hartington-Newcastle will look to improve its record as it sets it sights on the upcoming Lewis & Clark Conference Tournament and a shot in the Class D2 sub-district and district tournaments Feb. 20 and Feb. 22.
The Wildcats have upcoming games scheduled with Niobrara/Verdigre on Jan. 18 and Plainview on Jan. 23 in Hartington sandwiched around a road date with Crofton on Jan. 19.
The conference tournament is scheduled for Jan. 27 through Feb. 5. “I think the lessons we have learned so far this season will help us in some tight games as we continue through this season,” Fincher said.
The Lady Wildcats are sitting at 8-4 thus far this season and have won seven of their last eight games, with the lone loss coming to Stanton in the finals of the Stanton Holiday Tournament.
“That was a close game the entire way,” HNS coach Grant Rolfes said. “Free throws got us at the end, but we were right there.”
If the Lady ‘Cats are wondering where they are at as a team, the next few games should tell them exactly where they stand.
A scheduled game with currently 10-3 Niobrara/Verdigre on Jan. 18 at home will be followed the next night on the road at Class C2 No. 1 Crofton before another tough home contest with currently 8-4 Plainview.
“That’s tough to come against these caliber of teams with just one practice in the last 10 days, but you can’t control the weather,” Rolfes said. “We’ll have to rely on our experience and hopefully we can still be ready to play and compete with this tough stretch. We’ll certainly be tested.”
For the conference tournament, Hartington-Newcastle is currently in the “top” bracket of the tournament where the top eight seeds will play.
“Hopefully we can stay up there,” Rolfes said. “It was one of our goals at the beginning of the season.”
The Lady Wildcats won the Clark Division title last season, but will be looking to compete in the Lewis Division this season.
“I know I’m ready to get back to school and in the gym with the team again,” Rolfes said. “The team we have now has been a fun team to coach and I am looking forward to what should be a tough but fun second half of the season.”
The Cedar Catholic Trojans are rated No. 4 in the most recent Omaha World Herald Class C2 basketball poll.
Cedar Catholic is 8-3 on the season as it heads into the meat of its schedule.
“We were tested with some early battles,” Cedar Catholic coach, Nick Haselhorst said. “which has allowed us to develop an understanding where our strengths and weaknesses lie.”
The Trojans have made the finals of the two tournaments they’ve played in so far.
“We have been fortunate enough to be in the finals of the two holiday tournaments we played in,” said Haselhorst. “While we did not come out victorious in those games, we learned valuable lessons in each of them. The experiences we gained will make us a stronger team in the second half of the season.
“Our kids know the margin between a loss and a win is often very minimal and we are a few details away from being victorious in each of those games.”
The Trojans are set to take on Wayne Jan. 19, the team that gave them their last loss in the finals of the Great Northeast Nebraska Shootout finals back on Dec. 30, 49-39.
Cedar Catholic will take on Guardian Angels Central Catholic the following night before a match up with currently unbeaten Ponca in Ponca on Jan. 23.
“It’s well known we returned just one starter from last year’s team, but the guys that were next in line have made an instant impact,” the coach said. “They’ve done an excellent job of stepping into their roles and have contributed greatly to the success of our team.”
The Mid-State Conference Tournament opens Jan. 27 and goes through Feb. 3 and a date with 10-1 Elkhorn Valley is set for Feb. 6 in the Msgr. Werner Activities Center.
With continued improvement and effort, the Trojans should be a factor in the conference tournament and own wins over a couple of C-1 teams, Boone Central (8-4) and O’Neill (7-4) and two wins over 9-3 Laurel-Concord-Coleridge (9-3).
“They guys are competitive and they are always ready for the next challenge,” Haselhorst said. “Ultimately, we want to be playing our best basketball of the season by the time the conference tournament begins and continue to improve throughout February into March.
“All of the goals our team set out to accomplish this season are still attainable for us. If we apply the lessons we’ve learned in the first half of the season, we will have an opportunity to achieve all of our goals.”
The Lady Trojans have won four of their last five games and three in a row since dropping a semifinals match up with unbeaten Pender in the Northeast Shootout Dec. 29.
They are set to take on Wayne on Jan. 19 before hosting Guardian Angels Central Catholic (12-1) on Jan. 20.
“I feel we have come a long way from the start of the season,” Cedar Catholic coach, Craig Wortmann said. “The girls are working well together now after the Christmas break.”
The Lady Trojans have had a balanced scoring attack thus far this season, a fact Wortmann is happy to see.
“I feel the balanced scoring has been a real blessing,” the coach said. “We have had different girls as high scorers, this makes it hard to prepare to play us.”
Cedar Catholic is heading into the heart of its schedule with a 6-7 record. “We have most of our Mid State games coming up so this will be a real test to see if we can make some noise in the post season,” said Wortmann. “If we can continue to play well together and push the ball in transition, we should have a good chance. I am just hoping we can put together some wins to build confidence for the rest of the season.”
The biggest surprise of the winter season has been the Cedar Catholic wrestling program.
Well, perhaps a surprise to everyone except the Trojans. “We have a great group of kids who truly push each other in practice,” Cedar Catholic coach Justin Bartling said. “We had four returning state qualifiers and a great group of freshmen who have lots of experience on both the state and national levels so they came in prepared for high school.”
The Trojans have plenty to crow about. Braeden Kleinschmit is looking to become only the third wrestler in school history to get to 100 wins as he sits at 94 and is currently 20-1 in his junior campaign.
Freshman, Easton Hochstein is 25-0 and his brother Bodie is 20-1. Sophomore, Maverick Heine is 23-1 and classmate, Brady Hochstein is 21-3. Senior, Kale Korth is 23-3.
The Monsignor Werner Activities Center will be the site of the Mid-State Conference Tournament on Jan. 20.
“Top to bottom, our conference is one of the best in the state,” Bartling said. “It should be a great event.”
Cedar Catholic also has a couple of girls making some noise on the mats. Morgan Kuchta (135 pounds) and Madison Kuchta (190) are both coming off second-place outings in the Winside Invitational and sport 7-5 and 8-4 records respectively.
The Trojans are scheduled to wrestle in the C-2 District Meet at Boone Central High School in Albion on Feb. 10 with the state tournament set for Feb. 15-17 in Omaha.
