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WYNOT — In their final regularseason game of 2023-24, the Wynot Lady Blue Devils hosted the Hartington- Newcastle Lady Wildcats Friday.
It took all four quarters for this one to be decided as the Lady Wildcats came prepared to do battle with the basketball.
“This was a very good game from start to finish,” Wynot coach Steve Wieseler said. “Both teams led at some points and neither team really ever pulled away. Both teams competed at a high level of effort.”
Wynot was able to find its offense in the second half and escaped with the 48-41 win. Kinslee Heimes had a big game for the Lady Blue Devils, hitting a trio of three-pointers on her way to 20 points. Myrah Sudbeck helped the home team’s cause with a 10-point effort.
Hartington-Newcastle’s McKenzie Bruning tied for high scorer with 20 points as well and had a double-double with 10 rebounds.
Maddie Steffen had a solid game contributing 12 points to the Wildcats’ offense.
The two teams traded baskets in the opening quarter. Wynot got six points from Kinslee Heimes and Myrah Sudbeck hit a bucket to led the Lady Blue Devils.
Hartington-Newcastle got five points from Maddie Steffen, four points by Olivia Grutsch and a basket by McKenzie Bruning as the Lady Wildcats clung to a slim 11-9 firstquarter lead.
Defense dominated the second quarter as offense was hard to find. Wynot got a three-pointer by Myrah Sudbeck and a bucket by Allison Wieseler. Hartington-Newcastle did a little better with four points from McKenzie Bruning and a bucket by Maddie Steffen that led the Lady Wildcats on an 8-5 run to build a 1914 lead at halftime.
McKenzie Bruning scored all 10 of the Lady Wildcats’ third-quarter points with some hard work on the inside.
The Lady Blue Devils started to find some rhythm on offense, fueled by nine points from Kinslee Heimes, four points by Kenna Oligmueller and a basket plus-one by Myrah Sudbeck as they took the lead 32-29 going into the final period of play.
The Lady Wildcats tried and rallied with five points by Maddie Steffen and a pair of baskets in the paint by McKenzie Bruning to cut Wynot’s lead to three points with just under three minutes to play.
A trey by Kinslee Heimes, four points by Kayla Pinkelman and an offensive put-back by Kenna Oligmueller helped the Lady Blue Devils keep pace with the visitors. Wynot hit 7-of-8 free throws to preserve the win.
Wynot 9 5 18 16 — 48 H-N 11 8 10 16 — 41 SCORING
Wynot - Kinslee Heimes, 20; Myrah Sudbeck, 10; Kenna Oligmueller, 7; Kayla Pinkelman, 6; Allison Wieseler, 2; Annika Heimes, 2; Jaylin Geisen, 1. Hartington-Newcastle McKenzie Bruning, 20; Maddie Steffen, 12; Olivia Grutsch, 6; Mani Lange, 3.
