.jpg)
HARTINGTON — Hartington-Newcastle faced a stiff test on the road Dec. 12, running into an unbeaten St. Mary’s team in O’Neill after opening the season with a home win over Boyd County three days earlier.
The Cardinals remained perfect on the season, pulling away late for an 83-57 win over the Wildcats.
Hartington-Newcastle stayed within striking distance through the first half, trailing 21-18 after one quarter and 43-36 at halftime. St. Mary’s nudged the margin up by three in the third quarter, then put the game away with a decisive 24-8 advantage in the final period.
Will Feilmeier led the Wildcats with 15 points, while Austin Sudbeck added 11. Carter Kelly and Colton Cavanaugh chipped in 10 points apiece.
Kelly and Mason Krause each grabbed nine rebounds for Hartington-Newcastle. Sudbeck pulled down seven boards and handed out nine assists.
Earlier in the week, the Wildcats earned their first win of the 2025-26 season, rallying past Boyd County for a 62-54 victory at home on Dec. 9.
Boyd County jumped out early, but Hartington-Newcastle responded over the final three quarters to turn the tide.
Sudbeck delivered a standout performance, scoring 27 points on 2-for-3 shooting from beyond the arc and a 7-for-8 effort at the free-throw line. Cavanaugh finished with 12 points, and Kelly recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Krause added eight rebounds, and Feilmeier dished out four assists.
Hartington-Newcastle has a busy week before the stop for the Holiday break.
The Cats were set to travel to Niobrara/ Verdigre on Dec. 16 before heading to Wakefield on Dec. 18 and returning home to host Neligh-Oakdale on Dec. 19.
Hartington-Newcastle (1-3) 18 18 13 8 — 57 St. Mary’s (5-0) 22 21 16 24 — 83 HARTINGTON-NEWCASTLE: Carter Kelly 3-7 2-4 10; Austin Sudbeck 5-18 0-0 11; Will Feilmeier 6-11 2-3 15; Dylan Heikes 0-1 0-0 0; Mason Krause 3-9 2-3 8; Maximus McCray 1-2 0-0 2; Lincoln Grutsch 0-1 1-2 1; Colton Cavanaugh 5-9 0-0 10. Totals: 23-58 7-12 57. Boyd County (2-2) 17 12 9 16 — 54 Hartington-Newcastle (1-3) 9 16 15 22 — 62 HARTINGTON-NEWCASTLE: Kelly 3-8 5-9 11; Sudbeck 9-15 7-8 27; Feilmeier 0-2 0-0 0; Krause 3-7 1-6 7; McCray 1-1 0-0 2; Grutsch 0-1 3-6 3; Colton Cavanaugh 5-7 1-2 12.
HARTINGTON — The Hartington-Newcastle Lady Wildcats picked up their first win of the 2025-26 season Dec. 9, topping Boyd County 39-21 in front of the home crowd.
Hartington-Newcastle built a doubledigit lead in the first half and extended it in the third quarter, leaning on defense and transition offense to pull away.
“It was good to see us come out with a lot of energy and compete early, especially on the defensive side,” said HNS coach Grant Rolfes. “We forced turnovers and let that carry over into our offense.”
The Lady Wildcats forced 37 turnovers in the contest. Vayda Lippert led the offensive effort with 20 points, while Karissa Bruning added nine. Nora Lange scored six and Ella Eickhoff finished with four.
Bruning grabbed 14 rebounds and handed out three assists, while six different Lady Wildcats recorded at least one steal.
Later in the week, Hartington-Newcastle traveled to O’Neill and dropped a 53-32 decision to St. Mary’s on Dec. 12.
The Lady Wildcats stayed within reach through three quarters before St. Mary’s pulled away with a 16-4 advantage in the final period.
“Somewhat a tale of two halves,” Rolfes said. “We defended well in the first half but couldn’t get some good shots to fall. We came out a little flat in the second half, couldn’t get stops and couldn’t keep pace offensively.”
Lippert paced Hartington-Newcastle with 14 points, while Lange added six. Bruning scored five, Eickhoff had four and Ziva Stratman chipped in three.
Bruning pulled down nine rebounds, with Lippert and Lange adding five boards apiece.
Hartington-Newcastle was set to travel to Niobrara/Verdigre on Dec. 16 and Wakefield on Dec. 18 before closing the pre-holiday schedule at home against Neligh-Oakdale on Dec. 19.
Hartington-Newcastle (1-3) 7 11 10 4 — 32 St. Mary’s (1-4) 9 14 14 16 — 53 HARTINGTON-NEWCASTLE: Vayda Lippert 6-25 2-4 14; Nora Lange 3-12 0-0 6; Karissa Bruning 1-5 3-3 5; Kloe Fischer 0-1 0-0 0; Ella Eickhoff 2-7 0-0 4; Ziva Stratman 1-2 0-0 3. BC (0-4) 6 4 5 6 - 21 H-N (1-3) 10 11 11 7 - 39 HARTINGTON-NEWCASTLE: Lippert 9-29 1-3 20; Lange 3-9 0-2 6; Bruning 4-10 1-2 9; Hadley Grutsch 0-2 0-0 0; Fischer 0-3 0-0 0; Eickhoff 2-9 0-0 4; Stratman 0-3 0-0 0.
