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HARTINGTON - The Hartington-Newcastle boys basketball team split a pair of games in the final week of the pre-moratorium schedule dropping a contest to Wakefield 69-52 on Dec. 18 on the road before taking care of Neligh-Oakdale in Hartington 57-44 on Dec. 19.
The Wildcats shook off a slow start against the Warriors trailing 16-8 after the opening eight minutes.
HNS got defensive in the middle quarters, holding Neligh-Oakdale to just seven points in the second and a single basket in the third while taking over the lead and the game.
“This was a great home win for us,” said Hartington-Newcastle coach Tylor Fincher. “”We got off to a bit of a slow start but really picked it up in the second half.”
Both teams got offensive in the final frame, but the ‘Cats had done enough work earlier to close out the game after outscoring the Warriors 21-19 in the quarter.
Austin Sudbeck led the Wildcats in scoring while posting his second consecutive double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Carter Kelly added 16 points and pulled down eight boards.
Mason Krause led HNS with 14 grabbed missed shots and had a thunderous dunk in the second half which ignited the ‘Cats and their fans.
Sudbeck also recorded six steals and dished out four assists.
In the loss to the Trojans, the teams played evenly in the first half with Wakefield clinging to a 30-29 lead heading into the halftime locker room.
The Trojans exploded for 25 points in the third period to extend the advantage to 14 points then held on for the 17-point win.
Sudbeck poured in 25 points on the night and grabbed 15 rebounds. Kelly added 10 points and seven boards while Krause tossed in eight and yanked down nine missed shots.
The ‘Cats will open 2026 on the road against Randolph Jan. 2, West Holt on Jan. 3 and at Bloomfield on Jan. 6.
N-O (1-5) 16 7 2 19 - 44 H-N (3-4) 8 15 13 21 - 57 HNS Carter Kelly 6-10 4-6 16; Austin Sudbeck 8-13 1-7 17; Will Feilmeier 0-6 2-2 2; Keatyn Arens 3-6 0-0 6; Dylan Heikes 0-0 0-2 0; Mason Krause 4-8 0-0 8; Maximus McCray 0-2 0-0 0; Colton Cavanaugh 3-4 0-0 8. WAK (6-2) 13 17 25 14 - 69 H-N (3-4) 9 20 12 11 - 52 HNS : Kelly 4-5 0-1 10; Sudbeck 12-27 0-3 25; Feilmeier 0-4 0-0 0; Arens 0-1 0-0 0; Krause 4-8 0-0 8; McCray 0-2 2-2 2; Lincoln Grutsch 1-4 0-0 2; Cavanaugh 2-4 0-0 5.
