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HARTINGTON — The Hartington Newcastle Lady Wildcat basketball team dropped a two-overtime thriller to Neligh-Oakdale in Hartington Dec. 19 after disposing of Wakefield the night before in Wakefield, 50-21.
The Lady Wildcats welcomed Neligh-Oakdale to Hartington for a Greater Northeast Activities Conference tilt with the Lady Warriors and it took two extra sessions before a winner was named.
Unfortunately for Hartington-Newcastle, it was Neligh Oakdale that came away with a 48-47 win to record the Lady Warrior’s first win of the season.
The game was close throughout as neither team led by more than a point at the end of every rest stop.
Neligh-Oakdale led 12-11 at the end of one but HNS tied it up at the intermission. Both teams scored 20 points in the second half and six in the first overtime.
The Lady Warriors gained the advantage back in the second extra fourminute period and took the game by the one-point final.
Vayda Lippert, who finished the pre-Holiday schedule on fire, splashed in 25 points on the evening and completed a double-double by grabbing 12 rebounds.
Ella Eickhoff chipped in with 13 points and Karissa Bruning added eight.
Bruning led the Lady Wildcats with 16 rebounds, Nora Lange handed out three assists and Bruning, Eickhoff and Kloe Fischer recorded three steals each.
Hartington-Newcastle led by a dozen at the end of the opening eight minutes against the Lady Trojans, 17-5, then added five points to the lead at the halftime break.
The Lady ‘Cats put the game completely out of reach in the third, adding 15 points to the lead, then coasted to the final score.
Lippert had another hot night with 28 points including a 7-for-8 performance from the charity stripe.
Eickhoff added 11 and Bruning tacked on 10. Lange and Fischer dished out three assists each and Lippert recorded seven steals.
The Lady Wildcats will ring in the New Year at Randolph on Jan. 2, head to Atkinson to take on West Holt on Jan. 3 then travel to take on currently unbeaten Bloomfield on Jan. 6.
N-O (1-5) 12 4 6 14 6 6 - 48 H-N ( 2-5) 11 5 6 14 6 5 - 47 HNS: Vayda Lippert 11-23 2-4 25; Nora Lange 0-5 0-0 0; Karissa Bruning 2-8 4-8 8; Kloe Fischer 0-2 1-4 1; Ella Eickhoff 4-17 3-4 13. Wakefield 5 7 2 7 - 21 HNS 17 12 17 4 - 50 HNS: Lippert 10-23 7-8 28; Lange 0-1 0-3 0; Bruning 5-10 0-0 10; Hadley Grutsch 0-2 0-0 0; Katelyn Uldrich 0-1 0-0 0; Fischer 0-1 1-2 1; Eickhoff 4-10 3-5 11; Ziva Stratman 0-2 0-0 0.
