.jpg)
HARTINGTON - The Hartington- Newcastle Wildcats dropped a GNAC game to Elkhorn Valley on Jan. 8 after winning a game over Bloomfield earlier in the week to settle at 6-5 on the season.
In the loss to the Falcons, 67-54, the Wildcats fell behind early then battled back.
“It was a tough loss against a good opponent,” said HNS coach Tylor Fincher. “We struggled to guard a couple of their guys but after getting down early in the game we fought back and even took the lead in the third quarter.”
The ‘Cats got down 20-9 by the end of the first eight minutes but responded to get within 29-25 by the halftime buzzer.
Hartington-Newcastle took the lead briefly in the third period but the Falcons recovered to take a 4941 lead into the final stanza.
The Wildcats were outscored 18-13 in the final frame to fall by the 67-54 final.
Austin Sudbeck led the Wildcat offense with 21 points on the night, Mason Krause tossed in 14.
Sudbeck also pulled down seven rebounds, Carter Kelly had six. Sudbeck also recorded five assists and had three blocked shots.
Hartington-Newcastle hit the road to get a win over Bloomfield on Jan. 6, 53-43.
The ‘Cats fell behind 18-7 in the first frame, then spent the next couple of quarters coming back.
HNS outscored the Bees 33-18 in the second and third stanzas to head into the final period with a 40-36 lead.
A 13-7 advantage in the final eight minutes finished the game with a win for the Wildcats.
Sudbeck, Will Feilmeier and Krause paced a balanced HNS offense with 11 points each.
Kelly tacked on eight, Colton Cavanaugh contributed five and Keatyn Arens tossed in four.
Maximus McCray had one 3-pointer to complete the Wildcats’ point total.
Kelly had 10 boards and Krause just missed a double-double with nine rebounds.
EV (7-4) 20 9 20 18 - 67 H-N (6-5) 9 16 16 13 - 54 HNS: Carter Kelly 1-8 2-4 4; Austin Sudbeck 8-20 2-4 21; Will Feilmeier 1-2 2-2 4; Keatyn Arens 1-3 0-0 3; Mason Krause 6-10 2-4 14; Maximus McCray 0-4 2-2 2; Colton Cavanaugh 3-5 0-2 6. H-N (6-5) 7 12 21 13 - 53 BLO (3-8) 18 9 9 7 - 43 HARTINGTON-NEWCASTLE: Kelly 4-12 0-0 8; Sudbeck 5-16 0-2 11; Feilmeier 3-7 5-8 11; Arens 2-3 0-0 4; Krause 4-8 3-6 11; McCray 1-3 0-0 3; Cavanaugh 2-6 1-3 5.
