Cedar boys feature a new coach, a new team

HARTINGTON — The Cedar Catholic Trojans welcomed in a new head coach when the first basketball practices began this year.

Although new to the first chair this season for the Trojans, Nick Haselhorst is not new to Hartington or Cedar Catholic. He sat on the bench for recently retired head man, Matt Steffen, who retired at the end of the 2022-23 campaign.

In addition, Cedar Catholic will be looking to replace seven quality seniors from last year’s team that went 23-5 and made it to the semifinals of the C2 Nebraska State Basketball Tournament before hauling a third-place trophy back to Hartington.

Haselhorst was a 2004 graduate from high school just down the road in Randolph and went on to earn his degree at Wayne State College. He spent 11 years as the head coach across the street at Hartington-Newcastle before joining the Trojans last season as an assistant coach for Steffen.

Despite returning just one starter from last year’s squad, Haselhorst likes what remains in the stable for this season.

“We started four seniors and one sophomore and we lost seven guys who will be hard to replace,” the coach said. “We feel we have some young kids who have been preparing and are ready to step up and play key roles for this year’s team.”

Nolan Becker returns as the lone starter coming back from his sophomore campaign.

He’s experienced and he’s a scorer,” Haselhorst said.

Five returning letter winners return to fill in the gaps and help develop the team.

One senior, three juniors and a sophomore come back to make their marks in Trojan basketball.

Ty Thoene returns for his senior season and was described as being a “reliable defender,” by his coach; Jaymison Cattau, a 6-foot-4-inch guard/shooter returns for his junior season; Jacob Steffen returns inside as a rebounding, strong presence; Braeden Reifenrath is back to assist inside and outside and Mason Baller returns after seeing action last season as a freshman.

Haslehorst will look to a couple of seniors and five sophomores to add depth and develop chemistry as the new season unfolds. Cousins Alex Kuehn and Sam Kuehn will look to contribute in their final season as Trojans, along with the five sophomores; Aaron Wortmann, Kighter Wortmann, Breiton Whitmire, Jared Rutar and Booker Hochstein should also find time on the court in 2023-24.

“We will need to develop a rotation and team chemistry,” said Haselhorst. “We have size and athleticism throughout our team.”

The schedule will be daunting, as usual for Cedar Catholic. The annual trip through the Mid State Conference and non-league games with the likes of Omaha Roncalli, Dakota Valley (SD) and Wynot. All three returning state tournament teams in their respective states and classes.

Throw in the Great Northeast Nebraska Shootout in Wayne, the Knight Classic in Fremont and the Mid-State Conference Tournament and the Trojans will be highly tested by the time the Subdistrict and District season arrives in February.

The coach named Amherst, Freeman, Yutan and Elkhorn Valley as some of the top teams in Class C2 in addition to his own squad.

He regarded Boone Central, Norfolk Catholic, Pierce and Wayne as the upper crust of the conference, again, along with Cedar Catholic.

“We expect to be highly competitive and have a good chance to win each game we play,” said Haselhorst. “Our season will hinge on our ability to dictate tempo with smart decision making, rebounding and execution on both ends of the floor.”