Lady Wildcats pick up post-season honors

HARTINGTON — The top girls basketball players in Nebraska and in the Lewis & Clark Conference  were announced recently.

Hartington-Newcastle senior Abbe Morten earned All State Honorable Mention status from the Omaha World Herald. She also earned First Team All Conference honors from Lewis and Clark Conference coaches. She was joined on the All Conference squad by junior Kayden Jueden.

HNS freshman Alivia Morten also made the All Conference Honorable Mention team.

Abbe Morten wrapped up her final year as a Lady Wildcat with averages of 19 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists a night, while Jueden laid down nine points and nine rebounds nightly along with three steals and two assists.

“Abbe really did a great job leading the team throughout the year with being our only senior,” Hartington-Newcastle head coach Josh Morten said. “Abbe is an all-around great player who started for three years. She was the nucleus of the team and when she was playing well, for the most part, the team was playing well. She led us in scoring assists and steals on the season. With those stats you can tell she was very valuable to us.”

Coach Morten said it was fun to watch Jueden progress and gain more confidence with each game.

“Kayden came a long way throughout the season. She really came into her own in the later games having some games where she scored in the high teens,” Coach Morten said. “She was a workhorse inside to get rebounds, and she was probably one of our best defenders. Looking at her stats, she nearly averaged a double-double per game which tells a lot about what kind of player she is.”

Alivia Morten scored seven points a night and hauled in three rebounds an outing.

“Alivia also grew in leaps and bounds throughout the season,” coach Morten said. “She progressively got better and was able to prove she was a valuable player on the court. In a few games, when her sister Abbe was sidelined with injury or foul trouble, she really stepped up and was able to get some solid scoring done. She ended up starting every game as a freshman and played the role of our point guard which was huge.”

Laurel-Concord-Coleridge sophomore Kinsey Hall was the Lady Bears’ top selection as a first-team East Division choice while senior teammates Makayla Forsberg and Delaney Ehlers were honorable mention choices.

Hall went for 13.6 ppg, 7.9 rpg and 2.4 assists and steals per game while Forsberg (9.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg) and Ehlers (8.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg) did their job at a high level for the 13-12 Lady Bears.