Ponca ends Wildcats’ L&C tourney run

Hartington-Newcastle ended its Lewis and Clark Tourney run at the hands of the Ponca Indians last week.

Ponca went on to advance to the tournament’s title game against Laurel-Concord-Coleridge.

HNS advanced to the contest by squeezing out a close first-round win over the Wynot Blue Devils.

The Indians took control early, outscoring the Wildcats 14-6 in the first frame, then expanding their lead to 31-18 at the halftime break.

Hartington-Newcastle climbed back into the game in the second half, outscoring Ponca 26-25 over the final 16 minutes, but it wasn’t enough.

The Cats were led in the contest by a pair of double-figure scorers. Shaye Morten hit for 15 points, while Sam Harms added 11. Harms also led the team on the boards with seven rebounds.

Three-point shooting was a big plus for the Cats in this one as they hit 50 percent of their shots.

Sam Harms was 3-4 from long distance and Kobe Heitman made good on 2-5 from behind the arc.

The Wildcats will wrap up the regular season with three road games.

The Purple Cats travel to Wausa and Wynot for games this week and will hit the road next week for the regular-season finale at Randolph.

HNS 6 12 12 14 — 44 Ponca 14 17 13 12 — 56

HNS Ponca FG 8-22 --3P 5-10 --FT 2-7 -- Reb 26 --

SCORING

HNS - Shaye Morten, 15; Sam Harms, 11; Kobe Heitman, 8; Teagan Scoggan, 4; Matthew Meisenheimer, 3; Isaac Bruning, 3.

REBOUNDS

HNS - Sam Harms, 7; Teagan Scoggan, 6; Shaye Morten, 4; Isaac Bruning, 4; Kobe Heitman, 3; Matthew Meisenheimer, 2.

ASSISTS

HNS - Sam Harms, 5; Kobe Heitman, 3; Shaye Morten, 2; Isaac Bruning, 2; Dylan Dendinger, 1; Teagan Scoggan, 1.

STEALS

HNS - Sam Harms, 1; Matthew Meisenheimer, 1; Teagan Scoggan, 1.

BLOCKS

HNS - Sam Harms, 1.