Wildcats drop heartbreaker in final seconds
HARTINGTON — The Hartington-Newcastle boys basketball team dropped its final game before the Christmas break in heartbreaking fashion.
The Wildcats appeared to be cruising to a win over Boyd County, but after the squads went to overtime, the home team ended up a 39-38 loss at the end of the extra session.
“With a seven-point lead in overtime with 21 seconds to go,” secondyear Hartington-Newcastle coach Tylor Fincher said, “we turned the ball over two or three times and gave up the lead with nine seconds left.”
The teams were tied at 31 heading into the final four minutes and the Wildcats ran out to a 38-31 lead in the extra period. However, with the 21 seconds left, the Spartans countered with eight points after the turnovers to give Hartington-Newcastle its fifth loss of the early season against a couple of wins.
“We need to be better from the free-throw line,” Fincher said. “I still love the great amount of potential this team has; when we put it all together, we are going to be pretty tough to beat.”
The Wildcats led for the first three quarters, up 9-6 after the first eight minutes, 22-17 at the intermission and 24-21 after the third frame, after Hartington-Newcastle managed only one basket in the third quarter.
Riley Sudbeck paced the Wildcats with 13 points in the contest, Cole Rosener added eight, Brayden Lammers had six, and Cole Heimes and Dayton Sudbeck each tacked on five.
Riley Sudbeck completed a double-double with 16 rebounds to go along with his 13 points; Lammers pulled down 11. Dayton Sudbeck had eight.
Lammers had three blocks and six steals, the Sudbecks each added three steals and Heimes, Rosener and the Sudbecks each handed out an assist.
The Wildcats are set to compete in the Stanton Holiday Tournament Dec. 28 where they will take on Lutheran High Northeast in the first round.
Boyd County 6 11 4 10 8 — 39 Hartington-Newcastle 9 13 2 7 7 — 38
P=Points, R=Rebounds, A=Assists, S=Steals, B=Blocks.
BOYD COUNTY: Isaac Jensen 2-4 1-2 5P, 4R, 2A, 2S; Cash Sinclair 3-10 1-2 7P, 3R, 3A, 1S, 2B; Derris Hansen 6-15 7-11 21P, 7R, 1A, 2S, 1B; Charlie Adams 2-8 0-0 5P, 3R, 1A, 1S; Deegan Johnson 0-1 0-0 0P, 2R, 2S; Wyatt Heerman 0-0 1-2 1P, 3R, 1S, 1B; Hunter Mizner 0-0 0-2 0P, 5R, 1A, 1S.
HARTINGTON-NEWCASTLE: Cole Heimes 1-5 3-8 5P, 2R, 1A; Dayton Sudbeck 2-8 1-3 5P, 8R, 1A, 3S; Keatyn Arens 0-1 0-0 0P, 2R; Cole Rosener 3-9 2-5 8P, 7R, 1A, 2S; Ayden Rosener 0-2 1-2 1P, 2R; Brayden Lammers 1-6 4-9 6P, 11R, 6S, 3B; Riley Sudbeck 5-20 3-6 13P, 16R, 1A, 3S.