Wildcats fall to HSF, Pierce
HARTINGTON — The Hartington-Newcastle boys basketball team needed a lot more than a 75-footer to drop against Pierce last weekend.
The Wildcats (1-3), who won the previous week in that dramatic fashion, found Pierce to be a bit more imposing, as their opponents rolled to a 57-27 win over the guests from Hartington.
A big, 24-10 Pierce run in the second quarter gave the Jays a 36- 17 lead that established the tone for the remainder of the contest.
Kobe Heitman led Hartington with 11 points, while Jake Pietz chipped in with seven points.
Two nights earlier, Humphrey St. Francis invaded Hartington to beat the host Wildcats 71-58.
Heitman noted the team is down to 10 varsity players due to some having left the program after discovering the sport is kind of difficult to play.
“Our coach is proud of us for what we do in practice,” Heitman said. “When we started the year we had 14 players, but we have to compete the best we can with the 10 we have. We are just going harder in practice to get in the best of shape.”
Isaac Bruning led the Wildcats with 20 points, while Heitman chipped in with 12 points.
St. Francis broke out to a 46-20 halftime lead to lock away the win on Tuesday.
“Against St. Francis, we needed to handle their full-court and half court 1-3-1 trap by making strong passes and finding space within the zone, and they got far too many points off of our turnovers,” HNHS head coach Nick Haselhorst said. “Halfway through the second quarter, we settled in and handled the pressure well, but we dug too deep a hole in the first quarter to overcome.”
Pierce, fresh off the Class C1 state football title, played a solid game, as well.
“Pierce plays outstanding halfcourt defense, and their offensive execution was crisp and efficient,” said Haselhorst. “Offensively, we were getting good looks at the basket, but they closed out well on our shooters which caused us to rush some shots. They beat us in every aspect of the game, but we walked away from this being a better team than we were last week for having played these tough teams,” Haselhorst said.
The Wildcats will hope to bounce back this week after playing Tuesday against Tri County Northeast. They will wrap the slate with a game against Walthill.
“I like our matchups for this week,” Haselhorst said. “They will both be great challenges for our team. We need to improve on our ability to finish defensive possessions with good closeouts and rebounds. Offensively, we need to improve on the timing of our cuts and knowing where to look at for our scoring options.”
The Wildcat coach said the team also needs to improve on defensive rebounding and defensive transition.
One player who can help in those areas is Heitman, who transferred in from Laurel-Concord-Coleridge before his sophomore year two years ago.
“He’s been a pleasure to work with,” Haselhorst said. “He is a hard-working kid and understands the game at a high level. He works hard and tries his best and that’s all we can ask for.”
Heitman hopes the team can prove the doubters wrong after some skepticism crept in following the reduction in roster numbers and lack of height.
“It’s because of our size disadvantage – we only have three players or so that are around six-feet tall,” Heitman said. “We make up for it though (with effort). Our team has to keep its grades up there and we have to come to practice and not screw around.
Playing a foe like Pierce could help the team figure out where they still need work, he said.
“The Pierce game also gave us a lot of things to look at and work on,” Heitman said.
Hartington-Newcastle 8 12 15 23 - 58
Humphrey St. Fran 26 20 10 15 - 71
SCORING HNS - Isaac Bruning, 20; Kobe Heitman, 12; Jake Peitz, 7; Riley Sudbeck, 7; Turner Dendinger, 6; Seth Pinkelman, 4; Bennet Sievers, 2. HSF - Tanner Pfeifer, 23; Justin Liefeld, 16; Hausten Forney, 11; Austin Liefeld, 8; Jack Lubisher 7; Jaden Kosch, 6.
REBOUNDS HNS - Kobe Heitman, 8; Riley Sudbeck, 4; Bennet Sievers, 2; Isaac Bruning, 3; Seth Pinkelman, 3; Jake Peitz, 2;
ASSISTS HNS - Kobe Heitman, 5; Bennet Sievers, 4; Riley Sudbeck, 2; Jake Peitz, 2; Seth Pinkelman, 1; Turner Dendinger, 1;
STEALS HNS - Kobe Heitman, 6; Jake Peitz, 4; Riley Sudbeck, 3;
Hartington-Newcastle 7 10 3 7 - 27
Pierce 12 24 13 8 - 71
SCORING HNS - Kobe Heitman, 11; Jake Peitz, 7; Riley Sudbeck, 4; Seth Pinkelman, 3; Isaac Bruning, 2.
REBOUNDS HNS - Kobe Heitman, 5; Jake Peitz, 5; Bennet Sievers, 5.
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