Wildcats take second in Clark Division Tournament

HARTINGTON - After an opening round bye in the Clark Division Tournament of the Lewis & Clark Conference Tournament, Hartington-Newcastle earned a spot in the tournament finals with a 51-39 win over Osmond-Randolph here on Feb. 1 to arrive at a date with Winnebago on Feb. 3 for the finals.

Unfortunately, the Indians hit a hot streak and turned back the Wildcats, 61-53, to take home the title.

“I feel like we are still playing our best basketball at the right time of the season,” Hartington-Newcastle coach, Tylor Fincher said. “I give credit to Winnebago. They hit some really tough shots while being contested. Our turnovers were the difference in the game, I thought.”

The Wildcats had just defeated Winnebago in a game on the road back on Jan. 25, 52-45.

Riley Sudbeck paved the way for the Wildcats with 22 points and pulled down nine rebounds.

Brayden Lammers added a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, Cole Rosener chipped in eight points and four rebounds and Dayton Sudbeck had seven points and hauled in 11 boards.

Cole Rosener swiped a couple of steals and Dayton Sudbeck handed out four assists.

Winnebago went up 13-10 after the first eight minutes, but Hartington-Newcastle came back in the second quarter to take a 28-26 lead into the break.

The Indians took the lead back at the end of the third 39-38 and outscored the Wildcats in the final stanza, 2215 to take the game and the title.

In the game with the Hawks, Hartington-Newcastle went up 8-2 after Osmond/Randolph had called a timeout with the score at 6-2 with six minutes left in the frame. When the dust settled on the first, the Wildcats were clinging to a 14-12 advantage. “One of our goals this season was to hold our opponents to under 40 points and score over 50 points,” Fincher said. “We have done that the past three games including this one.” Back-to-back 3-point plays by Hartington Newcastle, a traditional one by Lammers after he was fouled while scoring on an offensive rebound inside and a longball from Heimes with just under five minutes left before the intermission put the Wildcats in the lead, 22-16. The Hawks would score the next two baskets, but the Wildcats responded with the final bucket of the half to take a 24-20 lead into the break. With HNS leading 27-22, Riley Sudbeck hauled down an offensive rebound and put it back in the basket. Lammers grabbed a missed shot and put it back and Sudbeck nailed a jump hook from eight feet to make the lead 33-22. Sudbeck finished the frame with a turnaround jumper from 15-feet out on the baseline and the Wildcats led 37-29 heading into the final period. Hartington-Newcastle outscored Osmond/ Randolph 14-10 in the final quarter to claim the 12-point win and advance to the Clark finals. “We are getting some more consistency in our scoring, especially from Brayden (Lammers) and Riley (Sudbeck),” said Fincher. “They have both been very close to double-doubles the past three games.” As the Wildcats settle into each respective role on the team, the improvement is noticeable and they have won three of their last four contests. The regular season was set to begin again with a home conference match up with Homer on Feb. 5, a trip to Wausa on Feb.6 and the busy week will continue with a trip to Wynot on Feb. 8.

Hartington-Newcastle will complete the regular season with a home game with Laurel-Concord-Coleridge on Feb. 12 and a trip to play the Hawks again on Feb. 16.

O/R 12 8 9 10 - 39 HNS 14 10 13 14 - 51 HNS Heimes 1-5 3-4 6; D. Sudbeck 1-3 2-8 4; C. Rosener 1-4 0-0 2; A. Rosener 2-3 0-0 4; Lammers 5-7 5-9 15; R. Sudbeck 9-18 1-2 20. WHS 13 13 13 22 - 61 HNS 10 18 10 15 - 53 WINNEBAGO (7-9): Caden Brownrigg 9-19 5-6 24; A. Jones 1-5 0-0 3; Rahim Free-Bass 4-14 0-2 11; Timothy LaPointe 6-19 2-4 15; Rachman Free-Bass 2-2 0-0 4; Melaki George 0-3 0-0 0; Santonio Nieman 0-1 0-0 0; Ashton LaPointe 2-3 0-0 4. HARTINGTON-NEWCASTLE (6-9): Cole Heimes 1-8 0-0 3; Dayton Sudbeck 1-6 5-5 7; Cole Rosener 3-5 0-0 8; Ayden Rosener 1-5 0-0 2; Brayden Lammers 5-12 1-4 11; Riley Sudbeck 7-13 7-9 22.