HNS Wildcats return quite a bit of experience

HARTINGTON - With a move down to Class D1, the Hartington-Newcastle boys’ basketball team looks to stack up favorable against their new opponents.

The Wildcats have one of the biggest basketball advantages coming into the season. Size.

Junior Sam Harms leads the way at a height of 6’7. He is joined by five other varsity players listed at six feet or taller

Harms is one of three returning starters alongside Shaye Morten and Lincoln McPhillips, and the team also brings back Ethan Lammers, Dylan Dendinger and Matthew Meisenheimer all with varisty experience off of the bench. Head coach Nick Haselhorst has high expectations for these returners.

“Those guys are going to be in key roles,” said Haselhorst. “Some will come off the bench for us, but they are expected to be leaders and communicate. They know the offense, they know what we are doing defensively, so really it is about being confident and playing hard.”

Hartington-Newcastle was 9-15 in Class C2 last year, but with the move down to D1 the team’s schedule looks way more favorable, especially later in the season. Last year’s Subdistrict included Crofton, Ponca, Cedar Catholic, and Laurel-Concord-Coleridge. This year, HNS is in Subdistrict D1-5 along with Bloomfield, Elkhorn Valley, and Plainview.

“We want to compete whenever we step on the court,” said Haselhorst. “We want to win our holiday tournament. We want to be in the thick of things in our conference race. Our Subdistrict is winnable so we want to be in a District Final and have a chance to make it to the State Tournament.”

HNS starts the season on Thursday, hosting Ponca in Hartington. The team then travels to Emerson-Hubbard on Saturday and travels to Wakefield on Tuesday.

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