Wildcats end an up-and-down season

HARTINGTON — The season did not go quite as hoped for the Hartington-Newcastle boys basketball squad, but at least it ended with the Wildcats trending in positive ways.

The Wildcats finished the season at 9-15 and in the second round of the D1 SubDistrict tournament.

This was truly an up and down year for the Wildcats.

“I’m most proud of how the team responded at the midpoint of the season and made the necessary adjustments and sacrifices to become better teammates,” HNHS coach Nick Haselhorst said. “We instilled a lot of new faces and new players into the varsity line up this year and there is a large learning curve involved with that. Coaches had to learn how each person fit best and each player needed to find their niche and role within the team.”

Haselhorst said he was pleased with his team’s effort this season.

“I appreciate the kids’ ability to continue to strive to improve day after day, and their willingness to accept and learn from their lessons.” he said. “I’m also really proud of the fact that each kid on the team was at every practice we had this season.”

Haselhorst also noted the team suffered from no missed practices or games, further illustrating the team’s commitment to the sport.

At SubDistricts, the Wildcats overcame a late, one-point deficit to Randolph before winning 50-40 in the play-in game.

“We knew the game would be tighter than it was when we played them before,” Haselhorst said. “I know Coach (Jim) Hixson well and I knew he’d challenge his players to rise to the occasion. The defensive intensity was good on both sides. I thought we moved the ball well on offense and shot good shots, but we didn’t shoot a high percentage.

The Wildcats handled adversity well against Randolph, Haselhorst said.

“Our kids showed great resolve, we went to a 1-3-1 half court trap to start the fourth and this led to a few steals and some transition points that allowed us to take command of the game. We shot free throws well in the final few minutes to ice the game,” he said.

Kobe Heitman led the Wildcats with 18 points while Isaac Bruning added nine points and Jake Peitz and Bennet Sievers each poured in eight points.

However, No. 1 Walthill was just too daunting and they cruised to the 77-51 win to end the Wildcats’ season.

“They have tremendous quickness and anticipation on defense,” Haselhorst said. “Offensively they have an elite ability to make three pointers and attack the basket. Walthill’s full court pressure forced us into making hesitant decisions and we were never able to settle in and make plays consistently.”

The game was tied at 25-all late in the second quarter, but a late 8-0 Walthill run gave it the breathing room and momentum it needed.

“It was a tough way to end the season but we lost to a great team,” Haselhorst said. “It always is hard to say goodbye to the seniors in their last game they’ll ever play.

“Isaac and Kobe are two hard working dudes who cared a lot about the team and they were a joy to coach and work with. They’ve both demonstrated a great work ethic and have battled through the rigors of four years of high school basketball. I have so much respect and appreciation for both of them for their toughness and contributions they invested into themselves and the program over the years.”

The Wildcats return eight projected players from the 10-man roster to head into the 2021-22 season and all had their share of time on the varsity hardcourt in one way or another.

“I think they will all come back next season being better for their experiences this season,” Haselhorst said. “We want to continue to develop the kids physically in the weight room and develop their basketball skills with team camps and open gyms.”

The hope is to learn from the pitfalls that hurt them this year.

“It’s unfortunate we didn’t have enough players to play a complete JV schedule this year,” Haselhorst said. “This didn’t allow some players to get the amount of reps and experience necessary for them to develop quicker. It did allow everyone to get a plethora of practice reps but it’s just not quite the same value as game reps and experience.”

Heitman’s career has ended on the court and as he looked back on the season he reflected on the positive finish.

“I knew that we were going to have an experienced team and get something out of the season, but once we got going it was hard at first because we played a tough schedule right off the bat,” Heitman said. “It killed us. But, pretty soon, at the Stanton Holiday Tournament, we started playing well and together and carried that on for a couple of games. We had some trouble again and coach said we had to play together and spent a lot of time talking about this.

“Even though the outcome of last week’s game and as one of two seniors, I really enjoyed playing with these guys. If you go watch our December film to now, we have improved so much. We were actually focused and played together.”

Heitman now feels it’s a better time and place to move on from his time as a Wildcat.

“We were a scary 9-15 team,” he said. “We took down Ponca ... and we beat Wynot and people were starting to worry about us and we had that confidence.

“Beating Ponca and Wynot this year was the best, because they had beaten us for many years. Coach had challenged us to beat these guys and that’s what we did.”

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