Wildcats win District battle for trip to State
ALBION — The Wildcats are heading to State, with a 36-32 win over Kenesaw Monday night, the first Hartington-Newcastle basketball team since the two schools merged.
Overall, it has been a decade since the Wildcats boys’ basketball team traveled to Lincoln, but it was just Hartington High School at the time.
Coming into the game, Kenesaw and Hartington-Newcastle matched up well on paper, but HNS coach Nick Haselhorst had an ace up his sleeve with Matthew Meisenheimer scoring the first six points on his way to a game-high 14 points.
“We said before the game they don’t have a player like Meisenheimer,” said Haselhorst. “We thought on paper we were so similar. There were so many similarities between our players, between our schedule, but the player they didn’t have was Meisenheimer.”
Early on, Meisenheimer, or Moose as his teammates call him, was the only player for either team with a hot start. It forced Kenesaw to make early audibles on defense.
“Their coach was saying they need to double-team me down low,” said Meisenheimer. “Haselhorst is always saying I am the strongest kid on the floor so I just went in with that mentality. I just tried to wreak havoc.”
The Wildcats fed off of Meisenheimer’s early offensive output because other than him, it was a defensive stalemate early with Hartington-Newcastle taking an 8-3 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Kenesaw made it a single possession game going into halftime, holding the Wildcats to ve points in the second quarter while scoring eight, but neither teams’ offense found a rhythm.
At halftime, HNS led 13-11, and the third quarter was a continuation of that defensive battle.
The Blue Devils cut the lead to one by the end of the third quarter. A familiar gameplan from the Subdistrict Finals against Bloom- eld was the motto again, said Haselhorst.
“32 minutes of hell.”
The Wildcat defense proved this motto with a rigorous zone defense often forcing Kenesaw to settle for contested shots down low, or rushed shots from three-point territory.
In the final frame, Kenesaw made things dif cult for the Wildcats, with the two teams trading leads a few times along the way, but HNS always seemed to have a response.
Coming down the stretch, Sam Harms kicked the ball out to Kobe Heitman who swished a three for the lead.
Kenesaw would foul in the final minute, trying to create an opportunity, but Heitman had ice in his veins going 4-4 from the charity stripe down the stretch.
“He was mentally strong,” said Haselhorst. “He hung in there. He has had some rough patches over the past few weeks but he is resilient, he is a fighter, and we love Kobe. We are so glad he transferred in, and I couldn’t be more proud of his resolve and his toughness.”
After the game he was speechless but his smile said it all.
“It feels amazing, it feels great,” said Heitman. “It feels great and feels amazing.”
The Wildcats have come a long way since the start of the year, and the growth of this team was on full display with the coaches and players jumping and celebrating together when the final buzzer sounded.
“It means everything,” said Haselhorst. “It brought out the kid in me. I am so proud of the kids to hang in and fight. We started the season 1-6 and we knew we had a shot at the end of the year. We knew what our District was, and we knew we had a shot.”
For the seniors, it is a storybook moment.
“It means everything,” said senior Lincoln McPhillips. “It is like we led the younger kids, made them believe we can actually go, and we actually are now. It is just something to feel proud of.”
It is the 13th time in Wildcat history that the boys’ basketball team heads down to State. The past 12 times were by Harting- ton High School with the last being in 2009. Newcastle made it to the State dance four times, with the last being in 1992.
Hartington-Newcastle 8 5 8 15 — 36
Kenesaw 3 8 9 12—32
SCORING
HNS - Matthew Meisenheimer, 14; Sam Harms, 7; Kobe Heitman, 7; Shaye Morten, 4; Lincoln McPhillips, 2; Jake Peitz, 2. Kenesaw - Ryan Denkert, 11; Parker Bitt eld, 7; John Schuster, 6; Wyatt Hansen, 3; Austin Peterson, 2; Eli Jensen, 2; Tyson Denkert, 1.
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