Lady Wildcats are in a groove as they roll up two more wins

HARTINGTON — A young Hartington-Newcastle girls basketball team is starting to find its way as the season progresses.

This should not be a shocker to anyone.

Many of the players on the team made up the mostly youthful volleyball squad that ultimately got rolling at the end of the year and all the way to a district final.

Now, the Lady Wildcats hoopers are 3-3 following a tense win over Tri County Northeast (55-52) and a blowout of Walthill (62-21).

They wrapped the week with a contest at Wakefield Tuesday night.

Against Tri-County Northeast, the Lady Wildcats rallied in the fourth quarter for the win as Kayden Jueden (18 points, 14 rebounds), Alivia Morten (14 points) and Kenna Korth (10 points) led the way.

“In this game, we were able to get into our offense much better and it showed in our scoring,” HNHS coach Josh Morten said. “Kayden had a big night offensively and defensively. It was a close game throughout, and our girls showed a lot of perseverance.

“We got up right away by six or seven points and then at one point were down by as much. Our defense didn’t play as well at times.”

In the Walthill win, Morten (15 points), Jueden (13 points, 10 rebounds), Korth (12 points) and Zoey Gratzfeld (10 rebounds) led the way to the easy victory.

“We worked on several different things in this game. It’s the first time we really put a press on, and it forced them into several turnovers,” Josh Morten said. “A lot of girls were able to play a lot of minutes which is always nice to have.”

Alivia Morten, the team’s point guard, sees the team’s progress heading in a much more positive direction even if she feels the Walthill win could have been even more emphatic.

“The wins were very good for us and got us into a momentum of starting to win games,” she said. “Hopefully, it will keep going throughout the season. We played together really well as a team and moved the ball more inside to Kayden and got a lot of good points.

“We put in some new plays and we are getting some freshmen coming in and getting more points and we are all scoring instead of just two people getting points.

She added that the younger players are getting more comfortable with their roles on the team and it shows in how they are approaching the games.

“They are starting to take the ball to the hoop more and shooting,” Alivia Morten said. “It’s not just the older girls anymore. I think it’s just that they know we need them to score more in the game and the older girls can’t do it by themselves.

“They knew they needed to step up and that’s what they did. Now they just need to keep being confident and keep shooting even if they aren’t making shots. They got to know they will start going in.”

SCORING HNS - Kayden Jueden, 18; Alivia Morten, 14; Keanna Korth, 10; Delaney Sudbeck, 3; Manki Lange, 2; Lauren Howell, 2; Zoey Gratzfeld, 2; Makenna Clarkson, 2.

REBOUNDS HNS - Kayden Jueden, 14; Keanna Korth, 7; Makenna Clarkson, 5; Alivia Morten, 3; Delaney Sudbeck, 3; Mani Lange, 2; Lauren Howell, 2; Olivia Grutsch, 1; Zoey Gratzfeld, 1.

ASSISTS HNS - Kayden Jueden, 4; Mani Lange, 2; Alivia Morten, 2; Lauren Howell, 2; Keanna Korth, 2; Delaney Sudbeck, 2.

STEALS HNS - Mani Lange, 2; Lauren Howell, 2; Kayden Jueden, 2; Keanna Korth, 2; Delaney Sudbeck, 2; Makenna Clarkson, 1.

SCORING HNS - Alivia Morten, 15; Kayden Jueden, 13; Keanna Korth, 12; Mani Lange, 8; Lauren Howell, 8; Zoey Gratzfeld, 4; Olivia Grutsch, 2.

REBOUNDS HNS - Zoey Gratzfeld, 10; Kayden Jueden, 10; Mani Lange, 9; Alivia Morten, 5; Kennadi Peitz, 4; Lauren Howell, 4; Keanna Korth, 3; Olivia Grutsch, 2; Delaney Sudbeck, 2; Karli Bruning, 2; Makenna Clarkson, 2.

ASSISTS HNS - Kayden Jueden, 3; Mani Lange, 3; Alivia Morten, 2; Keanna Korth, 2; Delaney Sudbeck, 2; Lauren Howell, 1; Zoey Gratzfeld, 1; Makenna Clarkson, 1.

STEALS HNS - Keanna Korth, 4; Delaney Sudbeck, 4; Alivia Morten, 4; Kayden Jueden, 2; Mani Lange, 1; Lauren Howell, 1.