January 11, 2012

Watford girls split against New Town, Beulah

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

Watford City split in varsity girls basketball action this past week as the Wolves dropped a key District 15 game to the New Town Eagles, 59-49, before coming back to roll over Beulah, 62-44.
This week, the Wolves, who are 6-2 on the season, will be at North Shore-Plaza on Thursday before hosting the Mandaree Warriors on Tuesday, Jan. 17.

New Town 59, Watford City 49
Watford City struggled to find a way to control New Town’s size and quickness as the Wolves fell to the Eagles, 59-49, in District 15 action last Tuesday.
“We dug ourselves into a pretty big hole in the first half,” stated John Zenz, Wolves’ head coach. “We kept making runs at them in the second half, but we could never get back to even or ahead.”
The Wolves trailed the Eagles by eight points, 18-10, at the end of the first quarter and by 12 points, 35-23, at halftime.
The Wolves battled back in the second half as they trimmed their deficit to seven points at the end of the third quarter and then made one last push late in the fourth quarter.
“We were able to get to within four points with a little more than two minutes to play,” stated Zenz. “But New Town held us off and went on for the win.”
Zenz attributes Watford City’s poor shooting from the field (32 percent) as being a big factor in the loss. But he was happy with the aggressive play of his girls.
“We got to the free-throw line 32 times against New Town,” stated Zenz. “And that shows we are aggressively going to the basket.”
Three Watford City players hit double figures in the loss with Brianna Allex pacing the Wolves with 14 points, while McKayla Haugeberg and Amanda Mogen netted 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Rounding out the scoring for the Wolves was Katie Mogen with nine points, Charlie Hystad with three points and Sadie Kieson with two points.
Haugeberg also led the Wolves with 10 rebounds, six steals and five  assists.
New Town       18    35    45    59
Watford City    10    23    38    49


Watford City 62, Beulah 44
After playing to a 15-15 first-quarter tie, Watford City’s offense went on a 19-9 scoring spree to set the stage for a 62-44 win over Beulah last Saturday.
In a very scrappy game, the Wolves held off a third-quarter charge by the Miners and then coasted to the easy win.
“We iced the game in the fourth quarter making 13 of 18 attempts at the free-throw line,” stated Zenz. “Our free-throw shooting has really come around the last few games.”
While Zenz is pleased with the way that his players are taking the ball to the hoop, he is concerned with the team’s overall poor shooting from the field. Against Beulah, the Wolves only shot 33 percent, hitting on  only 19 of 58 attempts.
Brianna Allex led the Wolves in scoring with 19 points, including hitting eight of 10 at the charity stripe, while McKayla Haugeberg netted 12 points and had six steals. Also scoring in double figures was Katie  Mogen with 11 points to go along with nine rebounds and five steals.  
Also scoring for Watford City was Sadie Kieson with nine points, Amanda Mogen with four points, Charlie Hystad with three points, and Fallon Fladeland and Tasha Bailey  with two points each.
Hystad led the team with 11 rebounds.
Watford City    15    34    47    62
Beulah            15    24    36    44

WATFORD CITY WEATHER