December 24, 2013

Cagers head to championship in Roughrider Tourney

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

It was no contest for the Watford City girls varsity basketball team as the Wolves rolled over Richardon-Taylor, 48-33, in their season opener at Killdeer’s Roughrider Tournament on Tuesday.
And the Wolves tacked on another win on Thursday as Watford City advanced to the tournament championship against Bowman by downing Hettinger-Scranton, 50-29.
“We didn’t shoot well in either of our first two games,” stated John Zenz, Wolves’ head coach. “But that is to be expected as we are trying to find the right combination of players on the floor. But we made significant improvement in the game against Hettinger.”
The next action for the Wolves will be on Saturday, Jan. 4 when the girls open their home season against Ray.

Watford City 48, Richardton-Taylor 33
It’s always nice to pick up a win to open the season. And that is just what the Wolves did on Tuesday, Dec. 17 as Watford City cruised to a 48-33 win over the Richardton-Taylor Raiders in opening round action of the Roughrider Tournament in Killdeer.
The Wolves, who were never challenged in the game, jumped out to a quick 14-7 first quarter lead, and then upped their advantage to 15 points, 26-11, at halftime.
Watford City was led in scoring by sophomore Ricki Lindley and freshman Mackenzie Sparby with 13 points each.
While neither team would set the basket on fire in the third quarter, the Wolves held on to a 13-point, 33-20 lead, going into the final eight minutes of play. Watford City then closed out the win with a 15-13 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter.
Rounding out the scoring for the Wolves was Amanda Mogen with eight points, Lea Arndt with five points, Kara Langerud with four points, Kaitlyn Grimes with three points and Jeanna Zenz with two points.
Amanda Mogen led the Wolves with nine rebounds and seven steals.
For the game, the Wolves shot 35 percent from the field, hitting on 18 of 52 attempts and were good on 12 of 25 at the free-throw line.
Watford City    14    26    33    48
Richardton        7    11    20    33

Watford City 50, Hettinger-Scranton 29
After playing a close first half, Watford City took it to Hettinger-Scranton in the third quarter as the Wolves advanced to the championship game of the Roughrider Tournament with a 50-29 win over the Night Hawks.
The Wolves held just a one-point lead, 10-9, at the end of the first quarter of play, and upped their lead to two points, 17-15, at halftime.
But Watford City’s offense and defense starting jelling in the second half as the Wolves outscored the Night Hawks, 15-12 and 18-2, in the final two quarters of play.
Kaitlyn Grimes led the Wolves in scoring with 17 points. Also scoring for Watford City was Mackenzie Sparby with nine points, Amanda Mogen with eight points, Kara Langerud with five points, Lea Arndt with four points, Jeanna Zenz with three points, while Ricki Lindley and Elise Hadley ended the game with two points each.
Lea Arndt led the team with eight rebounds, while Amanda Mogen had six steals.
For the game, the Wolves shot 41 percent from the field, hitting on 20 of 49 attempts and were good on four of 10 at the free-throw line.
Watford City    10    17    32    50
Hettinger           9    15    27    29

WATFORD CITY WEATHER