January 22, 2014

Wolves roll over Wildcats, Blue Jays

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

Watford City’s varsity girls basketball team saw its season record improve to 8-2 this past week as the Wolves fell to the New Town Eagles, 73-65, before coming back to down North Shore-Plaza, 75-60, and Stanley, 72-52.
This week the Wolves will host Trenton on Thursday and then travel to Beach on Monday, Jan. 27.

New Town 73, Watford City 65
For three quarters, it looked like Watford City would knock off New Town in varsity girls action at the Watford City High School Gymnasium. But in spite of holding a 16-point lead, the fourth quarter proved to be the Wolves’ undoing as turnovers and missed scoring opportunities gave the Eagles the opportunity to pull off the come-from-behind win.
The Wolves led the Eagles, 20-13, at the end of the first quarter of play, and then built their lead to 14 points, 40-26, at halftime. But New Town would battle back in the second half as the Eagles cut Watford City’s lead to six points, 55-49, going into the final eight minutes of play.
“We played an excellent first half and got off to a 40-26 lead,” stated John Zenz, Wolves’ head coach. “But we seemed to forget that there was a second half and didn’t play with the focus we needed to.”
Zenz credits New Town’s 1-2-2 press as part of the Wolves’ downfall.
“We didn’t take care of the ball well,” stated Zenz. “We got tentative  at the end of the game and didn’t do the things that got us the lead in the first place.”
 In the fourth quarter, Watford City just couldn’t sustain its first half performance as the Eagles took their first lead in the game with just over four minutes of play. In the fourth quarter, New Town outscored the Wolves, 25-10, to take the win.
The Wolves had three players score in double figures in the loss with Katie Mogen scoring a game high 29 points, while Kaitlyn Grimes and Ricki Lindley netted 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Watford City.
Rounding out the scoring for Watford City was Jeanna Zenz with five points, Amanda Mogen with four points, while Kara Langerud and Elise Hadley netted three points each.
Watford City    20    40    55    65
New Town        13    26    46    73



Watford City 75, North Shore-Plaza 60
After losing a heart-breaker to New Town, Watford City rebounded from the loss to knock off the North Shore-Plaza Wildcats, 75-60, on Thursday.
Behind the best scoring balance that the Wolves have had all season, four Watford City players scored in double digits in the win.
“We struggled with our defensive intensity to start the game as we gave up 22 points in the first quarter,” stated Zenz. “But we stepped up on the defensive end in the second quarter and opened up a 13-point lead at halftime.”
After trailing the Wildcats, 23-21, at the end of the first quarter, the Wolves went on a 26-11 second quarter scoring spree, to take control of the game. Watford City led North Shore-Plaza, 56-50, at the end of the third quarter and then outgunned the Wildcats, 19-16, in the final eight minutes to take the win.
“We are struggling with consistent play,” stated Zenz. “At times we look like a very good team, and then other times we don’t look so good.”
Katie Mogen and Kaitlyn Grimes both netted 16 points in the win, while Ricki Lindley and Kara Langerud netted 15 and 13 points, respectively.
Also scoring for the Wolves was Amanda Mogen, Lea Arndt and Elise Hadley with four points each, Jeanna Zenz with two points and Mackenzie Sparby with one point.
Watford City    21    47    56    75
NSP                   23    34    50    60


Watford City 72, Stanley 52
Watford City capped off a busy week of basketball action on Saturday as the Wolves rolled over the Stanley Blue Jays, 72-52, during Super Saturday action at Williston State College.
After leading the Blue Jays, 30-23, at halftime, Watford City blew the game wide open in the third quarter as the Wolves went on a 31-12 scoring spree.
“We got off to an early good start and got into a bit of foul trouble with our posts,” stated Zenz. “But we had an awesome third quarter to allow us to coast to a win.”
Amanda Mogen led both teams in scoring with 20 points, while Katie Mogen and Ricki Lindley joined her in double digits with 19 and 15 points, respectively.
Rounding out the scoring for the Wolves was Kara Langerud with six points, while Jeanna Zenz, Elise Hadley, Lea Arndt and Mackenzie Sparby netted three points each for Watford City.
Watford City    19    30    61    72
Stanley             13    23    35    52

WATFORD CITY WEATHER