McKenzie County Farmer - Sports

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

Watford City and Mandaree survived opening round action of the Region 8 Boys Basketball Tournament action on Monday as the Wolves defeated the Divide County Maroons 66-59, while Mandaree bested the Ray Jays 49-37. Watford City and Mandaree will now advance to semifinal action on Tuesday evening where the Wolves will take on Tioga and Mandaree faces Parshall.

Region 8 Opening Round
Watford City 66,
Divide County 59
Rather than trying to battle Watford City’s tough inside defense, Divide County chose instead to take its offense to the perimeter and rely on three-point shots to keep them in the game during Monday afternoon’s Region 8 Tournament action. And for the first half of play, it appeared that the Maroons’ strategy just might work.
While the Wolves jumped out to a quick 10-2 first quarter lead, Divide County battled back to a two-point, 14-12, deficit at the end of the first quarter and then outgunned the Wolves 17-14 in the second quarter to post a 29-28 halftime lead on the back of their outside shooting.
But as the old adage says, “live by the three, die by the three.” And Divide County died by the three as the Maroons ended the game making just seven of 22 attempts behind the arch.
The Wolves, on the other hand, were content to allow their full court press do their work for them as Watford City opened the second half forcing three straight Divide County turnovers that the Wolves converted into easy baskets to regain the lead for good.
With 5:40 left in the third quarter, Watford City had built its lead to a comfortable seven-point advantage, 38-31, before Divide County would tie the game at 38-38 on a Justin Haugeland three-pointer with 4:05 remaining in the quarter.
The Wolves would respond to Divide County’s challenge by going on a 9-2 scoring run to end the quarter holding a 47-40 advantage.
The Maroons would make one last charge early in the fourth quarter drawing to a one-point, 50-49, deficit, but behind the solid free throw shooting in the final minutes the Wolves outlasted Divide County to take the win.
Kevin Sanford, who was held to just four points in the first half, turned in a stellar second half performance for Watford City as he netted 20 points to end the game with a double-double scoring 24 points while grabbing 10 rebounds for the Wolves. Christian Schulz was also in double digit scoring for Watford with 10 points.
Rounding out the scoring for the Wolves was Trey Jacobson and Casey Jore with nine points each, Nick Liebel and Reid Johnson with five points each, while Justin Flatland ended the game with four points.
For the game, Watford City shot 50 percent from the field, hitting on 24 of 48 attempts and were good on 12 of 21 at the free-throw line for 57 percent.
Watford City outrebounded Divide County 35-27.
Watford City      14    28    47    66
Divide County    12    29    42    59
Watford City statistics: Rebounds: Kevin Sanford, 10; Christian Schulz, 5; Justin Flatland, 5; Nick Liebel, 3; Reid Johnson, 3; Trey Jacobson, 2; Casey Jore, 1. Assists: Schulz, 4; Liebel, 4; Jacobson, 3; Sanford, 2; Johnson, 1. Steals: Schulz, 3; Sanford, 2; Liebel, 2; Flatland, 1. Fouls: Sanford, 3; Schulz, 3; Liebel, 2; Flatland, 2; Jore, 1.

Mandaree 49, Ray 37
Mandaree used a strong third quarter to send Ray packing in the last game of opening round action at the Region 8 Tournament on Monday evening as the Warriors defeated the Jays 49-37.
In an uncharacteristic low scoring game, the Warriors let Ray hang around much of the first half before the Warriors went on a 14-6 third quarter scoring run to put the game out of reach.
Mandaree led the Jays 13-7 at the end of the first quarter of play before holding a five-point, 26-21, lead at halftime.
But Ray just couldn’t contain Mandaree’s fast pace style of basketball in the third quarter. Mandaree would build its advantage to 13 points, 40-27, at the end of three quarters of play and coast to the easy win.
Devin Yellow Wolf turned in another solid performance for Mandaree as he posted a game high 20 points, while pulling down 13 rebounds.
Also scoring for Mandaree was Michael DeVille and Richard Hosie with seven points each, David Dobbs with six points, Lane Standish with five points, while Drew Johnson ended the game with four points.
For the game, Mandaree shot 40 percent from the field, hitting on 19 of 47 attempts and were good on seven of 11 at the charity stripe for 64 percent.
Mandaree outrebounded Ray 28-25.
Mandaree    13    26    40    49
Ray                  7    21    27    37
Watford City statistics: Rebounds: Devin Yellow Wolf, 13; Richard Hosie, 5; David Dobbs, 3; Lane Standish, 1; Aaron Youngbird, 1; Drew Johnson, 1. Assists: Yellow Wolf, 4; Standish, 1; Michael DeVille, 1; Hosie, 1. Steals: Dobbs, 3; Hosie, 3; Yellow Wolf, 3; DeVille, 2; Johnson, 1. Fouls: Dobbs, 4; Johnson, 4; Standish, 2; Hosie, 1.