February 3, 2010

Wolves edge New Town in double overtime victory

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

Watford City’s varsity boys basketball team improved its season record to 11-2 as the Wolves picked up wins over New Town and Trenton.
This week, the Wolves will be on the road as they travel to Bowman on Thursday and Belfield on Friday before hosting Trinity Christian on Tuesday, Feb. 9.
Watford City 68, New Town 59 (2 OT)
It’s not how you start the game, but rather how you finish the game that counts in basketball. And for Watford City it took two overtimes for the Wolves to finish off the New Town Eagles 68-59 in District 15 action last Thursday.
The Wolves, who got off to a very sluggish start, found themselves trailing the Eagles 10-0 after the first two minutes of the game. But Watford City got back on track offensively as the Wolves then went on a 15-0 scoring spree of their own to a hold a five-point, 15-10, first quarter lead.
In a fast paced game that saw over 50 combined turnovers by the two teams, the Wolves held a 30-29 halftime advantage with the score deadlocked at 42-42 at the end of three quarters and 55-55 at the end of regulation play.
In the first overtime, with both teams being able to put points on the scoreboard at the free-throw line, Nick Liebel had the chance to secure the win for the Wolves with 3.8 seconds left on the clock, but his driving layup rolled off the rim to send the game into a second overtime with the score tied at 58-58.
Watford City would draw blood first in the final overtime as Liebel connected on the front end of a pair of free throws and then scored on the Wolves next possession to put Watford City on top 61-58.
With 1:14 remaining in the game, New Town would cut Watford City’s margin to two points, 61-59, but that would be as close as New Town would get as the Wolves would net seven unanswered points to take the win.
Trey Jacobson paced the Wolves in scoring with 23 points, including five three-pointers. Also in double digit scoring for Watford City was Tyler Flatland with 13 points, while Nick Liebel and Reid Johnson netted 10 points each. Also scoring for Watford City was Shawn Fulwider with eight points and Dillon Langerud with four points.
WC    15    30    42    55    58    68
NT      10    29    42    55    58    59


Watford City 51, Trenton 27
Once again Watford City found itself in the uncomfortable position of having to come back from an early deficit as the Wolves took on the Trenton Tigers on Saturday. But again the Wolves responded to the challenge to emerge with the win.
After trailing the Tigers 11-9 at the end of the first quarter of play, Watford City went on a 13-4 scoring run in the second quarter to put the game out of reach.
Watford City, which led 22-15, at halftime, outscored the Tigers 13-2 and 16-8 in the final two quarters to take the easy win.
Three Watford City players hit double figures in the game with Trey Jacobson pacing the Wolves with a game high 16 points, while Shawn Fulwider and Reid Johnson netted 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Rounding out the scoring for Watford City was Tyler Flatland with four points, and Nick Liebel, Dillon Langerud and Curtis Lohse with three points each.
Watford City    9    22    35    51
Trenton          11    15    17    27

WATFORD CITY WEATHER