January 19, 2016

St. Mary’s rolls over Wolves

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

Watford City’s boys basketball team split in varsity basketball action as the Wolves fell to Class A Bismarck St. Mary’s, 74-49, before picking up a 72-59 District 15 win over Lewis & Clark. On Saturday, the Wolves dropped a 61-49 contest to Stanley.
The next action for the Wolves will be on Monday, Jan. 25, when Watford City travels to Beach.

St. Mary’s 74, Watford City 49
While Watford City still came up on the short end of the scoring column in their second match-up of a Class A school in varsity boys basketball action, Randy Cranston, Wolves’ head coach, saw some things that he liked.
“We could have played better,” stated Cranston on Watford City’s 74-49 loss to Bismarck St. Mary’s on Jan. 8. “We did, however, play better from our last battle with a Class A school.”
Other than a three to four-minute scoring dry spell by the Wolves, Watford hung with the Saints for much of the first half. But that dry spell proved to be a big momentum changer for the Wolves as St. Mary’s turned an otherwise close game into a 17-point halftime lead.
“In those three to four minutes we lost focus and didn’t take care of the basketball resulting in easy shots for the Saints,” stated Cranston. “All in all these games against tough opponents are going to benefit us in the long run as we continue to improve.”
Seth Indergard and Cole McGorman led the Wolves in scoring with 15 and 10 points, respectively, while Nevada Berquist netted nine points.
Also scoring for Watford City was Korbin Knutson with six points, Jarek Hogue with five points, while Hunter Neether and Kason Hartel ended the game with two points each.
Watford City        23        49
St. Mary’s             40        74


Watford City 72, Lewis & Clark 59
Three Watford City players scored in double figures as the Wolves picked up a District 15 win over Lewis & Clark-North Shore on Friday evening.
After a close first two quarters, Watford City was able to open up the game en route to the 72-59 win.
The Wolves led the Wildcats, 14-9, at the end of the first quarter and by eight points, 37-29, at halftime. But the second half belonged to Watford City as the Wolves extended their lead to 12 points to close out the third quarter of play before coasting to the win.
“A win is a win and we will take any one we can get,” stated Cranston. “We struggled at times during this game but found ways to win. With this being a district game, it is always a big win as we stay undefeated in our district.”
Jaydn Ewing paced the Wolves in scoring with 16 points, while Seth Indergard and Cole McGorman netted 15 and 11 points, respectively.
Rounding out the scoring for Watford City was Heath Chaffin with seven points, Nevada Berquist with six points, Korbin Knutson, Riley Headings and Kason Hartel with three points each, while Hunter Neether and Jarek Hogue ended the game with two points each.
Watford City    14    37    54    72
L&C-NS               9    29    42    59


Stanley 61, Watford City 49
While Watford City was able to stay close to Stanley for the first half of play, the Blue Jays took advantage of their size in the second half to pull off a 61-49 win.
“Offense was a struggle this whole game,” stated Cranston. “We were intimidated by their size and didn’t do a good job on the defensive end the second half of the game.”
In a close first half, Watford City trailed the Blue Jays, 10-9, at the end of the first quarter and by two points, 22-20, at halftime.
But Stanley would break the game open in the second half as the Blue Jays built a nine-point lead, 41-32, at the end of three quarters of play.
“We are still looking to put a complete quarter or half together,” states Cranston. “It seems we are only playing to our potential for a handful of minutes a game.”
Korbin Knutson and Cole McGorman led the Wolves in scoring with 10 points each, while Jaydn Ewing netted 8 points.
Also scoring for Watford City was Seth Indergard with seven points, Nevada Berquist with six points, Jarek Hogue with four points, while Kason Hartel and Heath Chaffin scored two points each.
Watford City    9    20    32    49
Stanley           10    22    41    61

WATFORD CITY WEATHER