February 6, 2013

Watford girls continue to rack up the wins

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

Watford City’s varsity girls basketball team continues to rack up the wins as the Wolves picked up two wins this past week. The latest victims of Watford City’s high-powered offense and stingy defense were Beach and Divide County as the Wolves defeated the Bucs, 52-44, and the Maroons, 60-18.
With an impressive 11-2 record, the Wolves will be traveling to Beulah on Friday before hosting Heart River on Saturday and then closing out the week’s schedule at Hazen on Feb. 12.

Watford City 52, Beach 44
After a three-game absence due to a possible concussion, Watford City’s Katie Mogen returned to the Wolves’s lineup against the Beach Bucs. And her presence on the floor  was immediately felt.
Mogen posted a game high 24 points on 11 of 18 shooting from the field as the Wolves defeated the Bucs, 52-44, for Watford City’s first win over Beach in several years.
The Wolves led the Bucs, 14-12, at the end of the first quarter and by nine points, 29-20, at halftime as McKayla Haugeberg drained a three-pointer at the buzzer.
Beach made a run on Watford City as the Bucs outscored the Wolves, 16-10, to draw within three points at the end of the stanza and then drew to within one point, 39-38, to open the fourth quarter.
But Watford City answered the challenge in the final eight minutes to pick up the 52-44 victory.
“This was a good quality win for the girls against one of the better girls’ basketball programs,” stated John Zenz, Wolves’ head coach.
Also joining Mogen in double-digit scoring for Watford City was McKayla Haugeberg who ended the game with 14 points.
Rounding out the scoring for the Wolves was Kara Langerud with seven points, Jessica Brown with five points and Sadie Kieson with two points.
Brown led the Wolves with eight  rebounds, while Haugeberg had eight  assists and five steals.
Watford City    14    29    39    52
Beach               12    20    36    44


Watford City 60, Divide County 18
In spite of not playing well offensively and having 25 turnovers, Watford City did not have any trouble handling the Divide County Maroons in a makeup game last Friday evening. The Wolves, who improved  their season record to 11-2, held the Maroons to single-digit scoring in each of the four quarters, en route to a very easy 60-18 win.
“Offensively, we didn’t play real efficiently,” stated Zenz. “We committed 25 turnovers against a team that wasn’t pressing us and we only managed to shoot 25-65 from the field for 38 percent. We know we will need to step up our game to reach our goals this year.”
Watford City jumped out to a decisive 13-3 first-quarter lead and led the Maroons 26-7 at halftime in the lopsided win. The second half saw the Wolves continue to dominate the offensive action as Watford City posted scoring advantages of 17-8 and 17-3 in the final two stanzas.
Katie Mogen had the hot hand for the Wolves as she netted a game  high 24 points, while grabbing nine boards.
Also in the scoring column for the Wolves was Jessica Brown with 11 points, McKayla Haugeberg with nine points, Amanda Mogen and Madison Brown with six points, while Kara Langerud and Jeanna Zenz netted two points each.
Watford City    13    26    43    60
Divide County    3      7     15    18

WATFORD CITY WEATHER