Wolves devour Burke County to open Region Tournament
By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor
Watford City got off to an unusually slow start against Burke County in Monday night’s opening round action of the Region 8 Tournament. But the Wolves soon found their offensive rhythm as Watford City crushed the Titans, 79-31, to advance to the semifinal game on Tuesday at the Northern Lights Community Center in New Town.
The Wolves and Titans traded baskets in the first five minutes of the first quarter with the teams tied at 4-4 after the first three minutes of play, before Katie Mogen and Mackenzie Sparby started to make their presence known.
Mogen and Sparby would combine for 12 of Watford City’s 16 first quarter points to give the Wolves a 16-9 advantage after the first eight minutes of play.
The Wolves would go on a 10-0 scoring run to open the second quarter on the back of Katie Mogen, who netted 16 points in the first half, as the Wolves extended their lead to 12 points, 32-20, to bring the first half of play to an end.
And as so many other teams have found out this season, the Wolves have plenty of players that can hurt them. And the Titans found that out in the third quarter as Sparby led the Wolves on a 11-0 scoring spree to open the quarter.
With Mogen picking up her fourth foul midway through the third quarter, Sparby filled Watford City’s scoring needs as she netted 12 of the team’s 32 third quarter points.
While Watford City’s offense was finally running on all cylinders, its defense was causing the Titans fits. In the third quarter, the Wolves held the Titans to just eight points as Watford City extended its lead to 26 points, 54-28.
With the wind knocked out of their sails, the Titans struggled in the final eight minutes of play as they only managed to score three points as the Wolves cruised to the easy win.
For the game, Watford City had four players score in double figures with Katie Mogen and Mackenzie Sparby pacing the Wolves with 18 and 16 points, respectively. Also scoring in double figures was Ricki Lindley and April Spruell with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Rounding out the scoring for the Wolves was Lea Arndt with eight points, Alli Mogen and Alyssa Prichard with four points each, while Kara Langerud and Krystal Wold netted two points each.
Watford City 16 32 54 79
Burke County 9 20 28 31