Wolves fall to Eagles in District 15 title game
By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor
The New Town Eagles got the better of the Wolves in the District 15 Tournament championship game last Thursday. But Watford City hopes to get one more chance to knock off the Eagles. And that chance could very well come in the title game of the Region 8 Tournament, which got underway on Monday at Williston State College.
In opening round play of the Region 8 Tournament, the Wolves avenged an earlier season 57-53 loss to Ray handily defeating the Jays 71-36 to advance to the semifinals.
With the win, the Wolves, who are 18-3 on the season, will take on Stanley in semifinal play.
District 15 Tournament
Championship Game
New Town 83, Watford City 64
Two of the top teams in Class B girls basketball in North Dakota, took center stage last Thursday as the Watford City Wolves took on the New Town Eagles in the title game of the District 15 Tournament.
And for two quarters of play, the game had all of the intensity and lead changes that one would expect when the Wolves and the Eagles take to the court.
New Town got off to a quick start holding the Wolves scoreless for their first couple of possessions. But Watford City soon got into an offensive rhythm and had the Eagles on their heels as the Wolves would take a 19-18 first quarter lead. The two teams continued to battle it out in the second quarter with New Town finally taking a five-point, 24-29, lead into the lockers at halftime.
While the first half was close, with several Watford City players missing from its lineup due to sickness, the Wolves quickly started to run out of gas in the third quarter. And the Eagles were quick to take advantage of Watford City’s lack of inside size and ball handling skills.
Like the first quarter, New Town got off to a fast start to start the second half. But this time, the Wolves could not answer as the Eagles went on a 28-13 scoring spree to post a 62-44 lead after three quarters of play.
And that explosive quarter would set the tone for the remainder of the game as the Wolves could never dig out of the big hole that they found themselves in as Watford City fell to the Eagles 83-64.
Three Watford City players scored in double figures in the loss with Katie and Amanda Mogen pacing the Wolves with 17 points each, while McKayla Haugeberg netted 11 points.
Also scoring for the Wolves was Jessica Brown with six points, Kara Langerud and Lea Arndt with five points each, Ricki Lindley with two points and Elise Hadley with one point.
Watford City 19 29 44 64
New Town 18 34 62 83
Region 8 Tournament
First Round Game
Watford City 71, Ray 36
Watford City completely dominated its opening round action of the Region 8 Tournament as the Wolves cruised by the Ray Jays 71-36 on Monday afternoon.
While Ray surprised Watford City earlier in the season upsetting the Wolves 57-53, the outcome of this matchup was never in question with the Wolves using a very stingy defense to turn Jay miscues into easy points.
Watford City posted a 27-8 first quarter lead and then held the Jays to just 10 points in the second quarter as the Wolves poured in another 23 points en route to a commanding 50-18 halftime lead.
During the first half, the Wolves connected on an amazing 23 of 33 attempts from the field with McKayla Haugeberg, as well as Katie and Amanda Mogen scoring almost at will for Watford City.
Haugeberg had a huge game for the Wolves as she netted 25 points, including three three-pointers, while hitting on 11 of 14 attempts from the field. The District 15 Senior Athlete of the Year also led the team with nine steals, while grabbing seven rebounds and dishing off seven assists.
The second half was pretty much a mirror image of the first half with Watford City again taking advantage of Ray’s miscues and poor shooting, while the Wolves could seemingly do no wrong around the basket.
While John Zenz, Wolves’ head coach had his team take some of the pressure off the Jays in the second half, the damage was done.
Watford City led the Jays 61-23 after three quarters of play and then coasted to the easy win.
Also joining Haugeberg in double figures was Amanda Mogen with 17 points, Katie Mogen with 13 points and Kara Langerud with 10 points.
Rounding out the scoring for Watford City was Ricki Lindley with four points and Jessica Brown with two points.
For the game, the Wolves hit on 33 of 60 shots from the field and were good on two of three at the charity stripe.
Watford City 27 50 61 71
Ray 8 18 23 36