McKenzie County Farmer - Sports

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

Watford City’s varsity boys basketball team picked up two non-district wins this past week as the Wolves defeated the Killdeer Cowboys, 68-40, on Jan. 6, and then pulled off a come-from-behind win to edge the Beach Bucs, 54-50, on Saturday. With the wins, the Wolves improved their season record to 5-2.
Watford City’s next action will be on Jan. 13 when the Wolves host Mandaree, and then travel to Williston State College to take on the Divide County Maroons on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Watford City 68, Killdeer 40
Watford City used a very effective inside and outside scoring game to easily defeat the Killdeer Cowboys, 68-40, last Thursday.
Curtis Lohse knocked down four three-pointers as he ended the game with a game high 18 points to pace Watford City in scoring, while Trey Jacobson and Tyler Flatland netted 12 points each and Shawn Fulwider added 10 points en route to the win.
The Wolves held Killdeer to single- digit scoring in the first two quarters of play as Watford City posted leads of 20-8 and 36-14 in the first half.
The Wolves continued to dominate the game in the third quarter outscoring the Cowboys, 24-10, with both teams going to their benches in the final eight minutes of action.
Rounding out the scoring for Watford City was Nick Liebel with eight points, while Tyler Bates, Sterling Ross, Sean Walker and Jason Shipman netted two points each.
Watford City    20    36    60    68
Killdeer              8    14    24    40
Watford City 54, Beach 50
After jumping out to a 23-11 first- quarter lead, it looked like Watford City was going to have very little trouble against the Beach Bucs on Saturday. But back-to-back poor offensive performances by the Wolves in the second and third quarters, gave the Bucs the opening they needed to nearly pull off an upset.
With the Wolves scoring just eight points in the second quarter and six points in the third quarter, Watford City saw its lead evaporate and found itself trailing the Bucs by seven points, 44-37, going into the final eight minutes of play.
But the Wolves proved that they could pull off a comeback of their own as they held the Bucs scoreless for the the first four minutes of the quarter as Watford City outscored Beach, 17-6, to pull out the win.
Shawn Fulwider sparked Watford City’s fourth-quarter comeback as he scored with 5:42 left in the game to get the Wolves to a six-point, 45-39, deficit. Nick Liebel then stole the ball and was fouled as he went in for a layup. He put three points on the board the old-fashioned way to draw the Wolves to a three-point deficit.
Tyler Flatland stole the ball on Beach’s next possession and scored, cutting the lead to one point with just over four minutes left in the fourth quarter.
And then 13 seconds later, Curtis Lohse put the Wolves on top for good as he drained a three-pointer to give Watford City a 47-45 lead.
In what was the most physical game that the Wolves had played all season, the Bucs would challenge Watford City in the final three minutes of action, but never regained the lead.
Trey Jacobson would put the game out of the Bucs’ reach as he connected on three of four free throws in the final 30 seconds to give the Wolves a 54-50 win.
Jacobson and Liebel led the Wolves in scoring with 17 points each, while Curtis Lohse netted eight points in the win. Rounding out the scoring for Watford City was Shawn Fulwider with seven points and Tyler Flatland with five points.
Watford City    23    31    37    54
Beach                11    30    44    50