Mandaree upsets Wolves to win District 15 Tournament
By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor
Mandaree and Watford City will both be advancing to the Region 8 Boys Basketball Tournament, which starts on Monday, March 9 at the Williston State College. Mandaree pulled off the upset of the district tournament on Monday evening as the Warriors defeated the Wolves 71-65 to win the District 15 Tournament championship.
As the No. 1 seed from District 15, Mandaree will take on Ray, the No. 4 seed from District 16 in the final game on Monday evening, while Watford City, the No. 2 seed from District 15 will face Divide County, the No. 3 seed from District 16 in the second game of the tournament. Tioga takes on Stanley in opening round action at 3 p.m. with each of the next three games starting 20 minutes following the conclusion of the preceding game.
District 15 Title Game
Mandaree 71, Watford City 65
Mandaree pulled off the biggest upset of the District 15 Boys Basketball Tournament on Monday evening as the Warriors upended the Watford City Wolves, the No.-2 ranked team in the North Dakota Class B Power Poll, 71-65 to claim the District 15 Tournament championship title.
In a fast-paced game, Mandaree and Watford City traded baskets early on in the first quarter but the Warriors proved that on any given night anything is possible.
The Warriors held a 20-16 first quarter lead and then the teams traded leads for the first four minutes of the second quarter. But by midway through the second stanza, Mandaree would establish a lead that they would never relinquish.
Watford City, who so far this season had not trailed in many games was down seven points, 37-30, at halftime. Mandaree would increase its lead to 10 points in the third quarter before the Wolves would make a run at the Warriors.
But each time the Wolves would make a run, the Warriors would put on one of their own to keep Watford City at bay.
While the Wolves would make several good runs at Mandaree in the fourth quarter, Watford City could never cut its deficit to more than five points as the Warriors made clutch free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
Devin Yellow Wolf had the hot hand for Mandaree as he netted a game high 26 points, while Kevin Sanford paced the Wolves in scoring with 22 points.
Joining Yellow Wolf in double digit scoring for Mandaree were Michael DeVille and Davide Dobbs with 17 and 12 points, respectively, while Lane Standish netted nine points and Richard Hosie chipped in seven points in the win.
Watford City’s Justin Flatland and Christian Schulz also joined Sanford in double figure scoring with 19 points each, while Tyler Flatland and Trey Jacobson ended the game with three and two points, respectively.
For the game, Mandaree shot 51 percent from the field, hitting on 27 of 53 attempts and were good on 15 of 19 at the free-throw line. Watford City shot 46 percent from the field, hitting on 26 of 57 attempts and were good on eight of 12 at the charity stripe for 67 percent.
Mandaree out-rebounded the Wolves 25-18.
Mandaree 20 37 52 71
Watford City 16 30 46 65
Watford City statistics: Rebounds: Kevin Sanford, 9; Justin Flatland, 4; Nick Liebel, 4; Christian Schulz, 3; Trey Jacobson, 2. Assists: Jacobson, 4; Sanford, 2; Schulz, 2; Flatland, 1; Liebel, 1; Dillon Langerud, 1. Steals: Jacobson, 2; Flatland, 1; Schulz, 1; Liebel, 1. Fouls: Jacobson, 5; Sanford, 4; J. Flatland, 2; Liebel, 2; Casey Jore, 2; Tyler Flatland, 2; Schulz, 1.
Mandaree statistics: Rebounds: Devin Yellow Wolf, 14; Lane Standish, 7; Richard Hosie, 6; David Dobbs, 3; Drew Johnson, 3; Michael DeVille, 2. Assists: Yellow Wolf, 5; Standish, 4. Steals: Dobbs, 2; Hosie, 1; DeVille, 1. Blocks: Hosie, 2; Yellow Wolf, 1. Fouls: Johnson, 4; Hosie, 3; Dobbs, 3; Standish, 2; Yellow Wolf, 1.
District 15 Semifinal Games
Watford City 67, Stanley 37
Stanley had no answer for Watford City’s high powered defense and offense as the Wolves rolled over the Blue Jays 67-37 in semifinal action of the District 15 Tournament on Saturday evening.
Kevin Sanford and Christian Schulz spearheaded the Wolves’ offensive attack as the pair combined for 35 of Watford City’s points. Sanford ended the evening with a game high 23 points, while Schulz netted 12 points to aid in the win.
In a game in which the outcome was never in question, the Wolves jumped out to a 22-8 first quarter lead and then coasted to the easy win.
Watford City would lead the Blue Jays 42-15 at halftime and by 28 points, 53-25, at the end of three quarters of play.
Rounding out the scoring for Watford City were Trey Jacobson and Casey Jore with nine points each, Nick Liebel with seven points, Justin Flatland with three points, while Jesse Weber and Shawn Fulwider ended the game with two points each.
For the game, the Wolves shot 26 of 51 from the field for 51 percent and were good on eight of 13 at the free-throw line for 62 percent.
Watford City out-rebounded Stanley 26-17.
Watford City 22 42 53 67
Stanley 8 15 25 37
Watford City statistics: Rebounds: Christian Schulz, 6; Trey Jacobson, 5; Kevin Sanford, 4; Justin Flatland, 3; Nick Liebel, 3; Casey Jore, 2; Jesse Weber, 1; Shawn Fulwider, 1; Tyler Flatland, 1. Assists: Liebel, 5; J. Flatland, 2; Jacobson, 1; Sanford, 1; Schulz, 1; James Neer, 1; Reid Johnson, 1; T. Flatland, 1. Steals: Jacobson, 7; J. Flatland, 2; Sanford, 2; Schulz, 2; Liebel, 2; Johnson, 1; T. Flatland, 1. Fouls: J. Flatland, 3; Jacobson, 1; Sanford, 1; Schulz, 1; Dillon Langerud, 1; Fulwider, 1.
Mandaree 76, Parshall 52
Mandaree outscored Parshall in all four quarters of play to defeat the Braves 76-52 in loser-out action of the District 15 Tournament.
The Warriors jumped out to a 12-9 first quarter lead and then blew the game wide open as Mandaree outscored Parshall 21-15 and 29-13 in the second and third quarters to take the win.
Four Mandaree players scored in double figures en route to the win with Michael DeVille pouring in a game high 22 points, while Devin Yellow Wolf netted 18 points. Also scoring in double figures was David Dobbs and Richard Hosie with 14 and 10 points, respectively.
Also scoring for Mandaree were Lane Standish with five points, Dylan Cosetello with three points, while Aaron Youngbird and Drew Johnson netted two points each.
Mandaree 12 33 62 76
Parshall 9 24 37 52