Watford girls claim Killdeer Shootout championship
By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor
The Watford City girls basketball team opened its 2010-2011 season with three big wins as the Wolves won the Killdeer Shootout this past week. The Wolves, who defeated Heart River, Bowman and New England, were declared the winner of the Killdeer Shootout. They ended the tournament with a 3-0 record along with Killdeer and Beulah; however, with the Wolves winning all three games by more than 20 points, they won the tie-breaker.
The next action for the Wolves will be on Thursday, Dec. 30 when Watford City hosts Bottineau.
Killdeer North/South Shootout
Watford City 66, Heart River 40
Watford City’s offense was firing on all cylinders as the Wolves girls basketball team opened its season with a big win over the Heart River Cougars on Tuesday evening in first round action of the Killdeer North/South Shootout.
McKayla Haugeberg had the hot hand for the Wolves as she burned the nets for 22 points, including four three-pointers. Haugeberg also led the team with eight steals.
“We got up 24-6 in the first quarter and then kept our scoring going throughout the game,” stated Berton Bates, Wolves’ head coach. “Our press caused several turnovers, and we shot the ball extremely well.”
The Wolves led Heart River, 39-17, at halftime, and then outscored the Cougars, 10-6, as Watford City coasted to an opening win.
Jayme Johnson also scored in double figures for the Wolves ending the game with 15 points and seven steals.
Rounding out the scoring for the Wolves was Dani Bates with nine points, Marti Quale with seven points, Alexis Sanford and Charlie Hystad with four points each, Brianna Allex with three points and Sadie Kieson with two points.
For the game, the Wolves shot 27 of 53 from the field, including six of 13 from three-point land. At the free-throw line, the Wolves were six of nine.
Watford City 24 39 49 66
Heart River 6 17 23 40
Watford City 72, Bowman 29
The Watford City girls basketball team picked up its second win of the season with a decisive 72-29 victory over Bowman in the second-day action of the Killdeer Shootout.
The Wolves had three players hit double figure scoring in the game with Dani Bates leading Watford City with 19 points. Alexis Sanford drained three three-pointers, as she and Jayme Johnson netted 13 points each.
“We played excellent defense and we came up with 31 steals,” stated Berton Bates, Wolves’ head coach. “And we shot a very good percentage from the field, and the only downside of our offense was hitting only 12 of 31 atttempts at the free-throw line.”
The Wolves blew the game wide open early in the first quarter posting a 17-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and then outscored the Bulldogs 19-9 in the second quarter to lead 36-17 at halftime. Watford City then coasted to the easy win outscoring Bowman 23-6 and 13-6 in the final two quarters of play.
Rounding out the scoring for the Wolves was Marti Quale and Brianna Allex with six points each, Shanyce Fredericks with five points, McKayla Haugeberg with four points, while Sadie Kieson, Ashli Foli and Amanda Mogen ended the game with two points each.
For the game, the Wolves shot 28 of 54 from the field, including four of nine three-pointers.
Watford City 17 36 59 72
Bowman 8 17 23 29
Watford City 57, New England 20
Watford City made it a clean sweep at the Killdeer Shootout as the Wolves rolled over New England 57-20 to up their season record to 3-0 on Saturday.
Eleven Watford City players got into the scoring column in the easy win over the Tigers with Dani Bates and Marti Quale pacing the Wolves with 13 and 10 points each.
The Wolves jumped out to a quick 19-5 first-quarter lead and then never looked back en route to the win.
The Wolves led the Tigers 29-8 at halftime, and then outscored New England 26-12 in the second half.
“We didn’t shoot as well from the perimeter as we would have liked to,” stated Berton Bates, Wolves’ head coach. “But we played good defense coming up with 22 steals from our press.”
Bates, Jayme Johnson and McKayla Haugeberg led the Wolves in rebounding grabbing five boards each, while Haugeberg had six assists and Brianna Allex had five steals.
Rounding out the scoring for the Wolves was Sadie Kieson and Jayme Johnson with six points each, McKayla Haugeberg and Alexis Sanford with five points each, Charlie Hystad with four points, while Brianna Allex, Shanyce Fredericks, Ashli Foli and Fallon Fladeland ended the game with two points each.
For the game, the Wolves shot 21 of 54 from the field and were good on 11 of 27 at the free-throw line.
Watford City 19 29 49 57
New England 5 8 13 20