February 9, 2016

Wolves enter District 15 Tourney as No. 1 seed

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

After posting a 61-25 win over Class A Dickinson High, as well as Class B rivals Parshall and Killdeer, the Watford City varsity girls basketball team, who is currently ranked No. 5 in the state, wrapped up its regular season play on Saturday when they took on Bismarck’s Shiloh Christian, the No. 7-ranked team in North Dakota. In the battle between two of the state’s top teams, the Wolves defeated the Skyhawks, 56-34.
“It was a busy week for us as we finished out the regular season with four games this past week,” stated John Zenz, Wolves’ head coach. “We played four good games and came away with wins in all of them.”
This week, the Wolves, who ended the season with a 17-2 regular season record, will be hosting the District 15 Girls Basketball Tournament, which will be played Thursday and Friday, Feb. 11 and 12, with the championship game being played in the new Watford City High School gymnasium on Monday, Feb. 15.
As the No. 1 seed in the District 15 Tournament, Watford City will receive a first round bye and will then play the winner of the New Town vs. White Shield game at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.

Watford City 61, Dickinson High 25
Ricki Lindley and Katie Mogen provided the fire power to Watford City’s offense as the Wolves knocked off Class A Dickinson High, 61-25, on Monday, Feb. 1, for the second time this season. The Wolves had earlier defeated the Midgets, 54-44, on Dec. 22.
As in their previous matchup, Watford City’s pressing defense and well-balanced scoring proved to be too much for Dickinson High as the Wolves held a commanding, 36-15, halftime lead en route to the easy win.
Ricki Lindley paced both teams in scoring with 14 points, while Katie Mogen netted 13 points in the winning effort.
Watford City continued to dominate the game in the second half as the Wolves scored at ease with nine players getting into the score book, while Watford City’s defense held the Midgets to just 10 points.
“We played a very complete game on both sides of the court against Dickinson,” stated Zenz. “Defensively, we limited Dickinson to 25 points and we got good contributions from the offensive end with nine girls scoring.”
Also scoring for the Wolves was Krystal Wold with eight points, Mackenzie Sparby and Lea Arndt with seven points each, Avery Sundeen and Kaytlyn Grimes with four points each, while Alli Mogen and Iida Lehto ended the game with two points each.
Watford City        36        61
Dickinson             15        25


Watford City 84, Parshall 34
In last Tuesday’s District 15 matchup, Watford City had its way with Parshall as the Wolves crushed the Braves, 84-34.
Five Watford City players, led by 17 points from Ricki Lindley, scored in the victory. Also scoring in double figures for the Wolves was Mackenzie Sparby with 14 points, Alli Mogen with 11 points, while Lea Arndt and ReiAnn Lindley ended the game  with 10 points each.
“With the win over Parshall, we secured the number one seed for the upcoming district tournament,” stated Zenz.
While the Wolves only led the Braves 14-11, after the first quarter, Watford City took control of the game early in the second quarter to take the big win.
“Both teams committed too many fouls,” stated Zenz. “But our deeper bench was a big asset to us.”
Also scoring for Watford City was Krystal Wold with eight points, Kaytlyn Grimes with six points, Avery Sundeen with four points, and Lindsay Peterson and Kennidy Chapin netting two points each.
For the game, the Wolves shot 51 percent from the field, hitting on 31 of 61 attempts and making 16 of 20 from the free-throw line.

Watford City 84, Killdeer 40
Watford City closed out its home season schedule on Thursday with a big, 84-40, win over the Killdeer Cowboys.
After a close first quarter, which saw Watford City holding a three-point, 16-13, lead, the Wolves took control of the offensive action in the second quarter to build a 12-point, 37-25, halftime lead.
“We made some nice adjustments at halftime and went on to an 84-40 win,” stated Zenz.
Watford City outscored Killdeer, 25-9, in the third quarter and then went on a 22-5 scoring spree in the final eight minutes to take the easy win.
Mackenzie Sparby paced both teams in scoring with a game high 21 points, while Avery Sundeen and Rick Lindley netted 20 and 11 points, respectively, in the winning effort.
Rounding out the scoring for the Wolves was Lea Arndt and Alli Mogen with eight points each, Krystal Wold and Kaytlyn Grimes with six points each, while ReiAnn Lindley and Lindsay Peterson netted two points each.
For the game, the Wolves shot 56 percent from the field, hitting on 30 of 54 attempts, while making five of eight from the three-point line. At the free-throw line, Watford City made  nine of 18 attempts.
Watford City    16    37    62    84
Killdeer             13    26    35    40


Watford City 56, Shiloh Christian 34
In a resounding statement that the Watford City varsity girls team was ready for its post season run for the State Class B Tournament, the Wolves pulled off a stunning, 56-34, win over No. 7-ranked Shiloh Christian on Saturday.
“It was a good matchup for us as we closed out the regular season,” stated Zenz. “Shiloh got up on us at the end of the first quarter, but we controlled the game after that point.”
With the Skyhawks holding a 14-11 first quarter lead, it looked like the Wolves would be in for a tough game. But Watford City’s offense would step up in the second half scoring 24 points, while the Wolves’ stingy defense would only allow the Skyhawks eight points in the third quarter and two points in the final eight minutes of play.
Watford City led Shiloh Christian, 32-24, at halftime and by 14 points, 46-32, after three quarters of play.
“In the second half we limited Shiloh to 10 points and we scored 24 as we went on for a 56-34 win,” stated Zenz. “That was a great win for us. We played a top caliber team on the road and put together a very good game on both ends of the court.”
Three Watford City players scored in double figures in the game with Ricki Lindley pacing the Wolves with 18 points followed by Mackenzie Sparby and Katie Mogen with  13 and 10 points, respectively.
Rounding out the scoring for Watford City was Avery Sundeen with five points, while Lea Arndt, ReiAnn Lindley, Kaytlyn Grimes, Krystal Wold, and Alli Mogen ended the game with two points each.
For the game, the Wolves shot 59 percent from the field, hitting on 19 of 32 attempts, while making nine of 11 at the free-throw line.
Watford City    11    32    46    56
Shiloh               14    24    32    34

WATFORD CITY WEATHER