March 11, 2025

Wolves fall in regular season finale

Wolves fall in regular season finale

Titus Stenberg
Farmer Sports Writer

Watford City celebrated Senior Night last Tuesday evening as they wrapped up their 2024-25 regular season. Dickinson Trinity spoiled the festivities with a 63-37 win at the Watford City High School gymnasium.


In the first matchup against the Titans, Watford City was able to keep the game close until the very end. This game would play out differently, as Dickinson Trinity jumped out to a 24-8 first quarter lead and continued to extend it from there.


“We struggled against their full court run and jump,” said Watford City head coach, David Gumke. “They created 34 turnovers throughout the game that led to easy scores for them. We also gave up 17 offensive boards, which gave them second chance opportunities. They did most of their scoring in the paint because of the turnovers and offensive boards. We actually led them in shooting percentages from two-point and three-point field goals, but they doubled us in shot attempts. They were also able to get to the free throw line 17 times cashing in on 13. Overall as a team, we did not play hard and aggressively throughout this game. It definitely became another teaching moment for our young team as they work through some adversity.”


The Wolves shot 50 percent from the field, but ended the game with more turnovers (34) than field goal attempts (30). Xavier McGorman filled the stat sheet with four rebounds, five assists, three steals and one block. Sophomore Harper Moberg led the Wolves in scoring with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including two 3-pointers.


Before the game, the Wolves had a memorable ceremony honoring the four seniors who were part of the 2024-25 season. Senior Jude Long sang a beautiful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner moments before being announced in the starting lineup. Here are Coach Gumke’s comments on his four seniors:
Landon Vetter - Landon took on the role of captain and did a very nice job of communicating with the players for me. He is a very smart basketball player. He sees the floor very well. He understands the system and it does not take him long to learn new things. He is good at understanding in-game adjustments. That makes him a coach on the floor, communicating to the team when we can’t from the bench. His goals are to be involved with basketball in the future. He will make a very good coach someday.
Jude Long - Jude only has 3 years of basketball experience, but has come a long way from when he first started. He is very fun to be around and always very positive. He will have a conversation with anyone. He is always able to lighten the mood and bring a smile to your face when things aren’t going well.
Niko Kasic Segato - Niko had just one season with us as a foreign exchange student. We are glad that we were able to give him the opportunity to be on our roster to have the experience of playing basketball here. He accepted and understood his role on the team. He was always very coachable and did all of the right things as a team member.


Taryn Boss - This was Taryn’s first and only year statkeeping/managing for us. Taryn did a tremendous job. She is the first stat that came to our practices. It showed me that having a manager at the practice is very beneficial. The most important thing she did was run the clock and shot clock on drills and team sessions. She was always looking ahead at what needed to done, keeping track of the stat game schedule. We always had the jobs covered, because Taryn made sure they were. She will be difficult to replace.


                                  1     2       3      4    Final
Dickinson Trinity    24    13    15    11    63
Watford City            8      7      13    9      37
Watford City scoring: Harper Moberg, 10; Landon Vetter, 7; Kyle Best, 4; Xavier McGorman, 4; Thaydan Arnold, 4; Carter Breitbach, 3; Trysten DeVries, 3; Dominic Latray, 2

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WATFORD CITY WEATHER