December 21, 2011

Watford girls open cage season with three big wins

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

If John Zenz, head coach of the Watford City Wolves girls basketball team, was worried about how his young team was going to open their 2011-2012 campaign, his girls quickly put his fears to rest.
The Wolves opened their season in a very strong fashion as Watford City claimed the Roughrider Tournament championship with easy wins over New England, Hettinger-Scranton and Bowman. Watford City opened the tournament downing New England, 68-22, and then blasted Hettinger-Scranton, 64-35, to move to the title game. In the championship matchup against Bowman, the Wolves kept their dominate play going as Watford City cruised to a 68-39 win.
“We played well in the first three games, but we know that there is still plenty of work to be done,” stated Zenz. “We need to get better in the half-court offense execution, rebounding and free-throw shooting.  We just want to keep getting better game by game.”
The next action for the Wolves, who are 3-0 on the season, will be on Thursday, Dec. 29 when Watford City travels to Bottineau.

Roughrider Tournament
Watford City 68, New England 22

In a very impressive opening game of their season, Watford City rolled over the New England Tigers 68-22 last Tuesday.
Watford City quickly set the tone of the game as the Wolves jumped out to a quick 25-5 first-quarter lead en route to the easy win.
Four Watford City players scored in double figures in the win with McKayla Haugeberg leading the way for the Wolves with 18 points, including a pair of three-pointers, with Sadie Kieson adding 15 points. Also scoring in double digits was Katie Mogen with 13 points and Amanda Mogen with 10 points.
Rounding out the scoring for the Wolves was Brianna Allex and Charlie Hystad with five points each, while Fallon Fladeland ended the game with two points.
Kieson led the Wolves with seven  rebounds, while Haugeberg had seven seven steals and dished off seven assists. Amanda Mogen had six assists.
Watford City    25    36    60    68
New England     5      7       8    22


Roughrider Tournament
Watford City 64, Hettinger-Scranton 35

Riding high on their first win, Watford City cruised to the title game of the Roughrider Tournament rolling over Hettinger-Scranton, 64-35.
“We pressed well in the first half, but didn’t take advantage of the opportunities as well as we should have,” stated Zenz. “There were too many times that the girls would get a steal and then turn it right over.”
Watford City led the Night Hawks by 10 points, 24-14, at halftime. But when the Wolves threw on a half court trap defense to open the third quarter action, Watford City blew the game wide open as they went on a 21-5 scoring spree.
Brianna Allex led the Wolves in scoring with 17 points, while McKayla Haugeberg posted her first double-double of the season as she netted 14 points, while coming up with 11 steals, nine rebounds and six assists.
Rounding out the scoring for Watford City was Katie Mogen with 10 points, Charlie Hystad with five points, Amanda Mogen with three points, while Fallon Fladeland, Tasha Bailey, and Taylor Sparby each chipped in two points.
Watford City    11    24    45    64
Hettinger            6    14    29    35


Roughrider Tournament
Watford City 68,  Bowman 39

Watford City capped off a perfect 3-0 run at the Roughrider Tournament in Killdeer as the Wolves brought home the championship title defeating the Bowman Bulldogs, 68-39, on Saturday.
Behind a full-court-press defense that plagued the Bulldogs, the Wolves were able to score with ease.
“The full court press was working well with McKayla Haugeberg and Sadie Kieson reading and anticipating well on the back half of the press,” stated Zenz.
While the Wolves had plenty of opportunities to pad their margin of victory at the free-throw line, Watford City was unable to do so as they shot only 15 of 35 at the charity stripe.
“That is definitely an area we can improve on, but it is good to see us getting to the line that often,” stated Zenz.
Katie Mogen led the Wolves in scoring with 19 points followed by McKayla Haugeberg with 18 points. Haugeberg also ended the game with nine steals and four assists.
Charlie Hystad led the Wolves with seven rebounds.
Rounding out the scoring for the Wolves was Hystad and Sadie Kieson with eight points each, Brianna Allex with six points, Amanda Mogen with four points, Madison Brown and Jessica Brown with two points each, and Fallon Fladeland with one point.
Watford City    18    37    50    68
Bowman             6    16    26    39

WATFORD CITY WEATHER