Watford City boys still looking for first cage win
By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor
Watford City’s varsity boys basketball team is still looking for its first win after dropping a pair of games this past week. The Wolves, who are now 0-3 on the season, fell to Minot Ryan, 74-65, on Dec. 16, and then lost in overtime to New Town, 88-83, last Thursday.
The next action for the Wolves will be on Monday, Dec. 29, when Watford City plays Rolette at Our Redeemer’s in Minot.
Minot Ryan 74, Watford City 65
Watford City struggled against a quick Minot Ryan squad last Tuesday as the Wolves dropped their second game of the season to the Lions, 74-65.
“Our offense continues to do some good things,” stated Randy Cranston, Wolves’ head coach on the loss. “However, we need to continue to get better on the defensive side. We have some bright moments when we look really good, but some moments we really struggle.”
The Lions led the Wolves, 25-18, at the end of the first quarter, and then posted a 39-32 halftime advantage.
Minot Ryan blew the game wide open in the third quarter as the Lions outscored Watford City, 25-13, to take a 64-45 advantage into the final eight minutes of play.
“The team showed heart battling back from a 20-point deficit in the third quarter,” stated Cranston.
Five Watford City players scored in double figures in the contest with David Kline scoring 17 points, while Logan Fettig and Cameron Runnels netted 13 and 12 points, respectively. Cole McGorman and Seth Indergard ended the game with 10 points each for the Wolves.
Rounding out the scoring for Watford City was Charlie Villanueva with one point.
Watford City connected on nine three-pointers in the game and was good on 10 of 15 at the free-throw line.
Watford City 18 32 45 65
Minot Ryan 22 39 64 74
New Town 88, Watford City 83 (OT)
After trailing New Town by five points, 60-55, at the end of three quarters of play, Watford City battled back against New Town to deadlock the game, 66-66, at the end of regulation play. But the Wolves drive to pick up their first win of the season against the Eagles fell short in overtime.
“It was a great game for the fans, players and coaches,” stated Cranston. “It was a faced-paced game with a lot of three-pointers made.”
Watford City led the Eagles in the three-point shooting as the Wolves drained 13 treys, while New Town connected on 10 from long range.
The Eagles led Watford City throughout the contest as New Town led the Wolves, 24-16, at the end of the first quarter, and by five points, 41-36, at halftime.
Both teams traded baskets in the third quarter before the Wolves battled back to send the game into overtime.
But New Town would emerge with the win as the Eagles outscored the Wolves, 12-7, in overtime.
“We struggled to guard their big guys down low,” stated Cranston. “However, we battled throughout the game and overtime. I feel we took another step in the right direction. Even though we are 0-3, we have played good teams and we have learned a lot on what we need to work on throughout the season.”
David Kline had a game high 27 points for the Wolves, with all of his points coming on three-pointers.
Joining Kline in double-digit scoring for Watford City was Seth Indergard, Cameron Runnels and Logan Fettig with 18, 14, and 12 points, respectively. Also scoring for the Wolves was Charlie Villanueva with six points, while Bo Cook and Cole McGorman ended the game with three points each.
Watford City shot 10 of 15 at the charity stripe.
Watford City 16 36 55 76 83
New Town 24 41 60 76 88