December 9, 2009

Wolves girls looking for more consistent play

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

After their first three games, Watford City’s varsity girls basketball team, according to Berton Bates, Wolves’ head coach, needs to get a little more consistent in its play and reduce their turnovers.
The Wolves dropped their season opener to Killdeer 69-53 on Dec. 1 and then edged Heart River 35-32 before falling to Bottineau 59-36.
This week, the Wolves, who are 1-2 on the season, will be competing in the Roughrider Tournament in Killdeer on Dec. 8, 10 and 12.
Killdeer 69, Watford City 53
Watford City couldn’t handle Killdeer’s size and committed 37 turnovers as the Wolves fell to the Cowboys 69-53 in the Wolves’ opening varsity girls basketball action last Tuesday evening.
Killdeer jumped out to a quick 16-8 first quarter lead as the Wolves struggled offensively. The Cowboys increased their advantage to 17 points, 32-15, at halftime and led 50-33 at the end of three quarters of play.
“We got to within eight points with 1:30 left in the third quarter,” stated Bates. “The girls played hard, and never quit.”
But Watford City just couldn’t come back from their big first quarter deficit as the Wolves took the loss.
Alexis Sanford and Marti Quale led the Wolves in scoring with 16 and 13 points, respectively.
Also scoring for Watford City was Jayme Johnson with seven points, Shakira McLaughlin and Ashli Foli with six points each, Stephanie Deutsch with three points and Brianna Allex with two points.
For the game, the Wolves shot 21 of 63 from the field for 33 percent and were good on seven of 18 at the charity stripe for 39 percent.
Watford City    8    15    33    53
Killdeer    16    32    50    69
Watford City 35, Heart River 32
In a very close, but low scoring  game, the Wolves edged the Heart River Cougars 35-32 on Thursday evening.
“We executed at the end and made plays to win the game,” stated Bates. “But again, we had way too many turnovers.”
The Wolves and Heart River were tied 8-8 and 18-18 after the first two quarters with Watford City outscoring the Cougars 10-7 in the third quarter with that three-point difference becoming the final point spread in Watford City’s first win of the season.
Shakira McLaughlin had a big game for the Wolves as she netted 15 points to pace both teams in scoring.
Also scoring for Watford City was Olivia Sundeen with nine points, Jayme Johnson and Ashli Foli with four points each, Stephanie Deutsch with two points and McKayla Haugeberg with one point.
For the game, the Wolves shot 15 of 36 from the field for 42 percent and were good on five of nine at the charity stripe for 56 percent.
Watford City    8    18    28    35
Heart River    8    18    25    32
Bottineau 59, Watford City 36
Turnovers again played a key factor as the Wolves had 31 miscues as Watford City fell to Bottineau 59-36 on Saturday afternoon.
The Wolves got behind the Stars 15-7 and never were able to recover as Watford City trailed Bottineau 27-17 at halftime and by 12 points, 45-23, at the end of three quarters of play.
“Turnovers once again were our downfall,” stated Bates.
Marti Quale led Watford City in scoring with 10 points. Rounding out the scoring for the Wolves was Dani Bates with six points, Olivia Sundeen and Stephanie Deutsch with four points each, while McKayla Haugeberg, Alexis Sanford, Jayme Johnson and Ashli Foli ended the game with three points each.
For the game, the Wolves shot 16 of 27 from the field for 59 percent and were good on just one of 10 at  the charity stripe.
Watford City    7    17    23    36
Bottineau    15    27    45    59
 

WATFORD CITY WEATHER