Girls cage team picks up two more victories
By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor
Watford City’s varsity girls basketball team, which is now in the No. 9 spot in the North Dakota Class B Girls Basketball Power Poll, notched two more wins last week as the Wolves rolled over Trenton, 82-40, and Beulah, 69-46.
This week, the Wolves will be traveling to Divide County on Friday and to Bowman on Saturday.
Watford City 82, Trenton 40
Watford City used a very balanced scoring attack to crush the Trenton Tigers, 82-40, in District 16 basketball action on Jan. 22.
“After a 10-day break, the girls were itching to play a game,” stated John Zenz, Wolves’ head coach. “We were a little rusty to start the game, but then we got back into game mode and finished off the first half real well.”
The Wolves led the Tigers, 21-8, at the end of the first quarter, and by 24 points, 42-18, at halftime.
With the win easily in hand, Zenz went to his bench in the second half, which allowed his reserves to get some quality playing time.
Mackenzie Sparby and Katie Mogen paced the Wolves in scoring as the pair netted 25 and 13 points, respectively, while April Spruell ended the game with 11 points.
“We were able to get everyone in to the game to play some good minutes as we picked up an 82-40 win,” stated Zenz. “And we got good contributions from many players as seven girls scored six or more points.”
Rounding out the scoring for Watford City was Ricki Lindley with nine points, Lea Arndt with eight points, Tarynn Jacobson and Alyssa Prichard with six points each, and Kara Langerud and ReiAnn Lindley with two points each.
For the game, the Wolves hit on 31 of 49 attempts from the field and were good on 14 of 24 attempts at the charity stripe.
Watford City 21 42 65 82
Trenton 8 18 34 40
Watford City Stats: Rebounds: Katie Mogen, 7; Mackenzie Sparby, 5; Lea Arndt, 3; Alyssa Prichard, 3; Alli Mogen, 3; April Spruell, 2; Kara Langerud, 1; Ricki Lindley, 1; ReiAnn Lindley, 1. Assists: Ricky Lindley, 3; Langerud, 2; Arndt, 2; Jacobson, 2; K. Mogen, 2; Spruell, 1. Steals: Ricky Lindley, 5; K. Mogen, 5; Jacobson, 4; Spruell, 3; Langerud, 1; Arndt, 1; Avery Sundeen, 1; ReiAnn Lindley, 1; Krystal Wold, 1; A. Mogen, 1; Sparby, 1. Blocks: K. Mogen, 2.
Watford City 69, Beulah 46
The Beulah Miners proved to be no match for Watford City on Saturday as the Wolves rolled over the Miners, 69-46.
“We got off to a very good start, opening up a 19-5 lead after the first quarter,” stated Zenz. “And in the second quarter, they were able to hit some open three-point shots from the corner that we weren’t able to contest off of our half-court trap.”
In an attempt to contain Watford City’s inside duo of Katie Mogen and Mackenzie Sparby, the Miners used a 2-3 defense to plug the middle, but solid outside shooting by April Spruell kept the Wolves’ offense sizzling.
“April really shot well from the perimeter, scoring 18 first half points,” stated Zenz. “She went on to score 28 points, her season high, to pace us in scoring.”
After holding a 36-20 halftime lead, the Wolves saw their lead diminish to eight points in the second half before Watford City took control of the game.
Watford City led Beulah by 15 points at the end of the third quarter, and then coasted to the easy 69-46 win.
Following Spruell in double-digit scoring for the Wolves was Ricki Lindley and Mackenzie Sparby with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Rounding out the scoring for Watford City was Katie Mogen with nine points, Kara Langerud with four points, while Lea Arndt, Krystal Wold and Alli Mogen ended the game with two points each.
For the game, the Wolves shot 51 percent from the field, hitting on 26 of 51 attempts from the field and were good on eight of 10 attempts at the charity stripe.
Watford City 19 36 46 69
Beulah 5 20 31 46
Watford City Stats: Rebounds: Kara Langerud, 5; Katie Mogen, 5; Mackenzie Sparby, 5; April Spruell, 1; Ricki Lindley, 1; Alyssa Prichard, 1; Alli Mogen, 1. Assists: Ricki Lindley, 4; Arndt, 3; Langerud, 2; K. Mogen, 2; Spruell, 1; ReiAnn Lindley, 1. Steals: Ricki Lindley, 8; Spruell, 7; Langerud, 2; Arndt, 2; Sparby, 2. Blocks: K. Mogen, 1.