New Town puts end to Wolves winning streak
By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor
After rolling over the Stanley Blue Jays, 67-51, last Tuesday to extend their winning streak to five games, Watford City’s varsity boys basketball team hit the skids, falling to New Town and Trenton.
The Wolves, who are 7-9 on the season, will be closing out their regular season action this week as Watford City hosts Dickinson Trinity on Friday and Ray on Monday.
Watford City 67, Stanley 51
Tyler Bates and Shawn Fulwider provided Watford City’s scoring punch last Tuesday as the pair combined for 41 points as the Wolves rolled over the Stanley Blue Jays, 67-51, in District 15 play. Bates led both teams in scoring as he had a game high 21 points, while Fulwider netted 20 points in the win.
After a close first half of play that saw Watford City hold a 34-31 halftime lead, the Wolves offense came alive in the third quarter to set the tone for the balance of the game. Watford City blew the game wide open in the third quarter out-scoring Stanley, 23-8, to put the game on ice.
Rounding out the scoring for the Wolves was Dustin Kleppen with nine points, Lucas Nicholson with seven points, Michael Schulz with five points, Reid Brown and Mitchell Liebel with two points, while Logan Fettig ended the game with one point.
Watford City 20 34 57 67
Stanley 17 31 43 51
New Town 57, Watford City 46
After playing New Town close for three quarters, Watford City’s offense virtually disappeared in the fourth quarter as the Wolves fell to the Eagles, 57-46, in District 15 action on Thursday.
The Wolves led the Eagles by one point, 10-9, at the end of the first quarter. But New Town reversed the tables on Watford City in the second stanza holding a 25-24 advantage going into the third quarter of play.
On the heels of some great outside shooting by Michael Schulz, Watford City would deadlock the game at 38-38 going into the final eight minutes of play. But the Wolves offense fizzled in the first four minutes of the final quarter as New Town took control of the game.
Shawn Fulwider and Lucas Nicholson paced the Wolves in scoring with 17 and 10 points, respectively, while Michael Schulz ended the game with eight points.
Rounding out the scoring for Watford City was Tyler Bates with four points, Mitchell Liebel and Cole Rolfsrud with two points each and Dustin Kleppen with one point.
New Town 9 25 38 57
Watford City 10 24 38 46
Trenton 69, Watford City 33
Trenton’s offense was on fire last Saturday as the Tigers drained nine three-pointers and shot over 50 percent from the field en route to a 69-33 win over the Wolves.
“Trenton out-played us in every aspect of the game,” stated Randy Cranston, Wolves’ head coach on the Region 8 loss. “Hopefully, we learn from games like this, and in the long run, it will make us a better team.”
Trenton jumped out to a quick 19-7 first-quarter lead and never looked back as the Tigers out-scored the Wolves in the next three quarters of play.
Shawn Fulwider paced the Wolves with 13 points.
Rounding out the scoring for Watford City was Lucas Nicholson with six points, Dustin Kleppen with five points, Tyler Bates with three points, while Michael Schulz and Reid Brown netted two points each.
Trenton 19 33 49 69
Watford City 7 18 29 33