Watford enters District Tournament as No. 1 seed
By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor
Watford City’s varsity girls basketball team wrapped up its regular season play with wins over Parshall, Killdeer and Dickinson Trinity.
With the wins, the Wolves, who are currently ranked No. 5 in the North Dakota Class B Girls Basketball Power Poll, improved their season record to 18-1.
“We picked up three big wins to finish the regular season at 18-1,” stated John Zenz, Wolves’ head coach. “Now it’s time to turn our attention to the post season.”
Watford City will be entering the District 15 Tournament as the No. 1 seed and will receive a first round bye. The tournament gets underway on Thursday, Feb. 12, at Williston State College. The Wolves’ first action in the tournament will be at 5:45 p.m. against the winner of the New Town vs. White Shield game.
Watford City 71, Parshall 51
The top seed in the upcoming District 15 Girls Basketball Tournament was on the line last Tuesday as the Watford City Wolves hosted the Parshall Braves, who are rated No. 9 in the Class B Power Poll. But the highly contested game never materialized as the Wolves dominated the action from the opening tip-off.
The Wolves exploded to a 17-10 first quarter lead, and then coasted to an easy 20-point win.
Katie Mogen led both teams in scoring as she netted 24 points to pace Watford City in scoring, while pulling down 15 rebounds. Also scoring in double figures for the Wolves was Mackenzie Sparby and Ricki Lindley with 16 and 14 points, respectively.
Behind the inside scoring from Mogen and Sparby, along with solid outside shooting, the Wolves led the Braves, 41-23, at halftime.
Watford City continued to dominate the game in the second half as the Wolves led the Braves, 54-39, at the end of the third quarter and then outscored Parshall, 17-12, in the final stanza.
Rounding out the scoring for Watford City was April Spruell with nine points, Lea Arndt with seven points and Krystal Wold with one point.
For the game, the Wolves hit on 24 of 50 attempts from the field and were good on three of six attempts at the charity stripe.
Watford City 17 41 54 71
Parshall 10 23 39 51
Watford City Stats: Rebounds: Katie Mogen, 15; Ricki Lindley, 7; April Spruell, 3; Mackenzie Sparby, 3; Lea Arndt, 2; Tarynn Jacobson, 2; ReiAnn Lindley, 1. Assists: K. Mogen, 6; Ricki Lindley, 3; Spruell, 2; Kara Langerud, 1; Arndt, 1; Alli Mogen, 1. Steals: K. Mogen, 4; Spruell, 2; Ricki Lindley, 2; Arndt, 2; A. Mogen, 1.
Watford City 65, Killdeer 45
Katie Mogen continued to prove to be an unstoppable force for Watford City as she scored a game high 26 points, while grabbing 14 rebounds to lead the Wolves to a 65-45 win over the Killdeer Cowboys on Thursday evening.
The Wolves jumped out to a 23-17 first quarter lead, and then led the Cowboys by 12 points, 38-26, at halftime.
Killdeer would rally in the third quarter as the Cowboys cut Watford City’s lead to 11 points, 51-40. But the Wolves would go on a 14-5 scoring spree in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
In the final eight minutes of play, the Wolves’ offense went on a 24-5 scoring spree to seal the win.
Mackenzie Sparby turned in another great game for the Wolves as well, as she netted 18 points, while grabbing eight rebounds.
Rounding out the scoring for the Wolves was Ricki Lindley with eight points, April Spruell with seven points, Kara Langerud with four points and Lea Arndt with two points.
For the game, the Wolves shot 48 percent, hitting on 25 of 52 attempts from the field, while making 12 of 14 at the free-throw line.
Watford City 23 38 51 65
Killdeer 17 26 40 45
Watford City Stats: Rebounds: Katie Mogen, 14; Mackenzie Sparby, 8; Lea Arndt, 6; Ricki Lindley, 5; April Spruell, 2; Kara Langerud, 2; Tarynn Jacobson, 2; Alli Mogen, 2. Assists: Lindley, 6; Spruell, 3; K. Mogen, 2; Arndt, 1; Alyssa Prichard, 1; Sparby, 1. Steals: Langerud, 3; Spruell, 2; Lindley, 1; Prichard, 1; A. Mogen, 1; Sparby, 1. Blocks: K. Mogen, 1; Sparby, 1.
Watford City 61, Dickinson Trinity 54
Watford City ended its regular season play with a 61-54 win over Dickinson Trinity.
In a very close game that saw the Wolves trailing the Titans by five points in the third quarter, Watford City were able to rally to take the win.
Watford City led the Titans by two points, 17-15, at the end of the first quarter, before trailing Dickinson Trinity by seven points, 33-26, at halftime.
The Wolves would go on a 21-7 scoring spree in the third quarter to take a 47-40 lead into the final eight minutes of play, and then held on for the win.
Watford City had three players scoring in double figures in the win with Katie Mogen, Mackenzie Sparby and Ricki Lindley netting 16, 15 and 13 points, respectively. Mogen also led the Wolves with 13 rebounds.
Rounding out the scoring for the Wolves was Kara Langerud with nine points, while April Spruell and Lea Arndt netted four points each.
For the game, the Wolves shot 51 percent from the field, hitting on 19 of 37 attempts and were good on 14 of 32 attempts at the charity stripe.
Watford City 17 26 47 61
Dickinson Trinity 15 33 40 54
Watford City Stats: Rebounds: Katie Mogen, 13; Lea Arndt, 5; Mackenzie Sparby, 4; April Spruell, 2; Kara Langerud, 2; Ricki Lindley, 1. Assists: Arndt, 5; Mogen, 3; Spruell, 2; Lindley, 1; Sparby, 1. Steals: Langerud, 3; Lindley, 1; Mogen, 1. Blocks: K. Mogen, 1; Sparby, 1.