March 20, 2013

Wolves end cage season as Region 8 Runners-up

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

After downing the Stanley Blue Jays 41-24 in the Region 8 semifinals, the Watford City varsity girls basketball team saw their season come to an end on Thursday evening as the Wolves fell to the New Town Eagles, 69-56, in the region title game.
Watford City ended the season with a 20-4 season record.
 
Region 8 Tournament
Semifinal Game
Watford City 41, Stanley 24

It wasn’t the prettiest of games as the Wolves and the Blue Jays battled for the right to advance to the Region 8 championship game. In a very low scoring game that saw poor shooting and a whopping 36 turnovers, Watford City came out on top of Stanley, 41-24.
Watford City led the Blue Jays, 8-7, after one quarter of play. And then the Wolves took control of the game as Watford City held Stanley scoreless in the second quarter and allowed the Blue Jays just two points in the third quarter to take a 25-9 lead into the final eight minutes of play.
With the lead safely in hand, the Wolves coasted to the easy win.
Katie Mogen and McKayla Haugeberg paced the Wolves in scoring with 16 and 15 points, respectively. Haugeberg led Watford City with eight rebounds, four assists and six steals.
Rounding out the scoring for Watford City was Ricki Lindley and Amanda Mogen with four points  each, while Lea Arndt netted two points.
For the game, Watford City shot 34 percent from the field, hitting on 17 of 49 attempts and was good on four of four at the charity stripe.
Watford City    8    21   25    41
Stanley             7      7      9    24


Region 8 Tournament
Championship Game
New Town 69, Watford City 56

All season long, Watford City’s varsity girls basketball team had overcome its share of adversity in its hope to make it to the State Class B Girls Basketball Tournament. They battled back when players couldn’t be on the court because of sickness and injuries. And in the process, the Wolves became a very good team. A team that many of their fans hoped would be able to make it to the elite eight and have the chance to play at State.
Unfortunately for the team and their loyal fans, there was just one obstacle that the Watford City girls basketball team could never seem to overcome. And that obstacle was the New Town Eagles.
New Town got the better of the Wolves in their first meeting of the season with the Eagles downing the Wolves 68-57. New Town then downed Watford City 83-64 in the District 15 title game.
And with Watford City earning the right to take on the Eagles with a 41-24 win over Stanley in the region semifinals, the stage was set for the biggest meeting of the two teams this season.
And the question being asked by Watford City fans when the two teams squared off on Thursday night in the Region 8 title game was ‘could the third time be the charm for the Wolves?’
New Town answered that question in a very decisive manner as the Eagles opened last Thursday’s championship game by draining the first five three-pointers that they took.
With the Eagles leading the Wolves by 10 points, 15-5, after three minutes of play, Watford City knew that it had their work cut out for themselves.
Watford City stayed close to New Town in the first quarter as the Wolves trailed the Eagles 19-17 at the end of the stanza. But the Eagles went on a 23-9 scoring spree in the second quarter that took the wind out of Watford City’s sails.
Watford City would tie the game at 24-24 with five minutes remaining in the first half. But the Eagles then rattled off 18 points while holding the Wolves to just two points to take a commanding 42-26 lead into the lockers at halftime.
Watford City would make one last run in the third quarter as the Wolves cut their deficit to seven points, 51-44, but the Wolves had no answer to New Town’s offense.
Katie Mogen and McKayla Haugeberg paced the Wolves in scoring with 19 and 16 points, respectively.
Haugeberg, who was named the Region 8 Senior Athlete of the Year, wrapped up her last game for the Wolves, with a game high 13 rebounds, while leading the team with four assists.
Also scoring for Watford City was  Amanda Mogen with six points, while Kara Langerud, Ricki Lindley and Jessica Brown netted five points each.
For the game, the Wolves shot 35 percent from the field, hitting on 20 of 58 attempts and were good on 14 of 19 attempts at the free-throw line.
Watford City    17    26    44    56
New Town        19    42    53    69

WATFORD CITY WEATHER