February 3, 2015

Girls cage team wraps up regular season play

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

Watford City’s varsity girls basketball team notched three more wins this past week as the Wolves improved their season record to 15-1. The Wolves, who are currently ranked No. 7 in the North Dakota Class B Girls Basketball Power Poll, rolled over Stanley, 76-29, Divide County, 64-24, and Bowman County, 67-34.
Watford City will wrap up its regular season play this week as the Wolves travel to Killdeer on Feb. 5, and then host Dickinson Trinity on Saturday, Feb. 7.

Watford City 76, Stanley 29
Watford City held Stanley to single-digit scoring in the first three quarters of play as the Wolves crushed the Blue Jays, 76-29, last Tuesday.
In a lopsided game that saw Watford City’s defense completely shut down the Blue Jays, the Wolves jumped out to a 19-8 first quarter lead. The Wolves then held Stanley to just two points in the second quarter as Watford City extended its lead to 42-10 at halftime.
Three Watford City players scored in double digits in the win with April Spruell pacing both teams in scoring with 21 points, while Mackenzie Sparby and Lea Arndt netted 18 and 10 points, respectively, for the Wolves.
The Wolves continued to dominate the game in the second half as Watford City posted scoring advantages of 16-9 and 18-10 in final two quarters.
Rounding out the scoring for the Wolves was Katie Mogen and Kara Langerud with six points each, Ricki Lindley with five points, Alli Mogen with four points, while Tarynn Jacobson, ReiAnn Lindley and Avery Sundeen ended the game with two points each.
For the game, the Wolves hit on 30 of 61 attempts from the field and were good on four of five attempts at the charity stripe.
Watford City    19    42    58    76
Stanley               8    10    19    29

Watford City Stats: Rebounds: Mackenzie Sparby, 12; Katie Mogen, 7; Alyssa Prichard, 4; April Spruell, 3; Kara Langerud, 2; Alli Mogen, 2; Ricki Lindley, 1; Lea Arndt, 1. Assists: Ricky Lindley, 8; Spruell, 5; K. Mogen, 4; Langerud, 2; Arndt, 1; Jacobson, 1. Steals: Lindley, 6; K. Mogen, 6; Spruell, 2; Langerud, 2; Prichard, 2; Sparby, 2; Arndt, 1; Mikka Haugeberg, 1; Krystal
Wold, 1; A. Mogen, 1. Blocks: Sparby, 3; A. Mogen, 1.

Watford City 64, Divide County 24
The Divide County Maroons were no match for Watford City on Friday evening as the Wolves dominated the offensive play for four solid quarters.
The Maroons, who are 11-4 on the season and entered last Friday night’s game on a nine-game winning streak, were no match against Watford City as the Wolves jumped out to a quick 22-6 first quarter lead.
“We got off to a good start against their man-to-man defense as Katie Mogen was able to go to work against Divide County’s senior, Second Team All-State player Hannah Jacobs, and their other posts,” stated John Zenz, Wolves’ head coach.
Mogen netted scored 11 of Watford City’s 22 first quarter points as she ended the contest with a game high 32 points.
“Our defense was able to force the Maroons to turn over the ball and create some easy opportunities for us,” stated Zenz. “Although we had a three to four-minute scoring drought in the second quarter, we were able to extend the lead to 33-12 at the half.”
Watford City’s defense continued to hold Divide County to single-digit scoring in the second half as the Wolves cruised to the easy win.
“We played excellent full court and half court defense the entire game,” stated Zenz. “Limiting any varsity team to 12 halftime points is a darn good effort, and we should win most games with an effort like that. We limited Jacobs to 16 points, but we tried to make nothing easy for her, and we did a pretty good job of that.”
While Mogen has the hot hand for the Wolves against Divide County, Zenz says that the Wolves have a lot of players that can score points.
“One of the best things about this team is that we have multiple girls that can go off and have big games,” stated Zenz. “If teams try and take away one player, we have others that can score. We can be tough to defend.”
Rounding out the scoring for Watford City was Alyssa Prichard with eight points, Kara Langerud and Mackenzie Sparby with six points each, April Spruell and Ricki Lindley with five points each, and ReiAnn Lindley with two points.
For the game, the Wolves shot 40 percent from the field, hitting on 25 of 63 attempts and were good on eight of 22 attempts at the charity stripe.
Watford City    22    33    50    64
Divide County    6    12    20    24

Watford City Stats: Rebounds: Katie Mogen, 8; Mackenzie Sparby, 4; Ricki Lindley, 3; Avery Sundeen, 3; Krystal Wold, 2; Kara Langerud, 1; Lea Arndt, 1; ReiAnn Lindley, 1; Alyssa Prichard, 1. Assists: April Spruell, 2; Arndt, 2; K. Mogen, 2; Langerud, 1; Sundeen, 1. Steals: K. Mogen, 6; Arndt, 5; Ricki Lindley, 4; Langerud, 3; Spruell, 1; Sundeen, 1; Wold, 1.

Watford City 67, Bowman County 34
Watford City capped off a great week of basketball action on Saturday as the Wolves’ varsity girls basketball team rolled over the Bowman County Bulldogs, 67-34, on Saturday.
“The girls got off to a good start with our half court trap, and ran out to a 21-7 first quarter lead,” stated Zenz. “The rest of the first half, we continued to play very solid defense, and we limited Bowman to just 14 first half points.”
Bowman came into the game with an 11-5 record and was sitting on top of the Region 7 standings. But the Bulldogs were no match for the Wolves.
Watford City continued to dominate the game in the second half as the Wolves posted scoring advantages of 16-9 and 17-11 in the final two quarters of play to cruise to the win.
“The girls put together very strong defensive efforts over the weekend, while putting a lot of miles on the road going from Crosby to Bowman,” stated Zenz.
Ricki Lindley paced the Wolves in scoring with 17 points, while Mackenzie Sparby and Katie Mogen finished the game with 15 and 13 points, respectively.
Also scoring for the Wolves was April Spruell with eight points, Lea Arndt and Mikka Haugeberg with three points each, while Kara Langerud, Alyssa Prichard, Krystal Wold and Alli Mogen netted two points each.
For the game, the Wolves shot 47 percent from the field, hitting on 26 of 55 attempts and were good on three of eight attempts at the charity stripe.
Watford City         21    34    50    67
Bowman County    7    14    23    34

Watford City Stats: Rebounds: Katie Mogen, 7; Mackenzie Sparby, 6; Tarynn Jacobson, 5; April Spruell, 3; Ricki Lindley, 3; Kara Langerud, 2; Lea Arndt, 2; Alli Mogen, 2; Mikka Haugeberg, 1; Alyssa Prichard, 1. Assists: K. Mogen, 5; Spruell, 4; Arndt, 3; Jacobson, 3; Langerud, 2; Lindley, 2; Avery Sundeen, 1; A. Mogen, 1. Steals: Spruell, 5; Jacobson, 3; K. Mogen, 3; Langerud, 2; Prichard, 2; Lindley, 1. Blocks: K. Mogen, 3; Sparby, 1.
 

WATFORD CITY WEATHER