Watford cruises to Roughrider Tourney championship title
By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor
Watford City avenged last year’s loss to Bowman County on Saturday as the Wolves reclaimed the championship title at the Roughrider Tournament in Killdeer.
Last year, the Bulldogs edged the Wolves, 51-45, to take the crown in a close game. But this year, Bowman County was no match against Watford City’s high scoring offense as the Wolves rolled over the Bulldogs, 78-47.
The Wolves, who improved their season record to 4-0, cruised through the Roughrider Tournament with a 77-31 win over Heart River, and by defeating Killdeer, 61-39, to advance to the title game.
This week, the Wolves will be taking their undefeated record to Minot on Monday, Dec. 22, to take on Bishop Ryan.
Roughrider Tournament
First Round
Watford City 77, Heart River 31
For the second time this season, Heart River fell victim to Watford City’s tough defense as the Wolves rolled over the Cougars, 77-31, in opening round play of the Roughrider Tournament.
The Wolves jumped out to a quick, 27-5, first quarter lead and never looked back en route to the easy win.
“We were able to apply a pressure defense that created a lot of scoring opportunities for us,” stated John Zenz, Wolves’ head coach on the win.
Watford City led the Cougars, 43-14, at halftime, and were up by 46 points at the end of three quarters of play.
Katie Mogen led Watford City in scoring with 22 points, while Lea Arndt and Ricki Lindley netted 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Rounding out the scoring for the Wolves was Kara Langerud and Mackenzie Sparby with eight points each, Krystal Wold and Alli Mogen with four points each, while April Spruell, Mikka Haugeberg, Tarynn Jacobson and ReiAnn Lindley ended the game with two points each.
For the game, the Wolves shot 50 percent from the field, hitting on 30 of 60 attempts and were good on 14 of 18 at the charity stripe.
Watford City 27 43 65 77
Heart River 5 14 19 31
Watford City Stats: Rebounds: Alli Mogen, 7; April Spruell, 4; Kara Langerud, 4; Katie Mogen, 4; Mackenzie Sparby, 4; Ricki Lindley, 3; Mikka Haugeberg, 3; Lea Arndt, 1. Assists: Langerud, 3; Spruell, 1; Lindley, 1; Arndt, 1; Jacobson, 1; K. Mogen, 1. Steals: Spruell, 7; Lindley, 7; Langerud, 5; K. Mogen, 3; A. Mogen, 2; Arndt, 1; Haugeberg, 1; Avery Sundeen, 1; A. Mogen, 1. Blocks: A. Mogen, 2.
Roughrider Tournament
Semifinals
Watford City 61, Killdeer 39
Watford City cruised to the championship game of the Roughrider Tournament with a 61-39 win over the Killdeer Cowboys.
Watford City got into foul trouble in the first half of play when the Wolves found themselves trailing the Cowboys, 24-23, at halftime. But Watford City made the corrections they needed to start the second half and turned the game around. In the second half, the Wolves outscored Killdeer, 38-14, to cruise to an easy win.
Katie Mogen and April Spruell provided the offensive scoring punch for the Wolves as the paired scored 23 and 15 points, respectively.
“We got into early foul trouble, which affected our rotations and we struggled a bit. In fact, we were down 24-23 at halftime,” stated Zenz. “So we had our first bit of adversity. We talked about playing better defense without fouling for the second half. We were able to do that, and then steadily opened up to a comfortable lead.”
Rounding out the scoring for Watford City was Mackenzie Sparby with eight points, Lea Arndt and Alli Mogen with five points each, Ricki Lindley with four points and Kara Langerud with one point.
For the game, the Wolves shot 41 percent from the field, hitting on 25 of 61 attempts and were good on 11 of 28 at the free throw line.
Watford City 14 23 43 61
Killdeer 12 24 33 39
Watford City Stats: Rebounds: Lea Arndt, 7; Ricki Lindley, 6; Katie Mogen, 6; Mackenzie Sparby, 5; April Spruell, 3; Kara Langerud, 2; Tarynn Jacobson, 1; Alli Mogen, 1. Assists: Lindley, 6; Langerud, 2; Spruell, 1. Steals: Langerud, 5; Spruell, 4; Lindley, 4; K. Mogen, 3; A. Mogen, 2; Arndt, 1; Mikka Haugeberg, 1; A. Mogen, 1. Blocks: Lindley, 1; K. Mogen, 1; A. Mogen, 1.
Roughrider Tournament
Championship
Watford City 78, Bowman 47
For the fourth year in a row, Watford City and Bowman squared off in the championship game of the Roughrider Tournament. And with a 78-47 win over the Bulldogs, the Wolves reclaimed the title.
“We really played good pressure defense without fouling and were able to open up a 16-point lead,” stated Zenz. “We did have some lapses in the half court defense where we let our girls beat us to the hoop, and our backside defense didn’t rotate to help.”
Unlike the semifinal game, the Wolves were able to control the scoring in the game as Watford City posted leads of 28-11 and 47-31 after the two quarters of play.
The second half saw Watford City continue to take advantage of its pressure defense and roll to the win.
Katie Mogen posted her first double-double of the season as she paced the Wolves with 28 points, while grabbing 10 rebounds.
Joining Mogen in double-digit scoring for Watford City was Lea Arndt and Mackenzie Sparby with 12 points each.
Also scoring for Watford City was April Spruell and Ricki Lindley with nine points each, Kara Langerud, Avery Sundeen and Tarynn Jacobson with two points each, and ReiAnn Lindley and Alli Mogen with one point each.
In the title game, the Wolves shot 54 percent from the field, hitting on 26 of 48 attempts, while connecting on 14 of 21 attempts at the charity stripe.
Watford City 28 47 67 78
Bowman 11 31 38 47
Watford City Stats: Rebounds: Lea Arndt, 7; Ricki Lindley, 6; Katie Mogen, 6; Mackenzie Sparby, 5; April Spruell, 3; Kara Langerud, 2; Tarynn Jacobson, 1; Alli Mogen, 1. Assists: Lindley, 6; Langerud, 2; Spruell, 1. Steals: Langerud, 5; Spruell, 4; Lindley, 4; K. Mogen, 3; A. Mogen, 2; Arndt, 1; Mikka Haugeberg, 1; A. Mogen, 1. Blocks: Lindley, 1; K. Mogen, 1; A. Mogen, 1.