December 24, 2012

Watford girls off to a roaring start

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

Watford City’s varsity girls basketball team got off to the start that John Zenz, Wolves’ head coach, was hoping for as the Wolves opened their season with a pair of wins at the Roughrider Tournament in Killdeer.
Watford City rolled over the Heart River Cougars, 75-32, in opening round play of the tournament and then knocked off Killdeer, 44-34, to advance to the tournament championship game.
The Wolves next action will be on Saturday, Dec. 29 when Watford City opens its home season taking on the Bottineau Stars.

Roughrider Tournament
First Round
Watford City 75, South Heart 32

Katie Mogen was unstoppable for Watford City in the Wolves’ first game of the season as the freshman single-handedly outscored the Heart River Cougars in first round action of the Roughrider Tournament in Killdeer.
Mogen, who played for only 13 minutes of the game, poured in a game high 35 points to pace both teams in scoring and bested the Cougars combined 32 points. Mogen ended the game connecting on an amazing 16 of 18 from the field and hitting on three of six at the charity stripe.
In a game that was over almost as quickly as it started, Watford City jumped out to a 27-10 first-quarter lead and then blew the game wide open, outscoring Heart River, 26-4, in the second quarter to post a 53-14 halftime lead.
“The win over South Heart was a good way to start the season,” stated Zenz. “We were able to get everyone in for some varsity minutes.”
McKayla Haugeberg joined Mogen in double digit scoring ending the night with 13 points.
For the game, the Wolves shot an impressive 71 percent from the field, hitting on 35 of 49 attempts.
Rounding out the scoring for Watford City was Amanda Mogen and Alyssa Prichard with six points each, Ricki Lindley and Madison Brown with four points each, Jessica Brown with three points, while Kara Langerud and Sadie Kieson ended the game with two points each.
Watford City    27    53    71    75
South Heart    10    14    27    32


Roughrider Tournament
Semifinal Round
Watford City 44, Killdeer 34

While Watford City coasted to an easy win over South Heart in opening round play of the Roughrider Tournament, the Wolves’ win in the semifinals was a very different story.
Battling foul trouble and poor shooting, the Wolves had to battle back from a 30-29 halftime deficit to down the Killdeer Cowboys, 44-34, to advance to the title game.
“We battled foul trouble and poor shooting all evening,” stated Zenz. “We were only 32 percent from the field and had 24 turnovers in the affair. But we did find a way to pull out the win.”
The Wolves trailed the Cowboys, 10-8, at the end of the first quarter of a very low scoring game and by one point, 30-29, at halftime.
But Watford City turned its offense around to start the second quarter as the Wolves went on a 12-4 scoring spree to go ahead for good.
McKayla Haugeberg led the Wolves with 20 points, six steals and four assists, while Jessica Brown and Katie Mogen each chipped in six points.
Rounding out the scoring for Watford City was Madison Brown and Alyssa Prichard with four points each, while Ricki Lindley and Amanda Mogen netted two points each.
“It was a good win for the team,” stated Zenz. “It will help us see that we need to keep getting better and there are many areas that we can improve on.”
Watford City    8    21    33    44
Killdeer         10    20    24    34

WATFORD CITY WEATHER