March 25, 2014

Wolves take 8th at State Class B

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

While the Watford City varsity girls basketball team no doubt wishes that they would have played better at the State Class B Girls Basketball Tournament this past weekend, the Wolves can say that they joined seven other elite basketball teams at the big dance.
“It was a good experience for our young team,” stated John Zenz, Wolves’ head coach. “It showed us that we need to get stronger as players in order to be able to compete against some of the teams. And we have a good group of players coming back and we look forward to the chance of making a return trip to State.”
In spite of losing all three of their games at the State Tournament, the Wolves can still be proud of the fact that they ended their season with an eighth place finish at State, and finished the season with an impressive 20-8 record.
The Wolves dropped their opening round action of the State Tournament falling to the Central Cass Squirrels, 47-38, on Thursday, and then fell to the Lakota/Edmore Raiders, 58-41, on Friday. In Saturday’s battle for seventh place, the Wolves lost to the Thompson Tommies, 68-38.

State Class B Tournament
Opening Round Game
Central Cass 47, Watford City 38

While Watford City would jump out to a quick, 4-0, lead on baskets by Jeanna Zenz and Katie Mogen in the opening round play of the State Class B Tournament on Thursday, Central Cass’s size proved to be too much for the Wolves.
The Squirrels got on the board midway through the first quarter, and then went on a 11-0 scoring run to hold an 11-4 first quarter lead.
While both teams struggled offensively in the second quarter, Central Cass was able to build its lead to 12 points, 19-7, at halftime.
Watford City’s offense finally came alive in the third quarter as the Wolves outgunned the Squirrels, 26-19, to trail Central Cass by five points, 38-33, going into the final eight minutes of play.
But that would be as close as the Wolves would get as Central Cass pulled away in the fourth quarter to take the win.
Katie Mogen had a double-double in the game as she led the Wolves in scoring with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Jeanna Zenz netted seven points in the losing effort.
Also scoring for Watford City was Kara Langerud with five points, Lea Arndt with three points, while Amanda Mogen and Ricki Lindley netted two points each.
For the game, the Wolves shot 25 percent from the field, hitting on 15 of 58 attempts and were good on five of 12 at the free-throw line.
Watford City       4      7    33    38
Central Cass    11    19    38    47


State Class B Tournament
Second Round Game
Lakota/Edmore 58, Watford City 41

Amanda Mogen provided Watford City’s fire power in the first quarter of Friday’s game against Lakota/Edmore as the senior scored eight of the Wolves’ 15 points. But in spite of Watford City holding a 17-12 first quarter lead, the Wolves were not able to sustain their scoring momentum in the second quarter.
A three-pointer by Ricki Lindley with 5:42 minutes left in the first half gave the Wolves a five-point, 20-15 lead, but the Raiders would take a one-point, 23-22, lead with 3:27 left in the second quarter. And it was a lead that Lakota/Edmore would never relinquish as the Raiders led the Wolves, 32-24, at the end of the first half.
Watford City would make several runs against the Raiders in the third quarter as the Wolves would cut Lakota/Edmore’s lead to three points, 38-35, on a Ricki Lindley basket late in the quarter. But the Raiders would keep the Wolves at bay and take a four-point, 41-37, lead into the final quarter of play.
The Raiders opened the final stanza of play by going on a 15-0 scoring run that took the Wolves completely out of the game as the Raiders cruised to a 58-41 win.
Ricki Lindley paced the Wolves in scoring with 12 points, while Amanda Mogen ended the game with eight points.
Also scoring for Watford City was Katie Mogen with seven points, Lea Arndt with five points, Kara Langerud with three points, Kaytlyn Grimes and Mackenzie Sparby with two points each, while April Spruell and Alli Mogen netted one point each.
For the game, the Wolves shot 34 percent from the field, hitting on 16 of 46 attempts and were good on seven of 23 at the free-throw line.
Watford City          17    24    37    41
Lakota/Edmore    12    32    41    58


State Class B Tournament
Seventh Place Game
Thompson 68, Watford City 38

Thompson outscored the Wolves in all four quarters of the seventh place game at the State Class B Girls Basketball Tournament on Saturday as the Wolves fell to the Tommies, 68-38.
Behind a three-pointer by Jeanna Zenz and a two-pointer by Katie Mogen to open the scoring action against the Tommies, the Wolves never led after the opening 4½ minutes of play.
The Tommies led the Wolves, 21-12, at the end of the first quarter of play and by 27 points, 49-22, at halftime.
The second half saw the Tommies continue to dominate the offensive action as Thompson outscored the Wolves, 14-8, in the third quarter while Watford City posted an 8-5 scoring advantage in the final eight minutes of play.
The Wolves were led in scoring by Katie Mogen, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, with nine points, while Amanda Mogen netted six points.
Also scoring for Watford City was Ricki Lindley, Elise Hadley and Alyssa Prichard with five points each, Kaytlyn Grimes and Jeanna Zenz with three points each, and Lea Arndt with two points.
For the game, the Wolves shot 34 percent from the field, hitting on 16 of 47 attempts and were good on three of seven at the free-throw line.
Watford City    12    22    30    38
Thompson       21    49    63    68

 

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