Lady Wolves conclude their season
Titus Stenberg
Farmer Sports Writer
The 2024-25 season for Watford City girls basketball concluded with a fourth place finish at the Division A Region 4 Tournament in Hazen.
Quarterfinals - No. 4
Watford City 55, No. 5 Killdeer 40
The Wolves ended Killdeer’s season with a 15-point victory in the first game of the tournament on Monday afternoon. Watford City was not quite as dominant as they were in the regular season matchup which they won 54-32. “They had a new game plan and gave us a different look that we hadn’t seen this year,” explained Watford City head coach, Tom Dwyer. “They did some triangle-and-two defense and did a good job of switching between man-to-man, 2-3 zone, and triangle-and-two defense on a pretty frequent basis. It took us a little while to get into a rhythm and Killdeer deserves some credit for that. They also did a much better job of taking care of the ball this time compared to the first time we played them.”
Watford City’s biggest first half lead came at 16-6 early in the second quarter. Killdeer ended the half with a long 16-10 run to make it a 26-22 Wolves lead at the intermission. In the third quarter, Watford City senior Fallon Sampsel took over. “I have told Fallon all year that she is a shooter,” said Coach Dwyer. “I believed in her and Killdeer challenged her with their triangle-and-two defense. Fallon played like a senior and was calm, collected, and stepped up and made some big time shots. I couldn’t be prouder of Fallon. She played phenomenal defense throughout the entire game and did a great job rebounding. She just had a really good game in all phases. Her three 3-pointers helped us pull away.”
After a high-scoring third quarter, Watford City was able to create some more separation in the fourth quarter, thanks largely to a turnover-inducing defense. “Fallon’s threes opened up the floor for us and got Killdeer out of their triangle-and-two defense. Then we played some good defense and got some steals. Annabelle Bohn did a great job of pressuring them and forcing some turnovers.”
For the game, Sampsel shot 5-of-7 from the field and 3-of-3 from three-point land for 14 points. She and Bailey Mattson both pulled down six rebounds. Bohn led the Wolves with four assists and a remarkable eight steals.
1 2 3 4 Final
Watford City 6 14 17 12 55
Killdeer 12 16 13 5 40
Watford City scoring: Fallon Sampsel, 14; Lohgan Hanna, 14; Annabelle Bohn, 12; Salil Shoemaker, 6; Bailey Mattson, 4; Harlee Jacobson, 3; Kally Sorenson, 2
Semifinals
No. 1 Hazen 47, No. 4 Watford City 45
Tuesday night featured two semifinals that were both rematches from last year’s tournament semifinals. Both games saw the team that lost last year get some revenge this year. In the first semifinal, the top seed and host team, Hazen beat the Wolves by two in the closest game of the entire tournament.
By virtue of their No. 1 seed, Hazen had a first round bye and they came ready to play in their first tournament action. Hazen led 9-0 after a quick start. “After the rough start, we started settling down, staying true to our defense and moving the ball on offense,” said Coach Dwyer. “I think we had some nerves so we called a timeout and just sent the message of relaxing and getting focused on what our game plan was and the girls responded well.” The response was so good, that Watford City took the lead before the end of the first quarter. The quarter break seemed to reset Hazen’s game as they started the second quarter on a 9-2 run. Watford City scored the last five points of the half to get within 23-22 at halftime. The third quarter began with another Hazen run as they pushed the lead to 34-27. Then the Wolves had their best stretch of the game, a 13-0 run that spanned the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarters. Juniors Bailey Mattson and Lohgan Hanna were a huge part of that run.
“Both Bailey and Lohgan are amazing shooters,” said Coach Dwyer. “They both can create for themselves and for their teammates. Our offense is always at its best when everyone helps move the ball and keeps putting pressure on the defense until we get a good shot. Lohgan and Bailey just have a really good ability to do that, especially when they are working together.” Those two combined for 29 of Watford City’s 45 points.
Hazen had one run left in them and their 13-5 run sealed the semifinal victory. “I think we had our chances and we unfortunately just didn’t convert when we needed to like Hazen did,” said Coach Dwyer. This game was quite similar to the regular season matchup between these two which Hazen won 42-36.
1 2 3 4 Final
Hazen 14 9 11 13 47
Watford City 15 7 15 8 45
Watford City scoring: Bailey Mattson, 15; Lohgan Hanna, 14; Fallon Sampsel, 7; Salil Shoemaker, 4; Kally Sorenson, 3; Harlee Jacobson, 2
Third Place Game
No. 2 Shiloh Christian 64, No. 4 Watford City 52
With a trip to a State Qualifier on the line, Watford City tangled with Shiloh Christian on Thursday evening. This game was a rematch of the 2024 Region Championship Game and once again Shiloh was able to beat the Wolves.
Watford City began with another slow start in this one, falling behind 13-2 early. Watford City trimmed the deficit to 15-8 after one quarter and then 21-17 midway through the second period. The Wolves played a 2-3 zone defense for most of the game and that did prevent Shiloh from running away. “I think we had a good game plan,” said Coach Dwyer. “We certainly had moments where we forgot to communicate or didn’t rebound as well while in our 2-3 zone. But there were also stretches where Shiloh struggled. Shiloh just has some players that are really talented with finishing around the hoop.” Forward Sophia Heringer led the Skyhawks with 20 points, while their freshman guard Layla Thompson scored 11 points with three 3-pointers.
“Playing zone helped stop their inside game,” continued Coach Dwyer. “They’ve had some games where they haven’t shot well but they were able to knock some three’s down that they were missing against Dickinson Trinity on Tuesday.”
Bailey Mattson started the second half with a 3-pointer that got Watford City within 26-23, but that is the closest the Wolves would get for the rest of the game. “I think our shot quality could have been better,” concluded Coach Dwyer. “I think our rebounding could have been better. Shiloh just did enough of the little things that we were never able to complete the comeback.”
1 2 3 4 Final
Shiloh Christian 15 11 17 21 64
Watford City 8 12 15 17 52
Watford City scoring: Bailey Mattson, 19; Annabelle Bohn, 15; Lohgan Hanna, 8; Harlee Jacobson, 4; Salil Shoemaker, 4; Kally Sorenson, 2
Year in Review
The loss ended Watford City’s record at 11-13. Three Wolves were named to the All-Region team: junior Bailey Mattson, freshman Annabelle Bohn and freshman Harlee Jacobson. “We have an exciting future,” said Coach Dwyer. “We showed we had a lot of potential throughout this season and in the regional tournament. Not that it always went smoothly as there were certainly some ups and downs. But when you have players like Bailey stepping up and making some big time threes and creating for others and you have Harlee out-hustling everyone on the court and getting offensive rebounds and steals and then you have Annabelle beating people off the dribble and finishing around the rim, you get excited. And we have those three players coming back next year and many other players too. I look forward to getting back into the gym and continuing to build off everything we did this year and make sure we get a better outcome next year.”
Reflecting on the 2024-25 season, here were Coach Dwyer’s closing comments: “I am incredibly proud of them and feel very honored and privileged to be their coach. It’s an amazing group of young ladies. They are very coachable, hard-working, and resilient. They never once gave up. We certainly had some games that we didn’t play very well and struggled to find cohesion and the effort we needed on every single play. But they always came back the next day ready to get better again and to make progress towards our ultimate goal. They laid everything they could out on the floor during regionals in all three games. Sometimes you don’t get the results you want in sports and you have to find a way to come to terms with that. And hopefully we can use that as motivation for this upcoming off-season so that next year, we’re playing the very last game of the year.”
Region 4 Recap
Quarterfinals:
No. 4 Watford City 55, No. 5 Killdeer 40
No. 2 Shiloh Christian 92, No. 7 Standing Rock 73
No. 3 Dickinson Trinity 57, No. 6 Beulah 44
Semifinals:
No. 1 Hazen 47, No. 4 Watford City 45
No. 3 Dickinson Trinity 52, No. 2 Shiloh Christian 28
Third Place Game:
No. 2 Shiloh Christian 64, No. 4 Watford City 52
Championship Game:
No. 3 Dickinson Trinity 63, No. 1 Hazen 47
All-Region Players
Bailey Mattson, Annabelle Bohn
and Harlee Jacobson - Watford City
Malayah Williams - Beulah
Annabel Scheeler, Nevaeh
Tormaschy, Elly McAvoy and
Bella Kovash - Dickinson Trinity
Lauren Doll, Macey Van Inwagen and Macee Smith - Hazen
Mickellyn Walker - Killdeer
Sophia Heringer,
Betsy Hatlestad and Macie
Thompson - Shiloh Christian
Senior Athlete of the Year
Macee Smith, Hazen
Coach of the Year
Patty Mosset, Hazen
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