Wolves lose a pair
Titus Stenberg
Farmer Sports Writer
Hazen 56,
Watford City 53
Watford City played their fourth Region 4 game of the season on Tuesday night, and came up a few plays short against the Hazen Bison. The game was close throughout. Watford City held two different leads in the first quarter, but Hazen went on a 9-2 run to end it. The Wolves fought back to within one midway through the second quarter, but Hazen ended another quarter strong, this time on a 14-5 run. The 29-21 halftime lead for the Bison was the biggest either team had all game. The Wolves outscored Hazen by six in the third quarter and briefly held a one-point lead. Watford City tied the game twice in the fourth quarter but were never able to reclaim the lead as Hazen held on for the three-point victory.
“We played together as a team and had balanced scoring,” said Watford City head coach, David Gumke. “To start the game we lacked focus on finishing our shots at the basket. Offensively, we were getting very good looks at the basket, just needed to knock down the shots. We let Keaton Batke have a big night. We have struggled throughout the season to control a team’s best player.” Batke finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds on 9-of-18 field goal shooting.
“It is a different ball game if we can hold him down to his average scoring,” continued Gumke. “I liked that we were in the game working hard throughout and giving ourselves a chance to win. It is one of those games that you’d like to have back, or have an opportunity to see them again.”
Landon Vetter and Trysten DeVries both had six rebounds. Carter Breitbach had four assists, while Sears Wiredu led the Wolves with three steals.
“There are three guys to highlight, that in particular stood out to me,” said Gumke. “Carter Breitbach played more aggressively in the second half and started getting to the basket finishing with 10 points and ended up being a plus-one in the plus/minus column. Thaydan was a beast in the post and ended up being our leading scorer. The one that stood out the most was Xavier McGorman. He was a plus-eleven in the plus/minus column. He played very aggressively and was attacking the basket and putting pressure on the basket. Just doing what he does best. Defensively, he was very active getting deflections and steals.”
1 2 3 4 Final
Hazen 13 16 13 14 56
Watford City 8 13 19 13 53
Watford City scoring: Thaydan Arnold, 15; Carter Breitbach, 10; Xavier McGorman, 9; Sears Wiredu, 8; Trysten DeVries, 7; Kyle Best, 2; Landon Vetter, 2
Minot North 99,
Watford City 31
Watford City traveled to Minot North on Thursday night and had a difficult time competing with the AA Sentinels. Minot North never trailed in what turned out to be their seventh and most dominating win of the season so far. Watford City committed 33 turnovers that led to 42 Sentinel points.
“Turnovers have been an issue all year, although we kept our turnovers down close to our goal in the previous two games,” said Coach Gumke. “Tonight, they were caused by a combination of our poor passes, and getting our pocket picked bringing the ball up. Credit to their defense that made it difficult for us to take care of the ball. We don’t have that true point guard like we did last year with Jory Lund who needs a lot of credit for the way he handled the basketball under pressure. Minot North’s defense showed our guys where they need to improve. Handling the ball under extreme pressure needs to be improved. Our guys are young and will need to make developing that skill a priority.”
Minot North is currently in seventh place in a competitive WDA and is on pace to host a play-in game for the AA West Region Tournament.
“Well, we know that it is a difficult task playing against the WDA opponents,” said Coach Gumke. “They have a lot of depth on their teams, where the subs are just as good as their starting five players. It is always a challenge, but good to expose our weaknesses and show our guys where they need to be as an individual player to play at that level. Hopefully those games help our guys put in the work in the offseason to get themselves to that level of play.”
1 2 3 4 Final
Minot North 62 37 - - 99
Watford City 18 13 - - 31
Watford City scoring: Carter Breitbach, 8; Thaydan Arnold, 6; Trysten DeVries, 4; Kyle Best, 3; Brandon Spacher, 3; Jude Long, 2; Xavier McGorman, 2; Dominic Latray, 2; Harper Moberg, 1
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