Washburn edges Watford City for 7th place

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BISMARCK — Washburn’s Allison Weisgarber wasn’t about to let her Cardinals fall in all three games of the state Class B state girls basketball tournament on Saturday.

The 5-foot-5 senior guard stepped up and buried the biggest 3-pointer of her career from the right wing with 1 minute, 34 seconds left in the seventh-place game against the Watford City Wolves.

The shot gave the Cardinals a 48-47 lead, after the Wolves had led the entire fourth quarter. Washburn held on from there to win 50-47.

“I was thinking, ‘I hope this goes in,’” Weisgarber said of her game-winning trey. “We really wanted to get focused and win at least one game in the state tournament.”

Washburn’s (22-5) biggest lead in the first half was 17-7 and it went into halftime with a 19-13 advantage. But three Watford City 3-pointers, two by senior guard Marti Quale, slashed the lead to 33-32 at the end of the third quarter.

The Wolves briefly led 26-25 in the third after a bucket by senior post Dani Bates. Bates and Quale led Watford City with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

Watford City (21-5) immediately reclaimed the lead to open the fourth behind a three-point play by junior Brianna Allex. The Wolves converted a trio of three-point plays in the final frame and led by as much as 45-40 before Weisgarber’s clutch bucket from beyond the arc.

“We really hit some key shots down the stretch,” Washburn coach Keith Jacobson said. “I was pleased with how the kids kept battling.”

Washburn senior forward Samantha Schell ended her career with a big game, finishing with 13 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.

Washburn outrebounded Watford City 43-28.

“All these teams are fantastic at state,” Jacobson said. “For us to do what we did we can be satisfied.”

Washburn 10 19 33 50

WC 6 13 32 47

WC: Bates 13, Quale 11, Haugeberg 10, Allex 7, Sanford 6.

W: Schell 13, Clayton 9, Retterath 8, Tweeten 6, Moberg 7, Weisgarber 5, Ankenbauer 2.

3-pointers: Washburn 2 (Clayton 1, Weisgarber 1), Watford City 4 (Quale 2, Sanford 2). Free throws: W 14-20, WC 11-19. Total fouls: W 19, WC 23. Rebounds: W 47 (Schell 17), WC 31 (Johnson 7). Assists: WC 13 (Clayton 5), WC 9 (Allex 4).

Savaloja is a sports reporter for The Jamestown Sun, which is owned by Forum Communications Co.

Tags: class b state tournament, watford city, sports, basketball, preps