KILLDEER - For the third-straight year, Watford City and Bowman County met in the championship game of the Roughrider tournament.
This year, both teams made the game quite the spectacle.
The Bulldogs used an 18-point performance from Kaylee Heinrich to beat the Wolves 51-45 for the first time in three years on Friday night - a win head coach Pam Fisher felt was long overdue.
“That was the goal coming into this, second is not good enough anymore,” she said. “After three years, it was time that we really made a push for the first place this year and we are very proud that we got that done.”
Early in the first half, it looked like it was a guaranteed three-peat for Watford City. The Wolves cruised to a 15-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and came out in the second quarter still firing on all cylinders. In the first 15 seconds, Watford City senior Amanda Mogen drove down the court for two and the Wolves expanded their lead to 14.
Three players finished with double-digit points for Watford City. Mogen and Kara Langerud each added 10 points while McKenzie Sparby led her team with 13.
Facing defeat early, the Bulldogs turned on their game. Senior Brittany Hansey started the scoring spree making a foul shot and her team scored eight unanswered points to come within 22-17. Bowman County stayed revved up and kept up with Watford City and went into the locker rooms just down 28-22.
“They were really tough. They were just scrambling all over us and kind of got us out of position,” said Bowman County senior Kaitlin Dix, who finished with seven points, three steals and three rebounds. “We just had to keep playing because we knew we could work with them.”
After Bowman County ended the third quarter with the slight 41-38 edge, the intensity and aggression both teams were playing with the champion would be determined by the fourth quarter performance.
Both teams scrambled on the floor and tried desperately to get the ball back in its possession. But again, the Bulldogs went out and outscored Watford City, 10-7 to clinch the victory.
“I thought the first half we played pretty well defensively,” Watford head coach John Zenz said. “We got a cushion and we missed a lot of shots the first half and easily in the first half we could have been up by 10, 15 points but we kind of let them hang around in the game and the second half we struggled to score.”
For the Bulldogs (3-0), Morgan Woodley posted nine points, while Justyce Duffield had six points and eight rebounds. Hansey supplied six points and led the team in assists with five.
“It was actually pretty exciting the last two years we were really bummed because we were so close to winning the championship and we finally got it this year and our caches are really happy for us this year too,” Hansey.
Although it is early in the season, Fisher said the key to her team’s success in the tournament and the season has been their bench and large number of girls with varsity experience.
“We have some depth, we can run seven, eight girls through the lineup,” Fisher said. “They all have experience at the varsity level and that probably is the key early in the season where we don’t have to rely on a certain four or five kids to play. We have some ability especially, in a three games in four days like this you have to be able to go to your bench and I was very pleased with how it worked for us. “
With winter break officially in effect, Bowman County doesn’t go back to the court until Dec. 28, when it travels to Harding County (S.D.) and has plenty of time to savor their championship win and take a long deserved rest.
“I’m going to sleep,” Hansey laughed. “I’m going to take a long rest and drink lots of water.”
Dix added regarding bringing momentum into the next portion of their season: “Just got to keep working hard as a team, staying together. Because we know what we can do with the ball and everything like that.”
WC 15 28 38 45
BC 8 22 41 51
WC: McKenzie Sparby 13, Amanda Mogen 10, Kara Langerud 10, Ricki Lindley 5, Lea Arndt 4, Kaitlyn Grimes 3.
BC: Kaylee Heinrich 18, Morgan Woodley 9, Kaitlyn Dix 7, Brittany Hansey 6, Justyce Duffield 6, Ariana Zook 5.
3-pointers: WC 1 (A. Mogen), BC 2 (Dix 1, Zook 1). Free throws: WC 14-18, BC 11-24. Total fouls: WC 21, BC 15. Fouled out: WC, A. Mogen. Rebounds: WC 30 (Arndt 7, A. Mogen 7), BC 30 (Duffield 8). Assists: WC 9 (Langerud 3), BC 9 (Hansey 5). Steals: WC 13 (Zenz 3, A. Mogen 3), BC 18 (five with 3). Blocks: BC 2 (Duffield 1, Heinrich 1). Turnovers: WC 32, BC 23.
Beulah rallies to beat Hettinger-Scranton for 3rd
In the final eight minutes of the game, the Beulah girls basketball team outscored Hettinger-Scranton 21-10.
The Miners used the fourth quarter to defeat the Night Hawks in the third-place game.
Delaney Johansen posted team-highs of 16 points, 13 rebounds and three assists. Courtney Mitchell added 15 points, while Jaime Murschel had 12. Despite giving up 30 turnovers, Beulah (3-2) forced Hettinger-Scranton into 22 turnovers.
Kaitlin Reitz supplied a game-high 17 points and four assists for the Night Hawks (1-4). Casey Joppa had 14 points, while Brooke Slater added six points and six rebounds.
HS 14 28 46 56
Beulah 18 29 41 62
HS: Kaitlin Reitz 17, Casey Joppa 14, Brooke Slater 6, Nicole Weaver 5, Ashley Miller 4, Cassie Holt 4, Kinsey Jahner 4, Lizzy Thompson 2.
B: Delaney Johansen 16, Courtney Mitchell 15, Jaime Murschel 12, Nicloe Schramm 8, Lakin Kessler 6, Tess Hoherz 3, Cassidy Schutt 2.
3-pointers: HS 4 (Joppa 3, Jahner 1), B 2 (Mitchell 2). Free throws: HS 10-21, B 8-24. Total fouls: HS 20, B 18. Fouled out: B, Kessler. Rebounds: HS 24 (Slater 6), B 45 (Johansen 13). Assists: HS 10 (Reitz 4), B 13 (Schramm 3, Johansen 3). Steals: HS 20 (three with 5), B 12 (Murschel 4). Blocks: B 3 (three with one). Turnovers: HS 22, B 30.
New England defeats Killdeer for consolation title
The New England girls basketball team used three double-digit scorers to best Killdeer for the consolation title.
Hannah Nordby, Taylor Hewson and Gabbi Hanson combined for 42 points to lead the Tigers to a 55-41 win over Killdeer.
Nordby had a game-high 17 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Hewson chipped in 15 points, while Hanson added 10 points and four assists. The Tigers are now 2-2 on the season.
Morgan LeMieux led the Cowboys (1-3) with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Jessica Starr and Keauna Fox each had seven points.
NE 14 27 39 55
Killdeer 9 21 30 41
NE: Hannah Nordby 17, Taylor Hewson 15, Gabbi Hanson 10, Ashley Plaggemeyer 6, Jenna Ehlis 4, Autumn Wolf 3.
K: Morgan LeMieux 14, Jessica Starr 7, Keauna Fox 7, Alison Scheetz 6, Codi Schaper 4, Sydney Anderson 3.
3-pointers: NE 3 (Hanson 2, Wolf 1), K 1 (Anderson 1). Free throws: NE 4-11, K 8-12. Total fouls: NE 13, K 11. Fouled out: K, Starr. Rebounds: NE 26 (Nordby 7), K 29 (LeMieux 10). Assists: NE 6 (Hanson 4), K 13 (Ashley Brew 6). Steals: NE 16 (Nordby 5), K 13 (Brew). Blocks: NE 2 (Plaggemeyer 2), K 2 (Murray 1, Anderson 1). Turnovers: NE 25, K 28.
Cougars top Richardton-Taylor in OT for 1st win
The Heart River girls basketball team needed overtime to claim its first win of the season.
The Cougars outscored Richardton-Taylor 9-4 in overtime en route to a 46-41 victory during the seventh-place game.
Karli Northrop led the Cougars (1-4) with 17 points and four steals. Jada Mattson added 12 points, while Gracelynn Gross had eight points and six rebounds.
Mikayla Aluise led the Raiders (1-3) with 15 points and seven rebounds. Shayna Frederick posted nine points and seven rebounds.
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RT 12 19 24 37 41
HR 10 22 32 37 46
RT: Mikayla Aluise 15, Shayna Frederick 9, Cassidy Diede 8, Hannah Rummel 5, Reagan Olson 2, Samantha Steiner 2.
HR: Karli Northrop 17, Jada Mattson 12, Gracelynn Gross 8, Jessica Praus 5, Kayla Raskin 2, Brittni Krance 2.
3-pointers: HR 2 (Northrop 2). Free throws: RT 9-13, HR 14-20. Total fouls: RT 17, HR 16. Fouled out: RT, Aluise. Rebounds: RT 29 (Aluise 7, Frederick 7), HR 25 (Gross 6, Praus 6). Assists: RT 8 (Rummel 4), HR 1 (Northrop). Steals: RT 11 (Steiner 3, Rummel 3), HR 15 (Northrop 4, Praus 4). Blocks: RT 1 (Diede). Turnovers: RT 27, HR 23.
