Watford City – Team Preview
Today we head to western ND to look at the Wolves from Watford City. They have fantastic facilities in Wolf country and they have one heck of a head coach. David Gumke is a great person and teacher of the…
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Continue ReadingToday we head to western ND to look at the Wolves from Watford City. They have fantastic facilities in Wolf country and they have one heck of a head coach. David Gumke is a great person and teacher of the game at WC. Gumke was Coach of The Year in both the WDA and Class A last season. Take a look below for more info on the Wolves from Watford City.
Q&A with coach David Gumke
PHD: What can you tell us about last season?
Coach Gumke: “We did not win a game last season. Some games that stood out to me were a game at home against Minot where we were only down by 7 at halftime. Against Dickinson at home, again was about a 7 or 8-point game at the half, and ended up only losing by 16 points. Then at Mandan, we were in the game through halftime and playing well. The trend for us was being able to be in games at the half, but because of lack of depth, we would have trouble maintaining that through the second half.“
“We also had to go through the tragedy of losing a teammate to a vehicle accident on January 25th.“
PHD: How did the offseason go for your team/program?
Coach Gumke: “It went pretty well. We went to some team camps and had our open gyms throughout the summer. A highlight was when we played well against Bismarck High this summer. Three-point game with about 3 minutes left, but ended up losing by 10.“
PHD: Who are a few of your top players to look out for and why?
Coach Gumke: “I have 6 seniors returning that have been playing up on the varsity since they were sophomores. They are Landon Caldwell, point guard-good leader, Josiah Rojas, shooting guard-smooth player, Jahneim Samuel, slashing and cutting guard-lots of energy, Colton Ewing, post player good around the basket with a nice touch, good shot blocker, Eli Lawrence, guard that gets to the basket and is a good defender, smart player, and Tanner Edwards, good at getting to the basket, bring a ton of energy, no quit in him. We picked up foreign exchange student Leo Predonzan, he is a good shooter and passer, and he will help our team this season.“
Seniors: Colton Ewing 6’6”, Leo Predonzan 6’5”, Eli Lawrence 6’1”, Landon Caldwell 5’11”, Josiah Rojas 5’10”, Jahneim Samuel 5’10”, Tanner Edwards 5’10”
Juniors: Jory Lund 5’10”, Derek Holen 5’10”
Sophomores: Landon Vetter 6’1”, Colton Hufnagel 6’1”
PHD: Who are a couple of up-and-comers to look out for in the near future?
Coach Gumke: “Jory Lund – a junior that is a very good shooter, very smart, and coachable.“
PHD: What style of basketball will your team play?
Coach Gumke: “Nothing out of the ordinary. Hopefully, we are disciplined on offense and defense. We will want to push the ball up the floor and attack the basket in transition to get as many easy baskets as possible. We do like to press when possible to slow down the opponent.“
PHD: Who are your biggest rival school and why?
Coach Gumke: “For us, it would be Williston High School. Always a good competitive game. The crowd is pretty fun as well.“
PHD: In your opinion, who are some of the top teams in Class A and why?
Coach Gumke: “Minot and Century to me are the top 2 teams. They are returning very good players that are difficult to match up with. They are both very well-coached. Minot is very disciplined and does all of the little things. Dean does a nice job with his team.“
PHD: Anything that you would like to add?
Coach Gumke: “Hopefully, our outlook for the season is improved and competitive play to give us a chance for some wins. We return experienced players, but again won’t be very deep. We had two key players move again, which has been something that we have had to deal with every year.“
Good Luck Wolves!