No. 1 Devils Lake and Four Winds/Minnewaukan both came away from the Dale Brown & Hoopster Classic with wins over No. 2 Beulah.
The event brought together a host of teams from around the state. Games were played at the Minot State Dome on Dec. 27, 29 and 30.
The No. 1 Benson County girls and North Star boys were among other teams to participate.
Wildcats cruise over Lakers
The defending Class B state champion, No. 1 Benson County, improved to 7-0 with a commanding win over Des Lacs-Burlington (1-6) on Dec. 27. DL-B is a Class A team that competes in Region 3.
The Wildcats won 78-30.
Junior Kaitlyn Maddock came into the contest with the fewest points per game among Benson County’s big four scorers, despite still averaging roughly double figures. She surpassed 1,000 career points in last year’s state tournament.
Maddock had her best game of the season thus far, leading the Wildcats with 22 points. Aubrey Kenner was right behind her with 18. Lacie Fautsch had 14, and Addisyn Faul had 11.
It’s become routine for Benson County to have four players with double figures in a given game.
“We’re everyone’s Super Bowl,” Maddock said on the GameDay Media YouTube broadcast. “So we know we have to come with energy and execute every single day. No matter the level of competition, just play our hardest.”
The Wildcats led 34-9 after the first quarter. Their worst defensive quarter was the second, when they outscored DL-B 20-10. They had a 35-point lead by halftime.
“You can’t come out flat against good teams or Class A teams, or anybody for that matter,” head coach Bryan Kenner said on the GameDay Media broadcast. “Our defense is what we pride ourselves on. We get a lot of offense off our defense, our transition and things like that. We hold ourselves to a standard defensively, what we do with our rotations and our intensity every night.”
Benson County hosts Sargent County on Jan. 3 before starting district play against North Star in Cando on Jan. 6.
Indians get back on track
Four Winds/Minnewaukan had fallen out of the top-five ranking after a 20-point loss to Wahpeton.
The Indians got back on the right path with a 20-point win over Dickinson Trinity.
FW/M (2-1) beat the Titans (0-3) 63-43 on Dec. 29 — its first of two games in the event.
“It didn’t seem like we got off the bus against Wahpeton. They kind of took it to us,” Indians head coach Rick Smith said on the GameDay Media broadcast. “And tonight, we knew we had to change things around. We knew after that game in Wahpeton, we had to change some things in practice. And tonight, I thought we were a little bit more physical. Better defensively.”
Dickinson Trinity had FW/M reasonably close in the first half. The Indians’ lead was 33-24 at the half.
But the Indians got 21 points from Marial Deng, and Jonte Delorme added 20.
Firebirds outlast Miners
Devils Lake persevered in the most anticipated matchup of the day — the last contest of the evening on Dec. 29.
The No. 1-ranked Firebirds (6-0) beat No. 2 Beulah (3-1), pulling away at the end to win 55-51.
Devils Lake did it without its two most potent scorers, Mason and Max Palmer, who were away from the team.
In their place, Talan Gregory and Alex Hammond entered the starting lineup. Gregory stepped up in a massive way, leading the Firebirds with 22 points.
Beulah got off to a stronger start. The Miners led through the entire first half. The gap was as wide as six, but Devils Lake hung on to only trail by two at halftime, 27-25. The Miners’ advantage in size helped them grab some early offensive rebounds, but their shooting was cold.
“I knew it was going to be a hard-fought game,” Devils Lake head coach Dustin Brodina said on the GameDay Media broadcast. “Our biggest challenge was to keep their shooters from getting hot. And I thought we did a good job of that.”
Gregory had 17 of Devils Lake’s 25 points in the first half.
The Firebirds grabbed their first lead of the game in the third quarter, when Ben Brodina swished a deep go-ahead three.
Beulah was back in a two-point lead by the end of the third quarter. But Devils Lake squeaked ahead early in the fourth and held on. It helped that Beulah’s 6-foot-7 center, Bennett Larson, was limited due to foul trouble. He still scored 13 points, but he sat out a significant portion after reaching four fouls and eventually fouled out.
Larson’s absence made Beulah a little less daunting physically.
“We played great team defense today,” Gregory said on the GameDay Media broadcast. “Coming into it, we knew how hard we had to work. They’re a really good offensive team, and we knew we had to shut down some of their main guys.”
With a 50-48 lead, Devils Lake got some breathing room with a three by Hammond. While Gregory led the team in points, Hammond was third with nine. Brodina was second with 11. Gregory and Hammond’s contributions helped alleviate the loss of the Palmers.
Beulah drained a last-second triple, but it was already a seven-point game by then.
“They’re great players, and that’s a great team that we just beat,” Coach Brodina said.
Devils Lake’s next game is this Saturday, Jan. 3, at home against No. 4 Wahpeton.
Indians storm back to beat Beulah
The next afternoon, it was FW/M’s turn to beat Beulah.
The Indians (3-1) won another close game, 55-52 over the Miners (3-2) on Dec. 30.
Deng again led FW/M’s scoring, with 25 points. Sonny Alberts and Joran Lohnes added eight each.
The teams were tied 21-21 at halftime. Beulah led by as many as six in the fourth quarter — it was 46-40 with just a little over five minutes on the clock.
The Indians tied it with a 6-0 run, getting a turnover and easy layups from Lohnes and Deng.
“It looked kind of dim there,” Smith said on the GameDay Media broadcast. “We made a nice run to get back in the game. I think both teams were very tired.”
Beulah still had a three-point lead with 47.6 seconds left.
At the 24.3 mark, FW/M down by one, Dayson Dubois forced a turnover. Deng got the ball, made a spin move and converted a jumper from the free throw line to jolt the Indians ahead.
There were 3.7 seconds on the clock.
Deng crushed the Miners’ hopes in the final moments. He grabbed a steal, ran down the court and slammed this one away, both literally and figuratively. His dunk made it a 55-52 final.
“Unbelievable,” Deng said on the GameDay Media broadcast.
Added Smith: “That’s what Marial does. He’s that type of basketball player. You’ve got to look for that kid when the chips are on the line. He cashed in for us.”
FW/M now has its season momentum going back in a positive direction. It was bumped bacj up to No. 4 in the Class A poll released Wednesday.
The Indians are set to host No. 1 Devils Lake on Jan. 5.
North Star drops tight contest in lone game of the Classic
The North Star boys’ basketball team dropped a close game in the final action of the tournament. It was the last game in Dec. 30’s slate.
The Bearcats (2-2) fell 56-55 to No. 3 Our Redeemer’s (4-1).
North Star trailed by 13 at the half. Our Redeemer’s was up 53-47 with under two minutes on the clock.
The Bearcats fell just short of a comeback. A turnover helped them get within two. Down 56-53 with less than 10 seconds left, Ian Westlind drove in for a layup.
Westlind led the Bearcats with 20 points. Alec Peyerl had 13.
A single free throw proved to be the difference, as North Star couldn’t make anything happen in the final 2.7 seconds.
Still, the Bearcats challenged one of the top-ranked teams in the state. Their next action is on the road against Park River/Fordville-Lankin on Jan. 5, before they compete in the Ramsey County Tournament in Devils Lake on Jan. 8-10.
