Devils Lake head coach Justin Klein gives the Firebirds a pep talk during a timeout in their game against Kindred on Saturday. (Photo by Mojo Hill)
DEVILS LAKE — When the Firebirds returned to the locker room at halftime, they’d held Kindred senior Liza Trenbeath — a new member of the 1,000-point club — to five total points.
“I thought we did a nice job with her in the first half. We even said that in the locker room,” Devils Lake head coach Justin Klein said. “We told the kids that: ‘You did a good job in the first half.’”
On Friday, Kindred beat Rugby 49-35 — with 46 points between Trenbeath and Siera Nipstad.
In Saturday’s first half, Kindred had more balanced scoring. Devils Lake was within three points at the break.
“But then the second half, I don’t know,” Klein said. “It just got ugly.”
Kindred went on to get 16 from Trenbeath and 18 from Nipstad in the second half. The pair totaled 21 and 31 points, respectively, as Kindred pulled away in unrelenting fashion.
Devils Lake (6-5) ultimately fell 78-59 to the Vikings (10-2) on Saturday, in their lone game of the Devils Lake Youth Activities Shootout.
“I thought that we had a lack of effort,” Klein said. “I thought we were just going through the motions in the second half. … We couldn’t score. We turned the ball over, and it led to layups.”
From the beginning, Kindred had the game mostly under its control. But the Firebirds hung around in the first half.
Tylie Brodina hit three triples and scored 13 points before halftime. Presley Brown had eight, while Mia Elsperger, Jenae Martinson and Ava Beck all contributed as well.
Each time it looked like Kindred might break away, Devils Lake got back in it — at least during the first half. A 9-for-14 free throw performance helped in that regard.
A step-back three for Brodina gave Devils Lake a brief lead of 18-17.
Kindred stretched its lead to eight at one point, but Brown made a layup and Martinson had a put-back after Brodina missed a three-point attempt. Devils Lake stayed within four.
Brodina responded to a triple from Nipstad with one of her own, making it 34-30. It was 35-32 at the half — Devils Lake still very much in it.
Nipstad scored 13 in the first half for Kindred. Kate Odegaard and Madelyn Pederson added eight and six, respectively, off the bench. Odegaard’s time was later limited due to foul trouble.
On Devils Lake’s opening possession of the third quarter, it missed multiple rebound chances, both short and long.
Trenbeath hit a three-pointer, and Brodina responded with a three-point play.
Those turned out to be Brodina’s last points of the game. She had a team-high 16 overall.
The Vikings had it all going from there. They made layups and three-point plays galore, along with a triple by Trenbeath. She and Nipstad recreated what they’d done to Rugby a day earlier.
Trenbeath and Nipstad scored 12 and 10, respectively, in the third quarter alone.
“I just think the lack of effort was most of it,” Klein said. “We lost them a few times. But in pregame, everybody should have known they’re their two best players, or two of the best players in the state. But they just got loose, and nobody stepped over to help.”
Trenbeath’s younger sister Ivy also chipped in with a layup. The Vikings had runs of 9-0 and 18-4 in the third quarter. They outscored Devils Lake 29-10 in the period overall.
“It just kept kind of spiraling,” Klein said. “It was a snowball effect.”
After the Firebirds had held their own offensively in the first half, they only made four field goals in the third quarter. Trenbeath and Nipstad each had more than that individually. And only two of the Firebirds’ field goals were from starters.
Devils Lake struggled to find openings.
“They didn’t do anything different,” Klein said of the Vikings’ defense. “I just think our lack of execution, and we weren’t aggressive enough. We didn’t go to the hole. We settled for the three. … We didn’t attack. I thought we shied away from the contact. And it just wasn’t good.”
Brown, who didn’t score in the third quarter, got going in the fourth, once the game was already out of reach. She got to the rim four times, giving her eight points in the quarter. She was tied with Brodina for the team lead with 16 overall.
Devils Lake still ended up pulling its starters with more than three minutes on the clock.
The Trenbeath-Nipstad duo combined for 12 points in the fourth quarter. Odegaard finished with 11 in the game to round out the Vikings’ scoring.
That kind of support is something Devils Lake will look to get for itself as it heads into a big week.
“We’ve just got to move forward from this loss, and hopefully work on some things on Monday at practice and get better,” Klein said. “We’ve got a ways to go. We’ve got a ways to improve, and we’ve got to improve everybody, I think, all around. Even our starters, to our bench players. And we’ve got to find ways to score. We have to find ways that other players can step up and score.
“You even saw at the end of the game here, in the fourth quarter, we missed way too many easy layups. Or block shots. So everybody’s got to step up, and we have to try to get better. And hopefully get a win on Tuesday.”
The Firebirds will host May-Port-C-G for a two-point region game on Tuesday. A week later, they’ll have their first matchup with a strong Carrington team.
Devils Lake brings a 2-1 region record into next week.
“They’ve got some good guards,” Klein said of the May-Port-C-G Patriots, “so we’ve got to be able to move our feet. We’ve got to keep that [Jordyn] Carpenter girl in check. It’s a big game on Tuesday.”
Other scores from Saturday at the Sports Center
The highlight from the rest of the action was No. 4 Thompson beating No. 3 Turtle Mountain, a day after taking down No. 2 Valley City.
The Tommies had to come back from a 58-43 deficit. They outscored Turtle Mountain 28-9 in the fourth quarter to win 71-67.
A loss would have made the upcoming NDAPSSA poll more complicated. With wins over the No. 2 and 3 teams in Class A, Thompson is likely to be ranked No. 2 when Wednesday’s poll comes out.
The Tommies (11-2) recently beat Devils Lake 63-53.
- Watford City 63, Central Cass 73
- No. 3 Turtle Mountain 67, No. 4 Thompson 71
- No. 2 Valley City 55, Rugby 39
