DEVILS LAKE — For the first time since being moved to Class A, the Devils Lake boys’ basketball team has hit a losing skid.
The Firebirds lost exactly two games in each of the last two seasons. Devils Lake has now dropped four of its last five games — and the latest came in a critical region contest.
“Right now, we’re lacking a lot of leadership,” Devils Lake head coach Dustin Brodina said. “Leadership and accountability. It starts at practice. When somebody does something wrong, we need some leaders to step up and make sure everybody’s accountable for mistakes, and accountable for making sure we’re working really, really hard; we’re working 100% every time. And if we don’t get any of that, it’s going to be a long stretch.”
The Firebirds (7-4) saw their region record fall to 3-3 with a loss to Grafton (7-2, 6-0) on Monday at the Devils Lake Sports Center. The game had major bearing on the eventual seeding for March’s region tournament.
Sophomore Ben Brodina’s huge night — a school-record 49 points — was overshadowed by the lethal duo of Brody Lillemoen and Reggie Rice, who led the Spoilers to a 90-82 win.
“Not happy defensively at all,” Coach Brodina said. “Our lack of effort. Out of position. Those two guys put the ball in the hole, but it’s just unacceptable to give up 90 points in a basketball game.”
For Grafton, it continued a theme of high-scoring games. Lillemoen and Rice are each averaging around 30 and 20 a game, respectively. The Spoilers are one of the best offensive teams in Class A, but their defense has been relatively spotty. They gave up 88 to Central Cass and 91 to Kindred.
Brodina hit two triples in the early going. Devils Lake had a 20-19 lead after the first quarter, with 10 points already for Brodina.
Rice had Grafton’s first eight points.
Lillemoen got going late in the first quarter and totaled 14 points in the first half.
Rice didn’t have any field goals in the second quarter. But Jack Green came off the bench and got down the floor, scoring all nine of his points in the second quarter. They were the only points Grafton scored off the bench all game.
After seven lead changes to open the night, Grafton started to pull away late in the first half. The Spoilers got a boost from the free throw line — they made their first 12 before finally missing one. They went 14-for-17 from the line in the first half and 26-for-31 overall.
“They do a good job of getting to the free throw line,” Brodina said. “And then they made them.”
Devils Lake didn’t do quite so well in that department. The Firebirds missed their first six free throw attempts. They were 1-for-11 at one point.
Four consecutive makes from Brodina later in the game improved Devils Lake to 6-for-15 from the stripe.
“We shoot free throws in practice. We work hard in practice. And the stuff is just not translating to the game,” Coach Brodina said. “So we’re going to go back to the drawing board and figure some things out.”
Brodina scored 11 more in the second quarter to keep Devils Lake close at halftime, down 41-36.
The Lillemoen and Rice show kicked into full gear in the second half. Grafton widened its lead to double digits with 12 in the third quarter from Rice, along with eight from Lillemoen. Aidan McMillian was the only other Spoiler to score for the rest of the game, with two points in each of the final two quarters.
Brodina hit a three at the buzzer of the third quarter. It brought his individual total into the 30s, and it cut Grafton’s lead to nine.
Lillemoen and Rice cruised to the basket with ease for most of the fourth quarter. Lillemoen, who scored 48 in a game earlier this year, put up 19 in the fourth quarter. His line included three triples and 12-of-13 free throw shooting.
The 6-foot-8 Lillemoen ended up with 41 points Monday night.
“He just kept getting to the basket,” Brodina said. “He’s a tough player. But we’ve got to know what our game plan was, and the help defense and stepping over the top. And we were just short on our rotations, short on our help defense. And yeah, they put the ball in the hole.”
Rice added six more points in the fourth quarter to finish with 28 for Grafton.
Brodina, whose shooting had dried slightly with two field goals in the third quarter, found a feel again in the fourth. He nearly matched Lillemoen on getting to the basket. He had six deuces in the final period, along with two triples, giving him 18 in the quarter. His 49-point performance included six three-pointers, with at least one in each quarter.
He surpassed Doyle Heisler, who scored 48 in a game for Devils Lake during the 1979-80 season.
Brodina’s previous career high was 26, set less than a week ago. This is his first year as a starter on varsity.
“He played hard. Made some shots,” said Coach Brodina, who expressed earlier this season that he’s not a huge record guy. “He played good. But it wasn’t our offense that lost us the game. I guess I’m proud of him. He worked hard, too. But I guess I don’t really care how many points we scored; it’s how many points we gave up. And we’re never going to win any games if we’re giving up 90 points.”
Devils Lake’s bench was shorthanded with Egan Laite out nursing a flu.
The Firebirds’ sixth man right now is Miguel Dunn, who opened some eyes in the Ramsey County tournament earlier this month. He scored seven off the bench Monday.
“He’s stepping up well, too. He’s playing well,” Brodina said of Dunn. “He’s got to get a little better defensively. And he’ll get there, hopefully. But yeah, he puts the ball in the hole and gives us another offensive weapon.”
Talan Gregory made two three-pointers in the second half, making him second on the team with 10 overall.
The Firebirds have another tough hill to climb over this Friday when they play No. 1 Kindred in the Devils Lake Youth Activities Shootout.
It is, of course, a rematch of the last two state championship games. Kindred is 8-0.
“They’re playing really, really well, and we’re not playing so well,” Brodina said. “So we’ve got some work to do to get a little bit better by Friday. Got a few practices. So hopefully we can compete with them on Friday.”
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