Seeding finalized for Region 2A girls’ basketball tournament being held in Devils Lake

The seeding is now set in stone for the Division A, Region 2 tournament being held in Devils Lake on Feb. 23, 24 and 26.

Devils Lake had already been locked into the No. 3 seed after a loss to No. 2 seed Thompson. The Firebirds beat Grafton on Tuesday in a two-pointer, 69-34, to finish with a regular-season region record of 10-4. They went 12-9 overall.

The Spoilers’ loss to Devils Lake — along with a 58-55 loss to Hillsboro/Central Valley the day before — locked them into the No. 6 seed. No. 3 plays No. 6 in the first round of the region tournament, so Devils Lake will get them again on Monday.

The Firebirds’ top two players, Tylie Brodina and Presley Brown, each had strong performances against Grafton on Tuesday. Brodina and Brown scored 26 and 16 points, respectively. Devils Lake outscored Grafton 49-26 in the first half and then allowed only eight points in the second half, including two in the fourth quarter.

The first round of the region tournament is single-elimination.

Assuming Devils Lake takes care of business against Grafton, and Thompson handles No. 7 seed May-Port-C-G, the Firebirds will meet Thompson in the semifinals on Tuesday. Once a team gets to the semifinals, it becomes double-elimination. Devils Lake lost to Thompson twice this season, 63-53 and 69-60. Thompson is ranked No. 4 in Division A, as of Tuesday.

Four Winds/Minnewaukan, meanwhile, has been locked into the No. 4 seed since its 56-43 loss to Devils Lake. The Indians will get No. 5 seed Hillsboro/Central Valley in the first round.

FW/M went 8-6 in region play, while H/CV went 6-8.

The Indians beat the Burros 51-37 in a two-pointer during the regular season.

If they can beat H/CV again, they’ll very likely advance to a semifinal matchup with No. 1-seeded, No. 3-ranked Carrington on Tuesday. Carrington, after a 2-3 start, won its final 16 games of the season. That streak included a 45-33 two-point region win over FW/M. The Cardinals went 13-1 in region play, with a loss to H/CV coming early in the season.

If neither Devils Lake nor FW/M can pull off an upset in the semifinals, they would meet in the win-or-go-home third-place game on Thursday. One of them would need to win in the semis for there to be a chance of both teams making it to state.

The loser of the championship game and winner of the third-place game each advance to state qualifier games. Those will be played in Mayville on Saturday, despite the tournament being held in Devils Lake.

FW/M has never made a girls’ state tournament. The Indians have had a vastly improved season, with a 15-6 overall record after going just 5-17 last year.

Devils Lake has been to state in both seasons of competing in Division A. The Firebirds were state champions in 2024, then finished fourth last year.

Games will being at 3 p.m. Monday in the Devils Lake Sports Center.

The full seeding:

1. Carrington: 13-1 (18-3 overall)
2. Thompson: 12-2 (18-3 overall)
3. Devils Lake: 10-4 (12-9 overall)
4. Four Winds/Minnewaukan: 8-6 (15-6 overall)
5. Hillsboro/Central Valley: 6-8 (12-9 overall)
6. Grafton: 4-10 (6-14 overall)
7. May-Port-C-G: 3-11 (8-13 overall)
8. Harvey/Wells County: 0-7 (6-15 overall)