Mason Palmer has been on fire for Devils Lake since his return to the court. (Photo by Cameron Carlson)
Devils Lake’s win over Central Cass on Friday was exactly what this team needed right now.
The season hasn’t gone the way the Firebirds drew it up, for a multitude of reasons. For the first time, Devils Lake boys’ basketball has gone through struggles at the Division A level. After winning 55 of their first 59 games since the implementation of the three-class system, the Firebirds lost seven of their next 11.
The last of those losses came to No. 1-ranked Four Winds/Minnewaukan, despite Mason and Max Palmer returning to the court. So, Devils Lake became kind of a hard team to assess. Do you rank them based on what they could be? Or do you stick to what they’ve actually done?
Someone out there in the state was still giving them top-five votes. Regardless, for the first time in the last three years, Devils Lake needed to prove itself during the regular season.
Beating the No. 2-ranked team is a good way to do that.
I’ve been thinking about what the Division A state tournament might look like. While Devils Lake and Kindred are both still in the mix, it’s not going to be smooth sailing to the championship game for each of them like it was over the last two years. FW/M is the team to beat right now, winning 17 in a row and ranked No. 1 unanimously. But you absolutely can’t leave Central Cass, Wahpeton or Beulah out of the mix of having a legitimate shot at making a run. You also have to keep half an eye on Grafton, a confounding squad that has the best offense and the worst defense in the region.
Central Cass and Wahpeton, in particular, are pesky, with some serious offensive weapons. The Squirrels took FW/M to overtime. They beat Kindred twice, once by 19 and once by 30.
But then there’s Wahpeton — the only team to beat FW/M this season. And it was by 20 points. The Huskies have been a thorn in the Indians’ side over the last couple seasons, highlighted by a state-qualifier win last March. Wahpeton has also beaten Devils Lake twice this season. It’s played two close games against Central Cass: a 61-57 overtime loss and a 53-50 win.
But the Huskies have also lost twice to Kindred.
The point is that I think a handful of teams are still in Division A title contention. With Devils Lake’s recent uneven performance, it was hard to know where the Firebirds even stood in that pecking order.
And, while there’s still more to prove, the Firebirds took one big step in beating Central Cass on Friday in Casselton.
The first half showed why Central Cass has become the threat that it has. The Squirrels led 42-29. Andrew Ziemer and Kash Lorenz were in double figures already. Mason Palmer had 14 at the half and Ben Brodina had eight, but it had otherwise been a lackluster half for the Firebirds.
They turned something on in the second half.
And this is when the difference that having the Palmers back on the court really showed. Each of them has the ability to completely explode offensively. Mason went off for 19 points in the second half to finish with 33 overall. Max also reached double figures with 12 overall. Bryar Exner, in addition to his rebounding prowess, added 14 points.
The Firebirds wound up with a monster 52-point second half. They won, 81-73. The Palmers, who had combined for 108 points over the previous two games, totaled another 45 between them. They’ve been on fire ever since being held in check by FW/M in their return. The team no longer has to lean on Brodina, who’s a dangerous third scorer. And Exner and Kade Fee can play their roles without needing to carry the scoring lead, either. The pieces just fit so much more neatly into place with the Palmers on the court.
Even before the win over Central Cass, Devils Lake had been moved up to a tie for No. 4 in Division A with Wahpeton. Scoring 159 points between two games against Shiloh Christian and May-Port-C-G was enough to do that. You can expect the Firebirds to rise even higher in Wednesday’s poll.
If there’s a weakness with this team — at least, relative to the Devils Lake teams of the last two years — it’s that its defense hasn’t played to the same pristine level. The Firebirds have allowed 73 points in back-to-back games, to May-Port-C-G and now Central Cass. Last year, they held Central Cass in the 40s. They only allowed 47.5 points per game for the season — that mark has shot up to 59.2 this year.
A couple of games have gotten ugly this season. Grafton put 90 on Devils Lake, and FW/M put up 86. Even in the Firebirds’ two wins over Hillsboro/Central Valley, the Burros got into the 60s.
From the beginning of the season, it hasn’t been a secret: This Devils Lake team doesn’t have as much height or physicality as past iterations. With Oliver Wirth, Joel Nelson and Parker Brodina having graduated, it’s a shorter, scrappier team.
But one thing this team certainly can do is shoot. It can also rebound. And it’s done those things recently to blow out Shiloh Christian and beat Central Cass. The Firebirds have re-announced themselves as one of the top teams in Division A.
But can they keep it rolling into the postseason, and create some more offensive juice in a potential third meeting with the No. 1 Indians?
The answer to that question is next on the docket.
