Tylie Brodina watches her shot during a game against Valley City at the Devils Lake Sports Center. (Photo by Cameron Carlson)
Devils Lake’s first-round opponent will be Valley City.
The seeds were finalized shortly after the state qualifier games ended Saturday afternoon.
Devils Lake is the No. 6 out of eight seeds. The Firebirds will match up with defending state champion Valley City, the No. 3 seed, in the Division A girls’ basketball state quarterfinals on Thursday at the Jamestown Civic Center.
Devils Lake won a close game, 52-48, over Central Cass to advance to the state tournament.
Valley City won an even tighter contest over Carrington. The Hi-Liners led by 10 in the final few minutes of the game before the Cardinals nearly staged an incredible comeback. Carrington went on an 11-0 run to take a brief lead.
Valley City won, 60-59, on a three-point play by Katie Burchill with 10.7 seconds left.
The Cardinals, ranked No. 2 in Division A, won 18 in a row before dropping their final two games of the season.
Devils Lake, despite losing to Carrington twice this year, is heading to the big dance instead.
Region champion Thompson is the No. 2 seed and will open the state tournament by playing No. 7 seed Rugby at 1 p.m. Thursday. Rugby beat Valley City and Dickinson Trinity — in an odd 29-25 game — to earn its second consecutive trip to state.
Devils Lake vs. Valley City will be the second game of the day, at approximately 3 p.m. The winners will play each other in the semifinals.
The Firebirds lost to Valley City in their season opener, 69-65. Valley City has had another strong season, but with a downward trend lately, getting upset by Rugby and barely beating Wahpeton.
Devils Lake could meet Thompson in the semifinals with a win. The Firebirds lost to Thompson three times this season, but all three were reasonably close. Devils Lake beat Thompson in both regular-season meetings last year, then lost to Thompson in the semis.
If the Firebirds fall to Valley City, they could potentially meet Rugby, which they beat 68-40 during the regular season.
No. 1 seed South Prairie-Max, with its 23-game winning streak, will face No. 8 seed Watford City in the third quarterfinal game on Thursday. Watford City beat Turtle Mountain 72-62 in Saturday’s state qualifiers.
The day will round with No. 4 seed Kindred vs. No. 5 seed Hazen.
One has to figure SP-M and Thompson — the top two seeds — are especially hungry for a state championship. Both squads have had formidable teams over the last two years, but with no title trophies to show for it.
If Devils Lake and SP-M were to meet, it would be in the final round again. Two years ago, Devils Lake beat SP-M in the state championship game. Last season, Devils Lake lost to SP-M in the third-place game.
The full bracket can be found at ndhsaanow.com.
