MAYVILLE — Every team in the Region 2 quarterfinals faces the same prospect: Lose, and your season is done.
In the first half of their matchup with Devils Lake, the Thompson Tommies looked like they weren’t ready to meet that fate.
“It’s a win or go home, so you’re going to have extra energy no matter who you’re playing this time of year,” Devils Lake head coach Dustin Brodina said. “They don’t want to lose. Obviously, we didn’t want to lose, either.”
On Feb. 27, Devils Lake handled Thompson with little issue.
The teams met again Monday in the Region 2 quarterfinals. Thompson was within three points late in the first half.
“They’re a tough team. They played hard,” Brodina said. “They came out and they attacked us hard, and they took care of the ball. They were very disciplined on offense, and some of our quick shots kind of led to some of theirs.”
Devils Lake, though, rode a third-quarter outburst from Max Palmer and an effective second half defensively to eliminate the Tommies. The No. 4-seeded Firebirds (15-7) won 64-37 over No. 5 seed Thompson (9-13), advancing to the Region 2 semifinals.
“It’s always scary playing that win-or-go-home game,” Palmer said. “Especially against Thompson. They’re a good squad. So we knew we had to come out and play, or else we were going to go home.”
Palmer, Ben Brodina and Bryar Exner each hit a triple as Devils Lake jumped out to an 11-7 lead.
Five different Tommies scored, though, as Thompson inched ahead, 12-11.
“They were playing good defense, and they were slowing us down a lot, trying to get us out of our groove,” Palmer said. “On offense, they were just swinging the ball around for 30 seconds, the shot clock, trying to make us move around, play defense, get us tired. But we knew we can beat them. So we stayed calm and just played our game.”
Mason Palmer led Devils Lake in the first half. He scored eight in the first quarter and 12 in the half.
Thompson was able to stay within two possessions, getting a three-point play from Joseph Taylor and triples from Noah Hippen and Dex Avdem.
“We haven’t played in 10 days. We’ve got two games in essentially 24 days,” Brodina said. “A little bit of rust in the first half. … Kind of got a little over-aggressive on defense.”
After leading by just a 27-24 margin, Devils Lake finished the half on a 6-0 run. Talan Gregory hit a three to give the Firebirds their first bench points of the game.
The second half wound up being a different story.
First, it was all about Max Palmer. He’d been relatively quiet in the first half, with just four points and one field goal. But he hit his second triple of the game, then got going for a 14-point quarter.
“Max is a great player, and he was kind of a little frustrated about the guys kind of playing tough defense on him,” Brodina said. “And I said, ‘You’ve just got to be smarter. You’ve got to attack downhill. Don’t settle for threes.’ And I thought he did a good job of that.”
After Mason opened the half with a bucket, Max scored the next 12 Devils Lake points.
“When I had the ball in my hands, I was looking at the rim, trying to get downhill because I had a smaller guy on me,” Max said. “So I just wanted to attack the rim and not settle for a three-pointer.”
The Firebirds only got two non-Max buckets in the third quarter. But it didn’t matter. They had a 51-32 lead by the end of the quarter.
And that’s where their defense came in. Thompson couldn’t maintain its solid shooting from the first half. Devils Lake held the Tommies to 13 points after halftime.
“Our goal was to keep them under 40, and we did a great job of that,” Brodina said. “This time of year, you’ve got to be great defensively.”
By the fourth quarter, the Firebirds were moving the ball better than they had all evening. Brodina added five points to his line to finish with 12. Kade Fee scored four and had eight overall. Alex Hammond and Domingo Engberg each contributed a bucket.
“I was glad we took care of the ball,” Brodina said. “I told the guys: We’ve got to be disciplined. And I think it’s an effect of not playing for 10 days. They wanted to make sure that they get a couple shots up and watch that ball go through the hoop. So the first half, I think we were a little excited. A little too quick trigger. But the second half, I said, ‘Just be disciplined, and we’ll still score a lot of points.’”
Max Palmer had a game-high 18 points, while Mason had 14.
“When we move the ball around, we’re going to get open shots somehow,” Max said. “Everyone did their part and scored.”
Taylor and Hippen tied for Thompson’s team lead with eight each.
The Firebirds will keep their season going in a matchup with No. 1-seeded, No. 1-ranked Four Winds/Minnewaukan on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. The winner will advance to the region championship, while the loser will move to the third-place game with a chance to get to a state qualifier.
“It’s nice to get that out of the way,” Brodina said.
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