Published excerpts of story from Oct. 7, 1980:
Last year Durene Heisler was playing basketball with the sixth graders at St. Joseph’s School in Devils Lake.
This fall she’s found a spot in the Devils Lake High School girls basketball program – a real rarity for a seventh grader in a Class A School.
The hard-working, 5’3” guard has been seeing extensive action on Devils Lake’s B squad through the first month of the season. She’s even seen spot duty on the varsity.
And Devils Lake assistant coach Myron Loberg thinks he has a real up-and-coming basketball player in the former Karlsruhe native.
“Durene doesn’t say a whole lot, but boy she works hard,” Loberg exclaims. “When practice started in August, she was the first one on hand for morning practice, and the first one here for the afternoon session.”
She’s captured the hearts of fans nearly everywhere she’s played. And her biggest supporters are her own teammates.
Durene has been a real thorn in the side for Fort Totten, recording 18 and 21-point performances against the Indians this season.
Her biggest asset is her ballhandling ability, which she developed a few years ago by dribbling a basketball around milk cartons in the family’s basement with her older brother Doyle.
She goes to the basket extremely well, and is not afraid to take the action to stop the opponent, regardless of size.
“She’s playing now with kids her own calibre, where last year wasn’t the case. And she’ll take whatever shot is open to her, left or righthanded, reverse layups or what have you.”