New opponent, no problem.
The No. 5 Devils Lake girls’ basketball team woke up thinking it would be playing Beulah, a 1-9 team, at 5 p.m. on Thursday. But due to blizzard warnings and snowy conditions in Devils Lake, Turtle Mountain Community College wasn’t able to make it, throwing the schedule for a loop. Devils Lake’s game was pushed up to 2 p.m. against 9-3 Kindred, with the JV team stepping in to play Beulah instead.
“That’s tough. That’s something we talk about because we prepare quite a bit for teams,” Firebirds head coach Justin Klein said. “Just kind of on a whim, we had shoot-around this morning for about a half an hour. Then we came in and watched some tape for about half an hour on them.”
Devils Lake was able to handle the abrupt switch, beating Kindred 57-45 to move to a perfect 2-0 in the Class A Girls Shootout. It moved the Firebirds’ winning streak to three, ahead of an important week where they’ll be playing two conference opponents.
Despite 9-0 runs from Kindred in the second and third quarters, Devils Lake held its lead through the rest of the game after going up 4-2 in the first quarter.
“I think our kids did a decent job,” Klein said. “I think overall, we still did what we do best, which is press and throw and transitioning; get after it, get active.”
Laela Eisenschenk scored almost immediately after tip-off for Kindred, which turned out to be its only lead of the game. Devils Lake went on a 10-0 run from there, getting two shots from Torri Fee. Despite the quick opening basket, the Vikings struggled early on to get shots off.
“I thought we put good pressure on their dribblers and their ball handlers up front,” Klein said. “We made them take some tough shots. We didn’t give them any easy shots, easy looks. And I thought we went to the rim really well right away.”
Kindred got a couple of steals late in the first quarter, but it only amounted to a few free throws. Devils Lake led 12-6 at the end of the first quarter.
Four of Kindred’s first six points, in fact, came on free throws. The Vikings shot a whopping 28 free throws throughout the game. They didn’t take full advantage of the opportunity, though, converting just 18 of them successfully.
A layup by Kennedy Bakko nearly halfway through the second quarter was just the second field goal made by the Vikings, who trailed by as much as 17-6 at one point. But that set off a bit of a rhythm for Kindred, while Devils Lake’s scoring petered out. The Vikings scored nine straight points, four of which came on free throws. That 17-6 blowout was, all of a sudden, a 17-15 barnburner.
“They slipped through us a few times on the press,” Klein said.
Tylie Brodina, who carried Friday’s game with 20 points, didn’t score until she made a three that got Devils Lake back in the points column, breaking Kindred’s 9-0 run.
“She had some decent looks early on, but just didn’t get going,” Klein said. “Sometimes when a shooter doesn’t get your first one or your second one, you kind of shy away or you think, ‘Ah.’ And then she missed a couple reads, so things weren’t going the greatest… A three kind of gets her going; more motivation to shoot. I think she was lacking that a little bit.”
Kindred’s Siera Nipstad hit a three at the buzzer, making it a 24-19 Devils Lake lead at the half.
The Firebirds started the second half on a 7-0 run, including two baskets from Jolie Martinson. But it turns out Kindred had another 9-0 run in its pocket, refusing to let Devils Lake run away with the game.
The score got as close as 33-30, but baskets from Cabryn Fritel and Claire Heilman ended the third quarter on a positive note for Devils Lake.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Lainey Hall had a nice block from behind the basket, and she got the ball to Brodina with enough time for her to run down the court and make a layup. It was then that Brodina got back into her groove. She looked like the player she was on Friday, taking charge as the leader of the Devils Lake offense.
“We got some steals and turned those into layups and transition, and that was the key again,” Klein said. “I also thought our half-court offense did a nice job in that fourth quarter being patient, looking for good shots.”
The Firebirds scored 20 in the fourth quarter, led by 10 from Brodina. The freshman finished with 15 on the afternoon. Martinson also collected 13 total points, while Fee had 12.
“I thought Martinson did a really nice job down low, using her body, getting inside,” Klein said. “She’s done a really good job inside, giving us a little bit more of a post presence. That’s something we’ve lacked last year, and moving forward, we needed that.”
The Firebirds capped off a 12-point win, with Kindred staying close but never completing a comeback bid.
Devils Lake now rides a three-game winning streak ahead of a big conference game at Grafton on Tuesday. The Firebirds sit at second place in Division A, Region 2, while Grafton is in fourth at 1-2. Then on Friday, they’ll face first-place, undefeated Thompson on the road.
At 8-3 overall, this weekend was critical for boosting the Firebirds’ energy ahead of such an important week.
“Playing at home, we got some good games in here against two good teams,” Klein said. “Got a lot of kids minutes. A lot of playing time was had by a lot of us. And I think we got better over the weekend.”
Tuesday’s game is scheduled for 7:15 at Grafton High School, while Friday’s will commence at 7:30 p.m. at Thompson High School.
