“We keep winning,” Devils Lake head coach Justin Klein said with a chuckle on Friday.
The No. 4 Firebirds girls’ basketball team hasn’t played perfectly as of late, and Klein will be the first to admit it. But aside from a defeat to undefeated No. 1 Thompson, Devils Lake hasn’t lost since right after the turn of the new year. The Firebirds (11-4, 4-2) won comfortably in a defensive showcase Friday, beating a Division AA team in Grand Forks Central (2-10, 0-4) by a score of 53-29 at Devils Lake Sports Center.
“We did what we wanted to do on defense from the start,” Klein said. “But just offensively… One-for-10 in the first half for threes; settling for those shots a little bit too much again. And then when they’re not going in, that’s even worse.”
The contest was close in the opening minutes. The Firebirds were snatching steals — they had 28 turnovers in their favor overall, compared to Central’s 16 — but they often failed to capitalize. They faced early deficits of 6-4 and 8-6.
Still, they finished the first quarter on an 11-4 stretch and went into the second quarter with a 17-12 lead. Presley Brown and Claire Heilman combined for 10 of those points despite not starting.
“That was good to see that come off the bench,” Klein said. “Confident I can use players off the bench.”
Scoring nearly evaporated in the second quarter. It took until the 1:52 mark for either team to make a field goal, with Ava Beck breaking that stretch for Devils Lake. Both teams were off balance and missing shots left and right. The Firebirds found somewhat of a groove near the end of the first half, as Jolie Martinson made a couple shots. Tylie Brodina made her first points of the game with a pair of free throws, a weight off her back after not scoring against Carrington.
The Knights, on the other hand, did not find any kind of groove. Devils Lake came just four seconds away from a shutout quarter — it was only on the very last play of the half that a ball finally went in the hoop for Central. It saved the embarrassment of a zero-point quarter, but it gave Devils Lake a comfortable 26-14 lead at halftime nonetheless.
“They don’t have a lot of ball handlers, and we rushed them,” Klein said. “And put pressure on them, and also tried to take the ball out of their best player’s hands.”
Shooting was still wild on both sides in the third quarter, as neither team made a basket until the 5:33 mark. The Knights’ first points didn’t come until 3:40.
Brodina missed a layup, but finally made her first field goal of the game with 3:44 to go in the quarter. As Klein has said before, it’s been a season of streaks for Brodina, who’s one of only two freshmen rostered on the varsity team. She finished with five points on Friday.
“I don’t know if it was [being] a little rattled or what,” Klein said. “She got plenty of shots, took plenty of shots. But yeah, I don’t know. Just kind of hot or cold; some nights she’s got it, some nights she just couldn’t get anything to fall.”
Martinson was Devils Lake’s leading scorer in the game, the only Firebird to make it to double digits with an even 10 on the night. Her sister, Jeane Martinson, also had four points in the fourth quarter.
“Martinson’s done a really good job,” Klein said. “She’s taken a lot more inside shots. She’s playing really well in the post.”
Central outscored Devils Lake 10-8 in the final quarter. It wound up being a 24-point victory, giving the Firebirds exactly what they needed despite a performance with areas for improvement. They have six games left before the playoffs, three of which are against region opponents.
“Overall, we just need to shoot better,” Klein said. “We know that sometimes this happens to us. But we’re hoping that we play a full game and shoot well here down the stretch. We’re still kind of waiting on that. But we have seen it.”
The Firebirds’ next game Tuesday (Jan. 30) on the road against Valley City (11-5, 7-2).
Joseph “Mojo” Hill is a reporter covering Lake Region sports for the Devils Lake Journal. Contact him on Twitter @mojohill22 or at jhill@devilslakejournal.com for any tips, questions or story ideas.
