Both Devils Lake basketball teams retained their rankings in the NDAPSSA polls released Monday.
The boys (12-1, 3-1) stayed at No. 2 after beating Carrington and Grand Forks Central last week. They received one first-place vote, while the remaining 18 first-place votes went to Kindred (14-0, 6-0). The Firebirds’ next three games are against region opponents: Hillsboro/Central Valley on Thursday, Four Winds/Minnewaukan next Tuesday and Grafton the following Tuesday, Feb. 13.
Four Winds/Minnewaukan (10-3, 3-1) remained at No. 3 after winning its lone game last week. Grafton (10-2, 4-1) stayed in the No. 4 spot, while Beulah (11-2, 1-0) once again rounded out the top five. Northern Cass and Shiloh Christian were the only unranked teams to receive any votes.
Devils Lake girls’ basketball (11-4, 4-2) also won both its games last week to stay at No. 4 in the polls. Very little changed, with Thompson (15-0, 6-0) receiving all 20 of the first-place votes. Like in the boys’ polls, only two unranked teams received votes: Kindred and Shiloh Christian.
In the Division B polls, North Star boys’ basketball fell from No. 2 to No. 3 after its undefeated season finally came to an end last week. The Bearcats (13-1, 7-0, 4-0) lost 74-44 to Hillsboro/Central Valley. They still received a single first-place vote. No. 2 Westhope-Newburg (14-0, 8-0, 6-0) also received a first-place vote, while Bowman County (12-0, 1-0, 5-0) received the vast majority with 18.
The top two spots remained the same on the Division B girls’ side, with No. 1 May-Port-C-G (14-0, 9-0, 4-0) receiving 13 first-place votes and Langdon Area/Edmore/Munich (17-1, 9-0, 6-0) getting five. The remaining two votes went to No. 3 Central McLean.
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.
