Following a 16-point loss to Valley City, Devils Lake head coach Justin Klein said he wanted his team to improve on shooting.
Freshman guard Tylie Brodina shared the same sentiment. Brodina has been a streaky shooter throughout this season, and she conceded that the Firebirds had been struggling on offense lately.
“We worked on our pressuring at practice,” Brodina said. “Really trying to push each other to get better every single day.”
And in the first quarter of Friday’s game, they didn’t look like a team that was having a hard time shooting. Sparked by three-pointers from Brodina, No. 4 Devils Lake (12-5, 5-2) rode a 20-0 run to sail smoothly over Hillsboro/Central Valley (6-12, 0-5) by a final score of 66-39 at Devils Lake Sports Center.
“I thought we did a good job coming out,” Klein said. “We shot the ball real well. Tylie got going with some threes, so that helped. And I thought everybody kind of just chipped in. Especially with playing on Monday, I didn’t want to get too crazy with minutes for many of the starters, especially when it was lopsided.”
Brodina only played the first quarter, but it was all Devils Lake needed. After the first four points of the game — including a three — came from Jolie Martinson, Brodina made back-to-back threes. It was the kind of confidence boost she needed during this critical portion of the season, especially with her production slipping in recent games. Only a couple weeks ago, she had a game where she fouled out and didn’t score a single basket.
“If I have a really bad game, I just try to get back in the gym and try to work as hard as I can,” Brodina said. “If you have a really bad game, it can’t define you as a person.”
Another three by Brodina — her third of the first quarter — nearly got lost in the shuffle of 20 straight points for Devils Lake. Seven of the points came on free throws, an area where the Firebirds shot 22-of-28 throughout the game.
And the Burros could not keep up at all. They managed just three points in the quarter. Shooting wasn’t their only issue on the offensive side; they struggled to even take shots to begin with, constantly getting the ball stolen out of their hands from the Devils Lake defense.
“We attacked and jumped well, and we rotated better tonight,” Klein said. “A little less skilled team, probably, than Valley City strength-wise, but it was good and they turned it into layups.”
Megan Ensign doubled H/CV’s point total with a single three-point shot at the beginning of the second quarter. She was just about the only source of the Burros’ scoring in the quarter. She made a trio of threes, which accounted for nine of their 10 points.
With most of the Firebirds’ regulars out already, Devils Lake continued a more modest but versatile attack. Anna Shock had six points, while Lainey Hall and Presley Brown each had four. Devils Lake was getting rebounds and consistently turning them into layups. At halftime, they led by a whopping 46-13.
The Firebirds didn’t make as much happen in the second half, but they didn’t need to. At that point, it was just about giving some of the reserves a chance to play and working on the fundamentals.
“Trying to execute on offense,” Klein said. “Trying to get a good shot, and not just come down and throw something up or force something. Use some clock, because we’ve struggled in that area in the past. We’re getting a little bit more disciplined within our offense.”
H/CV actually outscored Devils Lake in each of the last two quarters, 16-11 in the third and 10-9 in the fourth. Brown and Brinly Gregory each put up a three for the Firebirds in the final quarter, while Paityn Olson made 11 of the Burros’ 26 second-half points.
With a big win in the books and momentum on their side, the Firebirds will try to keep it riding into the final stretch of the season.
“The big thing is finish our shots. Whether it’s inside or outside, we need to finish,” Klein said. “The other thing is block. We’ve gotten killed with the bigger teams on the boards; the more physical teams, we’ve really struggled rebounding.”
If the Firebirds can come out and shoot like they did at the beginning of Friday’s game — and maintain it for a full four quarters against the better opponents — they should be right in the thick of the region and state tournaments coming up.
There are only a small handful of games left on the schedule before they play in the Region 2 tournament at Mayville State University from Feb. 19 to 22, then the potential state tournament at the Minot State Dome from Feb. 29 to March 2.
“I really just want to make it to state, and hopefully we can just have a good season and end it really good,” Brodina said. “I don’t really want to end at Mayville State. I really want to make it to Minot.”
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.
