Another imperfect performance, and another win for the No. 4 Devils Lake girls’ basketball team. The Firebirds (16-5, 7-2) wrapped up their regular season with a 60-50 win over Grafton (6-15, 2-7) on Thursday, despite nearly letting the game get away from them and trailing during the fourth quarter.
The victory completed Devils Lake’s regular season with a five-game winning streak heading into the playoffs.
“There were times we didn’t play very well. We found ways to win,” head coach Justin Klein said. “I thought we did a much better job executing things throughout the season, but our inconsistency on offense shows at times. We’re a very good defensive team.”
It was Senior Night at Devils Lake Sports Center, and the Firebirds honored their five seniors with some pregame words and little displays for each player in the hallway. Five was a fitting number — being that five players start for each team on the basketball court — so Klein decided to start all five of his seniors.
“Just let them have their chance to start, and give them an opportunity to get out there and play their last game on that court,” Klein said.
So Devils Lake went with a lineup of Gabrielle McLaurin, Brinly Gregory, Jadyn Frelich, Tylee Black and Lainey Hall. These were five players who will all be going on to various pursuits in life after this school year, but they got a chance to take the stage for the start of Thursday’s game.
“They were very consistent within the program, and put a lot of time in the offseason, too, to help,” Klein said. “Sometimes they didn’t show everything on the court; it was good leadership abilities off the court. Hats off to them.”
With a different starting lineup than usual, the Firebirds didn’t gel right away. They didn’t score for nearly the first three minutes of the game, trailing 3-0.
But it was a senior who got them in the points column. Hall reset the score with a three-pointer. Grafton went up 5-3, but Hall hit another three to put Devils Lake on top. She scored the Firebirds’ first eight points of the game.
“Really nice,” Klein said of Hall’s early-game outburst. “We know she’s a good shooter, and she got the shots she wanted there in the corner. It gave us a boost right away, so that was huge.”
Kate LeClerc shot a go-ahead three for Grafton, but Devils Lake countered with a three of its own — from another senior, Gregory.
Devils Lake committed a couple turnovers that allowed Grafton to briefly go back in front, but Cabryn Fritel made a pair of free throws and Sydney Suda missed two free throw attempts for Grafton. The Firebirds led 15-14 at the end of the first quarter.
The Spoilers slowed the Devils Lake offense down with their zone defense early in the second quarter. Tylie Brodina got tied up trying to squeeze through pressure. Fritel got trapped too, but she made a smart pass back to Presley Brown, who put Devils Lake up 17-16.
With the Firebirds still clinging on to a 21-18 lead, LeClerc made her second three of the game and tied it back up. Grafton wasn’t going anywhere.
Claire Heilman immediately responded with a three of her own, and Devils Lake held steady for the rest of the half. LeClerc attempted another three but shot wildly this time. At halftime, Devils Lake led 31-25. The Firebirds weren’t putting together quite the offensive charge they would have liked, but they were still slightly outpacing the pesky Spoilers.
Fritel, one of Devils Lake’s best and most consistent players, got a rebound and made an athletic layup while falling down to kick off the team’s scoring in the second half. She made five of the Firebirds’ 10 points in the third quarter and 11 overall in the game.
Brodina made her first basket of the game at the 5:45 mark, and Devils Lake led by a fairly comfortable eight. But the Spoilers started to chip away. Three baskets from three different players trimmed the lead to 37-35. Ava Beck missed both her free throws — then each team missed a layup before Molly Bjorneby tied it for Grafton.
Brown anticipated a steal, then made the layup to put Devils Lake back in front, 39-37. A game ago, Brown had the highlight-reel shot with a three-pointer from well beyond the half-court line.
“She really brings a lot of energy,” Klein said. “She plays hard, 110%. Just flies around. She fits our mold pretty well… She’s a real strong kid that never quits, and sometimes maybe overaggressive.”
The Spoilers were playing tight at the rim, and the Firebirds would often foul them but nothing would come of it. Grafton shot just 8-of-18 from the free throw line, while Devils Lake wasn’t much better at 10-of-20.
Fritel finished the third quarter on a good note by making a layup on the Firebirds’ second rebound of the play. They were up three, 41-38, with a quarter to go.
Grafton quickly went ahead on back-to-back layups by Suda. Devils Lake wasn’t going to run away with this; it was going to be a struggle to pull this one out, despite the drastically different records these teams had coming in.
“The biggest thing is offensively, what we’ve struggled with all year,” Klein said. “We didn’t attack [their zone defense] the way we wanted. Kids weren’t moving. They were standing and watching a lot of times. I guess that’s a major concern. My other concern would be the breakdown on our press, our zone trapping. We didn’t have enough pressure and traps up front, and they threw the ball around because they’re a bigger team.”
Brodina hit a go-ahead three — a massive weight off her and the team’s shoulders. It was just her second field goal of the night after back-to-back 20-point performances.
But the Spoilers kept attacking. They tied it at 44, then went ahead after Beck missed two more free throws. Devils Lake was struggling at the rim and not capitalizing on its rebounds. For a solid chunk of the fourth quarter, Grafton was outplaying Devils Lake.
Then it all fell apart.
Jolie Martinson made a layup with a guard on her to tie it at 48-48, which catapulted into a 10-0 run that commenced over a matter of seconds. Grafton missed four free throws, which only rubbed salt in an ugly wound that shattered its chances of upsetting the Firebirds. The Spoilers had multiple turnovers during that stretch, while Devils Lake got another basket from each of Martinson and Brodina.
“They were tired, I think,” Klein said. “We wore them down a little bit. We tried to speed the game up, try not to stop the game as much as we can.”
Grafton head coach Wade Haugen appeared irate during the timeout as he screamed at his players. But the Spoilers simply had nothing left in the tank.
So Devils Lake was able to coast through the last few minutes of play. Brodina’s efforts were the largest factor in the last quarter, as she scored 10 points after only two in the first three quarters.
“That’s a big boost from her because we really didn’t get anything out of her,” Klein said. “She gets a shot or two to go in, she shoots with a lot of confidence. And we need her to score.”
Now it’s time for the Region 2 tournament. Devils Lake will play the winner of Carrington and Hillsboro/Central Valley on Tuesday at approximately 7 p.m. at Mayville State University.
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.
