MAYVILLE — It was another battle for No. 4 Devils Lake girls’ basketball Tuesday night.
Playing in the Region 2 tournament semifinal, the Firebirds (16-5, 7-2) took an early lead, then gave it up but finished strong in a 54-39 defeat of Carrington (16-6, 4-5) at Mayville State University. The victory advanced Devils Lake to the tournament final.
“We got some of the jitters out,” head coach Justin Klein said. “Hadn’t played here. New for us here; new division, new everything. So we got some jitters out, and I think we did a good job down the stretch by wearing them down again.”
The Firebirds won the tip-off, and they were soon in the points column after a steal and a layup by a high-energy Tylie Brodina. The whole team — but especially Brodina — was displaying maximum hustle and determination from the outset.
Carrington, meanwhile, was struggling to get clean shots off while falling into Devils Lake’s traps.
“Defensively, we were doing a nice job there,” Klein said. “The game plan was to get out on their shooters. They have good outside shooters.”
Torri Fee made a three for the Firebirds, and Brodina made two more drives to the rim to put Devils Lake up 9-0.
The Cardinals got on the board with a free throw at the 4:31 mark in the first quarter. Devils Lake started to get foul-happy, and its scoring slowed down. Carrington tacked on one more free throw at 3:27, and Brodina had a turnover that the Cardinals couldn’t take advantage of. But with 2:30 to go in the first quarter, Kacie Rexin swished a three-pointer, cutting Devils Lake’s lead to 10-5. It was Carrington’s first field goal of the game.
With a renewed sense of urgency lighting up the Firebirds, Cabryn Fritel intercepted a pass, but Brodina couldn’t keep a handle on it. Carrington made a wild pass of its own. Devils Lake managed to end the quarter on a positive note, getting two free throws from Presley Brown and the first basket of the game for Fritel. It possessed a seemingly comfortable 16-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Not for long.
Olivia Threadgold scored the first five points of the second quarter. She made a three that cut the Firebirds’ advantage to 16-12 and revved up the energetic Carrington fans in the crowd.
Jolie Martinson scored Devils Lake’s first basket of the quarter, but Rexin hit another three that made it a three-point game. Carrington eventually tied it at 18 apiece with a free throw.
“They sagged off,” Klein said. “They had good help side [defense]; it kind of took away some of our strengths. But that’s what happens when you play somebody three times. You know each other pretty well.”
Brown contributed some key hustle for Devils Lake late in the second quarter. She stayed persistent to nab a rebound, then got up a shot and a foul to put the Firebirds back in front, 21-18. She got fouled again and missed both free throws, but redeemed herself with a steal at the end of the quarter. She got it to Brodina, who completed the first half with a layup.
Despite an ugly second quarter, Devils Lake led 23-18.
But Carrington’s bid for an upset wasn’t over yet; it began the second half with three straight baskets from Edyn Hoornaert, plus a couple free throws that put the Cardinals ahead 26-24. The Firebirds were making strong drives but having trouble getting to the rim.
Ava Beck had a critical three-point play that put Devils Lake back up 28-26, and Carrington tied it up. But that was about all the fight the Cardinals had left in them — it was all about Devils Lake the rest of the way.
The Firebirds went on an 8-0 run; Beck found a way to sneak past a Carrington guard for a layup, Fritel made back-to-back shots and Brodina got back in the points column. Devils Lake led 36-30 with a quarter to play.
“We changed defenses a little bit; we went to a little bit of a straight man,” Klein said, “which we’ve had luck with, but it takes a lot of energy out of us. So we don’t want to start the game with that. We changed up some looks, took away some of their strengths in what they were doing. Also, we got some easy transition buckets and converted off those steals.”
Brodina stole the ball right away in the fourth quarter. She got it to Mia Elsperger, who swished a three-pointer. Devils Lake was beginning to reclaim the large lead it held early on.
Brodina got back into her groove, making a layup and then shooting a three after a timeout. She led the team with 17 points overall, most of which came in the beginning and end of the game.
“She’s kind of streaky,” Klein said. “The one thing with Tylie is she always plays hard, always works hard, always pushes the tempo.”
After a basket by Kendra Eckes, Devils Lake led 46-33. Carrington’s first five points of the quarter came from free throws, and it didn’t actually land a field goal until just before the two-minute mark.
The Firebirds cruised to the finish line, much like how they cruised through most of the first quarter. The ride was bumpy in the middle, but they sailed to success in the end.
The win guaranteed Devils Lake at least two more games this season. On Thursday, it’ll play No. 1 Thompson, which has won all 21 games it’s played this year. If the Firebirds win, they secure a spot in the state tournament. If they lose, they’ll have a play-in game on Saturday — at that point, it’s win or go home.
“You gotta make some shots,” Klein said. “That’s what happened the last two times. We played well at times, it was ups and downs, and that’s kind of how we play. We gotta hit some outside shots. They’ve got a lot of strength and some size. They have very good guard play. And we gotta mix up some looks defensively because they’re a team that if you sit on something for a long period of time, they know where to go. They’re very disciplined. They’re very structured.”
Devils Lake and Thompson will face off at approximately 7 p.m. Thursday at Mayville State University.
