Today’s the day: No. 4 Devils Lake girls’ basketball will begin its state tournament run in Minot.
The Firebirds are guaranteed three games, starting with Northern Cass at 2:45 p.m. From there, the time of game and opponent depend on the result. If they win, they’ll play in the tournament semifinal at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. If they lose, the best they can do is fifth place, and the consolation semifinal would be earlier in the day on Friday.
Devils Lake is seeded No. 3 out of eight teams, while Northern Cass is No. 6. The Firebirds are 18-6 overall this season, while the Jaguars are 17-7. The winner of Thursday’s matchup will likely face No. 2-seeded Bottineau in the second round. If the Firebirds make it to the final, there’s a strong chance they will have a rematch with No. 1, undefeated Thompson.
Let the games begin.
Highlights
No. 1 North Star boys’ basketball won the District 3 championship with a 70-54 victory over Midway/Minto on Wednesday. Dane Hagler reached 2,000 career points in the process. For more on this game, read here.
May-Port-C-G pulled off an upset in the District 4 tournament. The No. 7 seed went all the way to win the district championship, completing the feat with a 59-49 win over No. 1-seeded Nelson County on Wednesday. It’ll play North Border in the first round of the Region 2 tournament on Monday, while Nelson County will face Langdon Area/Edmore/Munich.
No. 8-seeded Warwick beat No. 3-seeded Griggs-Midkota 57-55 in one of the Region 2 qualifier games. The Warriors will face North Star on Monday. New Rockford-Sheyenne beat Hatton/Northwood 75-50 in the other region qualifier game. The Rockets are set to play Midway/Minto on Monday.
No. 3 Four Winds/Minnewaukan boys’ basketball completed its regular season with a 68-52 win over Thompson on Wednesday, which locked up the seeds for the Division A, Region 2 tournament. Grafton is the No. 1 seed, FW/M is the No. 2 seed and Devils Lake is the tough-luck No. 3 seed.
The Firebirds are now set to play the No. 6 seed, Carrington, at approximately 7 p.m. on Monday in Mayville. Assuming they win, they’ll have a highly anticipated rematch with the Indians in the second round on Tuesday. The cross-lake rivals split their two regular season matchups.
The winner of Devils Lake and FW/M will likely play Grafton in the region final on Thursday. The winner automatically goes to the state tournament. The loser goes to a state qualifier game. The losers of the semifinal games will play each other in a third-place game as well, and the winner of that contest also goes to a state qualifier game. So there’s a path to state for Devils Lake even if it loses to FW/M.
The Lake Region State College basketball teams also began the playoffs on Wednesday. The women beat Bismarck State College at home, fueled by an unbelievably dominant second quarter where they didn’t allow a single point. They’ll move on to play North Dakota State College of Science on Saturday in Williston. For more on this game, read here.
The men, meanwhile, lost 66-63 to Miles Community College on the road. They trailed 40-29 at halftime and couldn’t do quite enough to stage a comeback. Their season is over. The Royals finished with a record of 9-22 overall, 5-16 in conference games.
Other scores
Boys’ basketball
Cavalier 52, North Border 65
Men’s basketball
Bismarck State College 89, Williston State College 74
Women’s basketball
Dakota College at Bottineau 78, United Tribes Technical College 97
Miles Community College 55, Dawson Community College 72
What to watch
The Division A girls’ state tournament will kick off at 1 p.m. with a game between No. 2-seeded Bottineau and No. 7-seeded Valley City at the Minot State Dome. Devils Lake’s contest will begin shortly thereafter.
