Today’s the day, the one that’s for all the marbles.
No. 4 Devils Lake and No. 3 South Prairie-Max will compete in the girls’ basketball state championship at 5 p.m at the Minot State Dome. Each team pulled out a thriller of a victory on Friday to get to this point.
Devils Lake girls’ basketball has three state titles in its history: 1981, ‘84 and ‘87. It reached the state tournament as recently as 2021 — and 16 times total — but hasn’t won it in 37 years. It reached the title game in 2020, but the game was never played due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Let the final day of the 2023-24 season begin.
Highlights
The Firebirds trailed 26-19 at halftime, and nearly lost Tylie Brodina to injury in the opening minutes of the second half on Friday. But Brodina found a way to come back in, and the team managed to get going offensively in the third quarter to overtake the lead and pull out a gutsy victory. For more on this game, read here.
Devils Lake was likely expecting to face No. 1 Thompson, and to have a chance at revenge. But the Tommies were stunned by South-Prairie Max following the Firebirds’ game on Friday.
The Royals led by as much as 25-15, then 32-25 at halftime. The Tommies, as they have so often this season — including against Devils Lake — clawed their way back, and went ahead 43-42 after a three-pointer with less than five minutes left. But a South Prairie three put the Royals back on top 53-52 with 8.5 seconds to go. Thompson missed a potential buzzer beater, and the Royals’ student section swarmed the court to celebrate the one-point victory. It ended the Tommies’ undefeated streak after 23 games.
In the girls’ Division B state tournament, No. 2 May-Port-C-G beat Sargent County 62-35. It advanced the Patriots to the state title game against Edgeley/Kulm/Montpelier, which entered the tournament as the sixth seed.
Other scores
Girls’ basketball Division A state tournament
Bottineau 57, Northern Cass 56
Watford City 59, Shiloh Christian 66
Girls’ basketball Division B state tournament
Bowman County 36, Edgeley/Kulm/Montpelier 53
Maple River 43, Central McLean 66
Kenmare/Bowbells 41, Our Redeemer’s High School 42
What to watch
Saturday evening’s battle between Devils Lake and South Prairie-Max will be a matchup between the No. 3 and 5 seeds, respectively. The squads never faced each other during the regular season. It’ll be the last game of the day at approximately 5 p.m.
Thompson plays in the preceding game at 3 p.m. The Tommies will battle for third place against Valley City.
The Division B girls’ state title game commences at 8 p.m. at the Jamestown Civic Center.
Lake Region State College women’s basketball will also continue its playoff run in Williston against North Dakota State College of Science at 4 p.m.
