FARGO — Devils Lake is on a mission.
The boys’ basketball team, which has its sights set on replicating what the girls accomplished two weeks ago — and ending a 99-year drought — ventured into the Fargodome on Thursday for the opener of the Division A state tournament. And the Firebirds (23-2, 6-2) handled Valley City (13-12, 6-6) in their first-round matchup, beating the Hi-Liners 72-55 to advance to the state semifinals.
“It feels great to get that first win under our belt, get those jitters out,” head coach Dustin Brodina said. “I thought the boys came out pretty well, followed the game plan pretty well. And knocking down some shots always helps.”
Devils Lake made 12 three-pointers, including five by Wylee Delorme, who led the team with 23 points.
“That’s not ideal. We don’t want to shoot that many three-pointers,” Brodina said. “I was telling the guys we gotta get downhill and attack the basket.”
Devils Lake won the tip-off, but Valley City stole the ball on the first possession. Zach Sykora, No. 23 for Valley City, swished a three-pointer to put the Hi-Liners up 3-0.
But Devils Lake’s No. 23, Delorme, responded with a three of his own. Delorme hit another three on the next possession to put the Firebirds up 6-5.
Sykora found the rim twice to give Valley City a 7-6 lead. On Devils Lake’s possession, Delorme attempted a third straight three but missed. Drew Hofstad attempted his own three and also missed, but Beau Brodina was right there for the rebound and made it 8-7 at the first media timeout with 5:25 left in the first quarter.
Joel Nelson greeted the Hi-Liners with a three after the timeout. Delorme shot yet another from deep for his third triple of the quarter, then followed it up with a simple field goal.
After a basket by Parker Brodina, Delorme landed a three while falling backwards — his fourth of the first quarter, giving Devils Lake a sizable 21-13 lead at the end of the quarter. Delorme, who reached the 1,000 career points milestone during the regular season, already had 14 points on the day.
“I didn’t even know,” Delorme said. “I was just letting them fly, and they were going in.”
Mason Palmer chipped in off the bench to get the Firebirds’ scoring started in the second quarter. Beau Brodina added five points, including Devils Lake’s sixth three-pointer of the game. Nelson converted an and-one after he and P. Brodina each grabbed an offensive board.
It was a 10-0 run for Devils Lake, giving it a 31-15 lead with 3:50 left in the first half.
“We want to play defense and keep them away from the basket,” D. Brodina said. “Limit them to one shot or a bad shot, and then block out and go. Get that rebound and get going. If that shot is there, take it.”
The Hi-Liners had a 9-2 stretch to trim the gap to nine points. They made a trio of free throws, stole the ball and executed drives to the rim.
At halftime, the lead was 35-26.
“Not get lost in the shuffle a little bit,” Brodina said of what the team needed to clean up. “We were gambling a little bit on defense there, trying to go for steals. Well, good teams will jump right at that. They were getting some back doors and some finishes. And they were getting to the [free throw] line a little bit more than I liked.”
B. Brodina got the second half started with his second three of the game. Carson Eggert made a couple athletic routes for Valley City, but Delorme reared up and made his fifth three-pointer of the game — Devils Lake’s eighth. The Firebirds widened their lead back to 47-30.
P. Brodina joined the three-point party with one of his own in the last minute of the third quarter. He scored eight points in the quarter, and Devils Lake led 57-41 with eight minutes to play.
Nelson opened the fourth quarter with Devils Lake’s 10th three-pointer. P. Brodina added one more — his second — and Trason Beck came off the bench to make the team’s 12th. The Firebirds were simply too much for the Hi-Liners to handle, and they flew to the finish line with a 17-point lead. Devils Lake’s backups played the final roughly four minutes.
P. Brodina was the second on the team with 17 points, while Nelson finished with 13. Nelson also had 13 rebounds.
The Firebirds will face the winner of Grafton vs. Beulah on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Grafton was the most recent team to beat Devils Lake, ending what had been a 13-game winning streak. It’ll be a tough battle if the teams are to reunite on Friday.
“When we lost to them, we were all caught up in our heads and let the game get away from us,” Delorme said. “Tomorrow night, if we do play them, we have to stay confident. Stay together the whole game. Can’t just give up after halftime.”
The Firebirds are two games away from winning the program’s first state title since 1925. But they still have business to take care of.
“It’s been our goal to be playing Saturday night, and we’re just one step closer now,” D. Brodina said.
