Devils Lake ranked No. 2 in preseason girls’ basketball poll

The NDAPSSA announced the first girls’ basketball polls of the season Monday afternoon.

Devils Lake, the defending champion, was ranked No. 2 in Class A. Benson County and Langdon Area/Munich, each of which lost in a state qualifier game last season, came in at No. 6 and 7, respectively.

Devils Lake received the most first-place votes in Class A, with nine of the 21. South Prairie-Max, the team the Firebirds beat in the state championship game, finished with five more total points. Thompson, which went undefeated in the regular season but lost in the state semifinals, finished behind Devils Lake by only four points. Devils Lake and Thompson are both members of Region 2.

All of the first-place votes in Class B went to Central McLean and Bowman County.

The full polls are listed below, with the amount of first-place votes in parentheses.

Class A

1. South Prairie-Max (6) – 86 points
2. Devils Lake (9) – 81 points
3. Thompson (6) – 77 points
4. Shiloh Christian – 28 points
5. Wahpeton – 21 points

Class B

1. Central McLean (12) – 193 points
2. Bowman County (8) – 181 points
3. Kenmare-Bowbells – 151 points
4. Maple River – 138 points
5. Sargent County – 131 points
6. Benson County – 103 points
7. Langdon Area/Munich – 56 points
8. LaMoure-Litchville/Marion – 55 points
9. Tioga – 47 points
10. Grant County/Mott-Regent – 41 points