Tenley Triepke/Photos by Noah Clooten
DEVILS LAKE — High school basketball season is back, and with it is a reminder of the ebbs and flows this game can bring.
Devils Lake JV, competing amongst a field of varsity teams, led 25-6 at the end of the first quarter in Friday’s semifinal matchup with Griggs/Midkota. The Firebirds lost, getting outscored 54-29 the rest of the way to fall 60-54. The Titans earned a spot in the Lake Region Invitational championship against Benson County with the win.
Jenae Martinson led Devils Lake with 14 points, while Mia Elsperger had nine. Eighth-grader Tenley Triepke scored eight first-half points off the bench. G/M brought increased energy and aggressiveness in the second half after making it close in the second quarter.
Neither team scored until nearly a minute and a half of game time had gone by. But the first 10 points belonged to Devils Lake, with Martinson scoring two baskets and Elsperger and Emma Hofstad both contributing. G/M scored its first points nearly halfway through the first quarter, with four free throws.
The Firebirds went on a 13-0 run after that to climb the score up to 23-4. Goss, who led Devils Lake’s scoring with 21 points on Thursday, only had two points in Friday’s first quarter. But Martinson and Elsperger stepped up and scored five each. Triepke came off the bench and made three consecutive baskets to end the first quarter, much to the delight of the crowd.
Triepke is a standout track and cross country runner for Devils Lake, still in middle school and beginning to prove herself as a basketball player.
It was all coming up Firebirds. They’d gotten off to a slow start in Thursday’s eventual win, but they looked way more in-sync and cohesive at the start of Friday’s contest.
But G/M came out in the second quarter looking like a different team. The Titans found ways to get to the rim three times in a row, quickly trimming Devils Lake’s lead to 25-12. They missed a couple of layups, but Devils Lake went the first four minutes and seven seconds of the quarter without scoring. Martinson finally got the Firebirds back in the points column.
With only seconds left in the first half, a three-pointer got the score as close as 31-24. That was when the Titans’ bench first really started getting riled up, with the realization that a comeback was brewing. Hofstad made a bucket right before the end of the first half to bring Devils Lake to halftime with a nine-point lead.
It was the reliable Martinson, a junior who got minutes on the championship-winning varsity team last year, who opened the scoring in the second half. Devils Lake seemed to get back on track, going on a 7-0 run to take a 16-point lead in the third quarter.
But G/M fought back once again. An 11-2 run brought the margin back to seven. The Firebirds’ only points in that span came on an impressive running reverse layup by Brynlee Wolf. The Titans played a way faster and more physical game on the boards than they had earlier, leading to put-backs that got them right back in the contest.
Martinson scored yet again to make it 44-35, but Devils Lake still had an issue with turning the ball over. The Titans took advantage of their free throw opportunities, too, making it 44-42 on an and-one. A three-pointer after a pair of rebounds jolted G/M ahead 45-44 — the first lead of the game for the Titans, following a 10-0 run.
Devils Lake never led again.
A free throw from Goss briefly tied it at 45-45, but the final four points of the third quarter went to G/M. Goss, despite only two points in the first half, had eight points in the second half to finish with 10 overall.
Devils Lake was no longer playing calm like it did in the first quarter. The Firebirds threw up some desperation shots, and the Titans’ fan section roared as they converted a buzzer-beating layup at the end of the third quarter.
G/M continuously found a way to get a hand on seemingly routine Devils Lake passes. The Titans’ energy was complete night and day from where they were in the first quarter.
Devils Lake did manage a 6-2 run in the fourth quarter to get it as close as 53-51. Goss held through for an off-balance layup, and the Titans missed a couple of their own layups despite nice moves to get to the rim in the first place.
But right when a Devils Lake comeback seemed like it might be in the works, G/M hit a three-pointer that sunk the Firebirds’ hopes. After another layup, it was 58-52 Titans.
With about a minute left on the clock, Triepke intercepted an uncharacteristically long pass attempt, but Devils Lake still couldn’t do anything with it. Goss had one final basket for the Firebirds, but G/M held on to win by six and complete an impressive comeback victory.
Devils Lake JV still showed some good signs in this tournament, competing against older and more experienced varsity teams. Goss and Hofstad, both freshmen, are the two new additions to the varsity roster that begins play shortly. Martinson and Elsperger are on the varsity squad too, which is no surprise given how they’ve played in this tournament. Triepke also provided a nice spark off the bench and will likely be getting varsity minutes in the next year or two.
But for now, the Firebirds had to settle for a third-place game appearance on Saturday, rather than the championship match they were so close to clinching. It’s a continuous part of the learning experience that comes with the nature of JV basketball.
