Tylie Brodina (Photos by Noah Clooten)
All things considered, Devils Lake girls’ basketball is in about as good of a spot as a champion can reasonably expect.
The magical 2024 run was a weight off this team’s back. The Firebirds lost the championship game in 2019, then had their title game canceled in 2020. They made it to the state tournament again in 2021 but didn’t win. With longtime head coach Justin Klein at the helm, Devils Lake finally broke over the hump and won its first state championship since 1987.
And now, the Firebirds are in a pretty good spot to do it again. But Klein said the prospect of repeating isn’t something that even gets brought up much.
“I think we all know what the goal is, to get back to state and then win a championship,” Klein said. “Obviously, we want to repeat. But I think right now, what we’ve gotten through to everybody is, ‘It’s a new year, and everybody’s after us.’ So I think just going one game at a time… A championship is not won in December.”
Devils Lake returns four of last year’s five starters, including state tournament MVP Tylie Brodina and three current seniors. Point guard Gabrielle McLaurin graduated, as did a few other seniors from last year who played roles on the bench. But with Brodina, Torri Fee, Cabryn Fritel and Jolie Martinson all back, plus key players like Presley Brown and Ava Beck, Devils Lake retains a large chunk of the championship roster.
The group features six total seniors, along with three juniors.
“I think it’s been a little easier to jump into things,” Klein said. “They know the system. They know what’s going on. They know what’s asked for.”
Having that extra year of experience should prove valuable — especially for Brodina, whose March heroics came in just her freshman year.
“Keep playing hard every game; just busting my butt every single game. That’s my goal,” Brodina said. “We’re just trying to keep our head clear and keep playing the season with a new mind.”
Brodina was, by all accounts, Devils Lake’s top offensive player last year. But it wasn’t always smooth sailing, alternating between hot and cold stretches. She still finished the regular season with over 11 points per game. She came up biggest in the postseason, scoring 23 in the state quarterfinal and 25 in the championship.
And that, again, was only as a freshman. Brodina’s sophomore year should only bring improved consistency.
“Tylie always plays hard. She wants to win. She’s a competitor,” Klein said. “She leaves it on the court, and that’s something that you can’t always coach. That’s just something she comes in with; she’s got that mentality that ‘I want to kick your butt,’ and goes out and plays hard.”
When Brodina did struggle at times in the middle of last season, it usually involved running into foul trouble and just not finding the right opportunities for shots. But she often found ways to bounce back nicely any time she had a rough performance. It was all part of the growing process as a freshman — which gives her that much more knowledge to take into her sophomore year.
“Sometimes, Tylie gets a little bit over-aggressive,” Klein said. “And I think that’s the thing that concerns me a little bit, on all of us, is that we go too aggressive and take ourselves out of the game with fouls and things like that, and try to do things too quickly. But yeah, it’s exciting. She had some ups and downs. She’s a good shooter; she can hit the shot from three very well, but she’s a good slasher too. And she does a nice job releasing and getting out in transition for us. So I think as she gets stronger and things kind of mature, too, within herself, hopefully she’ll give us even more.
“And I know that’s hard to say after last year at the end. But I think throughout the season, we could get more out of her than we did last year, just because she’s a year older.”
Brodina’s youth is complemented by three starting seniors: Fee, Fritel and Martinson. All three were significant scorers on last year’s team. Fee and Fritel have been on the varsity team since they were in eighth grade, and they help form a strong leadership core on the Firebirds.
They’re joined by three seniors on the bench, too, who bring their own assets to the group. They have some size in 6-foot-1 center Kendra Eckes, a strong defender in Anna Shock and an extra scoring threat in Claire Heilman.
“I know what I’m gonna get out of the seniors, and I know they’ve been here long enough,” Klein said. “I’ve asked them to be a little bit more leaders, and get some of these younger kids, show them a little more, get after them a little more, push them in practice. It’s been good though, for them, because they know what’s expected and they know what it takes.”
Martinson has already committed to continue her basketball career at Mayville State University next year. Fee will be joining the collegiate ranks too, but as a standout libero in volleyball for Lake Region State College.
“We kind of have systematic things of what we do, and some colleges like that, with the up-tempo and the pressing and the run-and-jumping,” Klein said. “And that’s some things that some colleges are looking for. Every college is different, and everybody has their fit. I always tell kids, it’s great to go play a college sport, but remember what you’re going there for is your education, too.”
Fritel has received an offer from MSU basketball as well, but is yet to commit.
“Cabryn’s still undecided a little bit and keeping her options open,” Klein said. “But I think they’re all good athletes to go play at college.”
Brodina, Fee and Fritel were all named to the Grand Forks Herald’s preseason watchlist for North Dakota high school girls’ basketball.
The one position Devils Lake needs to replace this year is point guard. McLaurin didn’t show up in the points column a ton last year, but she was a spark plug and an invaluable defender. At an early-season scrimmage against Mandan this year, Klein said he already saw some of his team’s weaknesses exposed. Finding someone to reliably fill in for McLaurin will be crucial.
“I think you’re gonna see a little different look defensively from us,” Klein said. “Because Gabrielle, losing her on the defensive end, she was real strong.”
So the Firebirds will still need some extra contributions from some of their younger players. Brown, who’s a junior and made the all-state tournament team last year, immediately sticks out as a potential fixture as the fifth starter. Beck, the only sophomore on the team besides Brodina, also got significant minutes last year and could fill in there as well.
“Ava’s a little more offensive-minded than what we had last year,” Klein said. “But defensively, we need her to be a lockdown defender when she’s in, too. She plays really well on offense, makes good decisions. Good shooter mid-range; can take the ball in… We’re still early if she’s gonna come off the bench, start, whatever, but she’s gonna have to handle the ball a lot for us.”
Klein also mentioned junior Mia Elsperger, junior Jenae Martinson (Jolie’s younger sister) and the two freshmen on the team — Dottie Goss and Emma Hofstad — as names who will need to fill in for the role players Devils Lake lost. All four of those players are starters on the JV team and impressed in the Lake Region Invitational against Class B varsity teams from Dec. 5-7.
“Physically, they’re there, but mentally, they’ve still got some work to do to see what the level is,” Klein said. “We’ve got 10 to 12 girls that can go pretty hard at each other in practice, which helps make us better on the court.”
In any case, Devils Lake has options. This is a roster full of talented players, one that’s arguably even deeper than last year’s when considering the extra year of experience they’ve all gotten. With a championship under their belt, this group of Firebirds should be right there once again with the rest of the top teams in Class A. Just like on the boys’ side, the only team ranked higher than them preseason was the team they beat in the state championship, South Prairie-Max.
Residents of Devils Lake will have quite a product to watch on their home court between the boys’ and girls’ teams.
“I think it’s gonna be a fun year for the boys and girls; we’ve got a few more doubleheaders,” Klein said. “They’re gonna want to come out and see us, especially after last year. I mean, you’re at a high, and basically you’re coming off a high. You’ve got two good basketball teams with the boys and girls. The fanbase should be great. Let’s hope we can give them something to play for again.”
