DEVILS LAKE — The Firebirds keep denying anyone who crosses their path.
Another ranked team, No. 4 Thompson (8-3, 3-1), was no problem for No. 2 Devils Lake boys’ basketball (11-0, 4-0) on Friday. Devils Lake won 68-40, led by a 27-point performance from Mason Palmer.
Palmer was the sixth man on last year’s team. He helped out the championship squad a lot down the stretch, but was buried behind a talented core five.
“This year, I feel like I have to bring a little bit more to the table for us to be better as a team,” Palmer said. “That’s what I’m trying to do.”
Palmer hit two of the Firebirds’ seven threes on the night. Parker Brodina scored 12 points, and Joel Nelson put up 10. Devils Lake allowed just seven points in the second quarter and 35 before its starters were pulled in the fourth quarter. Starters Oliver Wirth and Trason Beck added nine and seven points, respectively.
It was another blowout victory.
“We’re gonna have to simulate some tight situations in practice because we haven’t had any down-to-the-wire stuff,” Firebirds head coach Dustin Brodina said. “And I know we’re gonna have games like that… These teams will get better, and they’re gonna be harder to beat.”
Thompson had leads of 2-0 and 5-2 to start. Nelson missed a three on the first possession of the game, and Thomas Schumacher landed a triple for the Tommies.
But Devils Lake went on a 7-0 run and never looked back. Palmer had a deuce and a go-ahead three.
“We moved the ball pretty well,” Brodina said. “We didn’t force too many shots, in my opinion. Mason got downhill quite a bit, and he was able to exploit them a little bit there.”
Nelson made an athletic move to the rim but missed the shot, and Thompson got back within a point on an and-one. Palmer and Brodina padded the lead — Brodina with a three. Wirth also landed a trey. He and Brodina each had five points in the first quarter to complement Palmer’s 10, building a 12-point lead by the end of the first quarter.
Palmer scored six more early in the second quarter to help extend the advantage to 31-14. Nelson missed a put-back, but got his own rebound and scored to cap a 7-0 run.
“I thought we were sharing the ball very well,” Palmer said. “And that made everybody on the team get open shots, and they just kept coming.”
The Firebirds allowed only seven points in the second quarter. They finished on another run, this time of the 8-0 variety. Wirth blocked a shot and Brodina ran down the court with it to put Devils Lake up 39-17 at halftime.
Thompson opened the second half with a pair of layups after Devils Lake turnovers. The Firebirds went on to outscore the Tommies 22-9 for the rest of the quarter. Palmer made three more buckets.
“He’s a confident player,” Brodina said of Palmer. “So strong. And he stepped up tonight.”
Nelson also started to find his groove, swishing a triple as part of a six-point quarter. The 6-foot-6 senior has displayed impressive athleticism this season, but hasn’t always completed his drives. He slammed an emphatic one-handed dunk to put Devils Lake up by 30.
“He’s just been frustrated; he makes all those baskets in practice, and he dunks it in practice,” Brodina said. “And in the games, I think he just tries so hard, he wants to do so good. And it was kind of nice to see him get a couple shots, a steal, a dunk and a three. So I’m proud of him. He’ll come around. He’ll be there towards the end.”
Devils Lake unloaded its bench with 4:34 left in the fourth quarter. It had held Thompson to 35 points at the time. The Tommies landed a triple to get to 40 with 3:30 to go. Marquese Dubois also hit a three off the bench for Devils Lake.
“We wanted to keep them under 40,” Brodina said. “And I actually challenged our guys at halftime. I said, ‘Let’s keep them under 35.’ That was our goal. And I didn’t care what happened on the offensive end. I said, ‘Let’s just control, keep them to one shot.’ I thought we did a really good job in the glass, and they didn’t get many extra chances.”
Devils Lake’s next region game isn’t until Feb. 6 against Hillsboro/Central Valley, with matchups against Turtle Mountain and Grand Forks Central before then. Its biggest test yet will be No. 1 Kindred on Feb. 22.