Joel Nelson (Photos by Noah Clooten)
DEVILS LAKE — Now that’s more like it.
No. 2 Devils Lake boys’ basketball, though still undefeated, was unsatisfied with its performance in a 10-point win over Wahpeton on Thursday. It came into Saturday with a bit of a chip on its shoulder.
“We focused on just moving the ball more, mainly,” Devils Lake senior Joel Nelson said. “And working as a team, and trusting our guys to hit the shots.”
It worked. The Firebirds (16-0, 6-0) handled Central Cass (4-12, 2-5) to cap off Saturday’s doubleheader at the Devils Lake Sports Center, winning 76-44. Mason Palmer had 20 points, Nelson had 18 and Parker Brodina had 15. Oliver Wirth scored nine, while Max Palmer added seven off the bench.
“I thought we really moved the ball at a high level,” Devils Lake head coach Dustin Brodina said. “And not guys just standing around. Not only the ball moved, but our bodies moved as well. So I was proud of that effort, for sure.”
Wirth kicked off the game with an emphatic one-handed dunk to get the Firebirds going. Central Cass chipped back to get it to a 6-6 tie, but Devils Lake roared forward on a 10-0 run. Brodina and Trason Beck each hit a three in the first quarter. Nelson added seven points.
Devils Lake led 22-10 at the end of the first quarter and for more than two minutes into the second quarter. After a timeout, Max Palmer scored the first points of the quarter with a triple off the bench. He had five points in the second quarter.
Devils Lake’s scoring slowed in the second quarter, but it still had four triples, including Palmer’s. His twin brother, Mason, hit two threes, while Brodina hit his second of the game.
The Firebirds led 40-19 with 8.6 seconds left in the first half. Wirth was charged with a technical foul, and Central Cass finished the half with four successful free throw attempts. It was a 40-23 game at halftime.
Nelson and Mason Palmer opened the second half with back-to-back threes. The team totaled 10 three-pointers.
“We never tell anybody not to shoot it,” Brodina said. “So if it’s open, and it’s there, and then we get that inside-out game, I’m gonna take it every day.”
Nelson hit two triples in the third quarter as part of a 10-point period.
“Joel stepped up really hard,” Brodina said. “You can tell he was focused on trying to play a little higher level. Playing at that high level that he can play at. So I was proud of that effort. He played really good defensively tonight.”
Mason Palmer also found his rhythm with 10 points on three deuces, a three-pointer and a free throw in the third quarter.
The Firebirds had some fun in the fourth quarter. Mason Palmer lobbed one up for Wirth, who completed the alley-oop. Brodina also threw one up for him, and Wirth didn’t get as good of a jump but still made the basket.
Devils Lake won by 32 in the end. It is now 16-0.
“I think our coaching, our teamwork and just how we can trust each other,” Nelson said of what’s made the Firebirds successful. “And how we work really hard every day.”
The victory came ahead of two region games in the coming week for the Firebirds. They’ll face Grafton on Tuesday and Hillsboro/Central Valley on Thursday. Then they’ll travel to Kindred on Saturday for a non-region rematch of last year’s state title game — for a battle with the Vikings, who were ranked No. 1 all year until this Sunday.
“I think our legs are a little bit dead, so we get a couple days off here,” Brodina said. “But we’ve got region games. That’s what we’ve gotta take care of… We can’t overlook our two region games that we’ve got this week, because that’s what’s gonna make the difference going into region play.”
