Oliver Wirth (Photos by Noah Clooten)
Both Devils Lake basketball teams took home wins in Grafton on Tuesday.
It was the final regular-season game for the girls, who begin their region tournament next week in Mayville. The boys still have three region games left.
The boys’ team (17-0, 6-0), fresh off its new No. 1 ranking, won 81-55. Last time, it beat Grafton 70-47. Oliver Wirth had a big game with 23 points, while Parker Brodina put up 20. Mason Palmer scored 12.
The Firebirds led 25-8 after the first quarter and by 30 at halftime. They were actually outscored in the second half, 35-31.
Brody Lillemoen, Reggie Rice and Kyler Droog had 17, 16 and 14 points, respectively, for the Spoilers. Grafton, which was neck-and-neck last year with Devils Lake and Four Winds/Minnewaukan, is just 1-6 in region play this season.
The Firebirds host Hillsboro/Central Valley (1-4 in region play) on Thursday before going back on the road to play No. 2 Kindred on Saturday.
The No. 3-ranked Devils Lake girls (18-3, 8-1) beat Grafton (4-6 in region play) 69-36. It was a wider margin than last time, when the Firebirds beat the Spoilers 73-56 after trailing 14-4 out of the gates.
Still, this one was fairly close early on, too. Devils Lake led only 19-16 after the first quarter. The lead was 19 by halftime, with an impressive 43 points in the first half for the Firebirds.
Devils Lake outscored Grafton 19-4 in the third quarter and went on to a 33-point beatdown.
Tylie Brodina had perhaps her biggest game of the season thus far with 27 points. Brodina is getting hot again at the right time — just as she did in Devils Lake’s state championship run last year. Presley Brown also had a typically solid game with 14 points.
Kate LeClerc scored 13 for Grafton.
The Devils Lake girls finished the regular season 18-3 overall and 8-1 in region play. They finished as the No. 1 seed in Region 2 over Carrington, which went 16-5 overall and 8-1 in region play.
Devils Lake and Carrington played each other twice — Devils Lake won the first matchup 62-39, while Carrington won the second matchup 68-55. Those two teams have a very strong chance of meeting again in the region championship.
The Region 2 tournament begins Monday in Mayville. No. 4-seeded Grafton will face No. 5-seeded FW/M at 5:30 p.m. The winner of that game plays on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. against the Firebirds, who have a first-round bye. After the conclusion of that game, Carrington will play the winner of Monday’s game between No. 3-seeded Thompson and No. 6-seeded Hillsboro/Central Valley.
The third-place game — played between Tuesday’s losers — will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday in Mayville. The winner of that game goes to a state qualifier, while the loser’s season is done. The region championship will commence after the third-place game, at roughly 7 p.m. The winner earns an automatic state berth, while the loser will go to a state qualifier.
The way it shapes up now, with the Firebirds as the No. 1 seed, they would play the third-place team from Region 1 in a state qualifier game if they were to lose in the region championship to Carrington. The top two seeds in Region 1 are Valley City and Kindred, both of whom beat Devils Lake at different points in the regular season. But, barring a major upset, Devils Lake’s state qualifier game wouldn’t be against either of those teams. It would most likely be against Central Cass, the No. 3 seed in Region 1, which the Firebirds beat by 28 points only a few days ago.
Of course, that could be avoided by just beating Carrington in the region championship, which the Firebirds certainly have the ability to do if they play their best basketball. But there’s a path to the state tournament even if they don’t.
In any case, Devils Lake’s chances at making state are looking good. And for the boys, an undefeated season is nearing its biggest obstacle with a state championship rematch against Kindred.
The biggest tests await.
