Photos by Noah Clooten
KINDRED — Every seat was filled. A sea of blue on one side, and a pit of red on the other.
It was a state championship atmosphere. It wasn’t a state championship game, but it was a regular-season rematch of the one from last year, when Devils Lake ended a 99-year drought with a triumphant title.
Kindred took Round 2.
“What a fun atmosphere,” Firebirds head coach Dustin Brodina said. “This is what basketball is all about.”
No. 1 Devils Lake (18-1, 7-0) was handed its first loss of the year with a 52-47 defeat by No. 2 Kindred (18-1, 9-0) on Saturday at Kindred High School. The Firebirds, despite 17 points by Oliver Wirth, four three-pointers from Mason Palmer and nine second-half points from Parker Brodina, faced their toughest match yet and fell short for the first time in 2025.
“I’d rather lose this one than the state championship any day,” Coach Brodina said. “Every time you lose, you learn from it. And it’s absolutely gonna motivate these guys for the next three weeks.”
Kindred had an even, well-rounded offensive attack that was led by Brooks Bakko’s 14 points and Jake Starcevic’s 13.
Devils Lake’s first-half offense was fueled by five three-pointers by the Palmer twins, but little else.
The first nine Firebird points all came from threes — two by Mason Palmer and one by Wirth. That kept them in it against a versatile Kindred attack. Starcevic scored six first-quarter points, and Presley Peraza had five. The Vikings had one three-pointer, from Izaak Spelhaug.
Peraza missed a one-handed dunk with Kindred leading 13-11, but he was fouled by Wirth on the play. He missed his second free throw, but scored after a defensive rebound.
Palmer landed his third triple just a few seconds before the buzzer of the first quarter. Kindred’s lead was a slim 16-14.
But the Devils Lake threes didn’t land with the same frequency in the second quarter. Kindred continued to find ways to the rim, including two separate dunks by Bakko and four points from Karson Ouse.
Starcevic landed Kindred’s second triple as the Vikings went on a 13-3 run. The Firebirds’ first points of the second quarter didn’t come until over four minutes in, when Max Palmer hit a three off the bench.
With Devils Lake down 29-17, Mason Palmer connected on one again. It was his fourth triple of the first half. But the only deuce by the Firebirds came from Joel Nelson back in the first quarter. P. Brodina was held scoreless in the first half, missing multiple three-ball attempts and a put-back.
“We settled probably too much. We really settled,” Coach Brodina said. “We have the mentality if you’re open you shoot it, but we need to get a little more inside-out… We just can’t chuck it from the cheap seats and expect to win.”
The Firebirds trailed by as many as 13 early in the second half. But soon, the threes started landing again. Brodina scored his first points with a triple, and Wirth hit his second of the game.
An 8-0 run got Devils Lake within a 36-31 margin. Back-to-back baskets by Luke Starcevic started a 7-0 run back in Kindred’s direction.
At the end of the third quarter, Devils Lake trailed by 10, 43-33. It still only had three total two-pointers to support its nine three-pointers.
But Brodina started the fourth quarter on a better note. He muscled his way to the rim and got the foul, pumping his fists and roaring. Brodina later lobbed one up for Wirth, who completed the alley-oop.
It was all of a sudden a five-point game at 43-38.
“They don’t want to lose,” Brodina said. “We started attacking the rim a little better. They’re a strong, long team, so it’s difficult to attack the rim.”
Wirth made two triples in the fourth quarter, helping Devils Lake squeeze within a three-point margin. He had nine points in the game’s final period.
“We let them get too close to the basket, first off. In the second half, I thought we did a lot better at that, trying to push them away from the basket,” Brodina said. “They can’t dunk the basketball if they’re not close to the basket.”
With 1:31 left, Devils Lake trailed 50-47. But the Firebirds didn’t capitalize on a key possession, then couldn’t get the ball back in their hands with only seconds left on the clock.
Bakko made a pair of free throws. Devils Lake was down by two possessions and didn’t have enough time to respond.
The crowd of Kindred blue might have been sad last March when Devils Lake eliminated them, but they had the last laugh this Saturday.
“They’re a fantastic team,” Brodina said. “They’re really big. They’re really long. You make mistakes, they’re gonna capitalize on it.”
Devils Lake gets back to region play next week against No. 5 Thompson on Feb. 28 and Carrington on March 3 to complete the regular season.
