Oliver Wirth (Photo by Noah Clooten)
GRAND FORKS — The Firebirds trailed at the end of the first quarter to a Grafton team they beat by a 20–plus margin twice during the regular season.
“This time of year, you can’t expect blowouts,” Devils Lake head coach Dustin Brodina said. “You know that Grafton’s gonna bring it as hard as they can. And they did. They weren’t gonna let down. Nobody wants to lose, because it’s a new season.”
Thus is the mindset of a defending-champion Firebirds team, one that finally got to play a postseason game Tuesday night at the Betty. Devils Lake (21-1) kept its composure and took Grafton (13-10) down 76-64 in the Region 2 semifinals.
The Firebirds were led by 21 points from Oliver Wirth and 18 off the bench by Max Palmer. They took the lead late in the first half and held on to win, despite having two starters foul out and two others reach four fouls.
“We were lacking a little bit on the defensive end,” Wirth said. “But it was the first game in this gym. We came out and we couldn’t shoot very well. But as the game kind of went on, we started knocking down a couple shots and just got in a rhythm and found each other. We trusted each other in the end and got the job done.”
Grafton got out to a 10-4 start with threes by Brody Lillemoen and Reggie Rice. The Firebirds were grabbing offensive rebounds but not finding ways to finish. They didn’t score until over two minutes of clock had gone by.
“I’m sure it’s the week-off jitters,” Brodina said. “[The Spoilers] played last night. So you expect that slow start. We were hoping it wasn’t gonna be a slow start, but it was.”
Parker Brodina hit a go-ahead three to put the Firebirds up 15-11. But the 6-foot-7 Lillemoen swished another triple as part of an 11-point first quarter for the junior guard. Grafton squeaked ahead 18-17 going into the second quarter.
Joel Nelson committed his third foul with 1:52 left in the first quarter.
Tyan Storey, who finished off the first quarter with a put-back at the rim, made another put-back to get the Spoilers going in the second quarter.
On the other hand, with Grafton still up by three, Storey missed a pair of free throws. Grafton went just 4-of-11 from the line in the first half. The Firebirds still weren’t doing themselves many favors, either. Wirth missed a shot at the rim, and Brodina missed a potential game-tying three after the Spoilers turned it over.
But then Max Palmer hit a successful three. It was 22-22 with 4:30 left in the half.
“Max is fantastic,” Brodina said. “He can put the ball in the hole as soon as he crosses half-court. And he’s got that mentality, which is great. We all expect the guys to have that confidence.”
Trason Beck had to sit after his third foul, but Rice missed the free throw on the and-one. Brodina tied it back up, and a Grafton turnover led to Mason Palmer putting Devils Lake ahead 26-24 with a running layup.
Back-to-back shots by Wirth, including a dunk that came with a delay-of-game-warning, helped give Devils Lake a 32-27 lead at halftime.
Nelson and Beck reentered for the second half. But it took Beck all of 35 seconds to get charged with his fourth foul, so back to the bench he went.
Wirth’s flashiness took over as Devils Lake came out hot anyway. He landed a three and slammed a dunk. Nelson added his own triple from the corner, and the Firebirds’ lead was 40-30.
“It’s always fun to get a couple dunks,” Wirth said. “I think there’s a lot more to my game than just dunking, though. I like to create for my teammates and hit threes.”
Fouls continued to be a pest for Devils Lake. Nelson was charged with his fourth, and Lillemoen — who didn’t score in the second quarter — went 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the third quarter. Grafton cut the Firebirds’ lead as slim as six.
But after Max Palmer and Bryar Exner hit threes off the bench, Devils Lake led by 11.
“Max, he’s one of the smaller players, but he’s got a big heart,” Wirth said. “And he can really shoot it. He’s just been great off the bench. Really looking forward to what he has to bring in the future.”
A moment of confusion befell the scorer’s table after the third quarter, with the Firebirds leading 55-48 but the scoreboard displaying 53-50. Grafton head coach Riley Lillemoen reacted with surprise when it was brought to his attention, saying, “So it’s actually a seven-point game?”
It took the officials roughly 10 minutes of delayed game time to come to a consensus on what the score was. It was eventually deemed that a shot had accidentally been charged to Grafton’s No. 2, Lee Roy Delgado, instead of Devils Lake’s No. 2, Mason Palmer.
Wirth was unaffected by the delay, dunking the ball to get Devils Lake started in the fourth quarter.
But with the lead cut to five, Mason Palmer joined the four-foul club. Nelson, with his four fouls, reentered the game at the same time, but he fouled out 16 seconds later.
Each Palmer hit a triple to essentially seal the deal. Wirth added his second three-pointer of the game, and Devils Lake brought its lead back to double digits.
Lillemeon led Grafton with 29 points, making three triples and going 12-of-13 from the free throw line.
With 2:14 left, Beck reentered with his four fouls. Ten seconds later, Brodina committed his fourth foul, and with 1:35 to go, he fouled out.
The final tally was Brodina and Nelson with five fouls each, Mason Palmer and Beck with four each, Max Palmer with three and Wirth with two.
“We didn’t get much of a rhythm with our five guys on the floor at all tonight,” Coach Brodina said. “Our main five, we were in foul trouble most of the game, but that’s okay. That’s adversity that we’ve gotta deal with. And I thought we battled really well the second half. Some other guys stepped up. And it’s part of the team mentality that we have.”
The frustration boiled over for Grafton as Max Palmer went to the free throw line on a foul the Spoilers’ coaches believed was on Fausten Olson. Palmer and Wirth combined to go 8-of-12 from the line in the fourth quarter as the Firebirds finished out a 12-point victory.
It advanced Devils Lake to a region championship matchup with Thompson. The Tommies beat Four Winds/Minnewaukan in the second semifinal game on Tuesday.
“I think we’re pretty confident,” Brodina said. “Defensively, we didn’t do as much as we wanted to tonight… So hopefully we get a day tomorrow, work on some things, see who we play here in a bit and get back here Thursday.”
The Firebirds and Tommies face off at roughly 7 p.m., following the third-place game between FW/M and Grafton.
