Photos by Noah Clooten
GRAND FORKS — Honors were aplenty in the postgame awards ceremony for Devils Lake.
The state-bound Devils Lake Firebirds, that is.
“It feels great, man,” junior guard Mason Palmer said. “All the hard work we put in paid off.”
The first four names announced for the All-Region 2 team were all Firebirds: Palmer, Parker Brodina, Oliver Wirth and Joel Nelson. That’s four of the five starters.
Brodina was named the Senior Athlete of the Year for Region 2. He got to pose alongside his father, Dustin Brodina, who was named the Region 2 Coach of the Year.
“That’s pretty special,” D. Brodina said. “I don’t know if that’s ever happened. I doubt it’ll happen again. But he’s a pretty special person and a special player. And I don’t know if we’ll ever have another person like that go through the program. But he’s just an epitome of hard work, and these guys follow him.”
The Brodinas will go to one last basketball tournament together with Parker still in high school. They already won one last year with Parker and his older brother Beau — now they’re back, with Parker leading the way on the court and his younger brother Ben, a freshman, also along for the ride on this year’s varsity team.
“We’ve put a lot of countless hours of work together,” P. Brodina said. “And [Dustin]’s been by my side the whole way through it. So it’s good to have him out there with me.”
Devils Lake (22-1) got it done on Thursday at the Betty in the Region 2 championship. It fended off a competitive first half from Thompson (15-8) to slam the door in the second half, allowing just one field goal after halftime in a 70-41 beatdown. Palmer had 19 points, while Brodina had 17.
The victory gives the Firebirds a full week to prepare for the state tournament in Bismarck, with a chance to defend their title.
“It’s a great feeling not having to go to travel to Fargo on Saturday,” D. Brodina said. “We can relax a little bit here for a day or two and see where we sit, find where we’re gonna be in the state tournament. But this is a great feeling. I really appreciate the boys. They work hard, and they deserve it.”
An 8-0 run drove Devils Lake to an early 16-9 lead. The Firebirds already had six players in the scoring column, with all five of its starters and Max Palmer. Trason Beck had a nice put-back, and Devils Lake got threes from Palmer, Brodina and Wirth.
But the Tommies quickly sliced the advantage to 16-14. Gavin Oster and Noah Hippen combined for eight points off Thompson’s bench in the first quarter. At the end of the period, Devils Lake was up by a slim three.
The Tommies got down the floor for the first two baskets of the second quarter. The period featured six lead changes as Thompson hung around. Mason Palmer scored eight points in the quarter, leading the Firebirds with 10 in the first half, which included an and-one while falling on his back to put Devils Lake up 29-27.
Brodina had the ball stolen from him. Gavin Krogstad made him pay with a game-tying dunk. A triple by Nelson helped Devils Lake make it a two-possession game at the half, up 34-29.
“We kind of lost them a little bit in the first half,” D. Brodina said. “We allowed some back-doors. And we talked about that at halftime, not allowing any of that. We wanted to keep them in front the whole time. Make them, if they’re gonna shoot it, shoot it over the top of us.”
Nelson made another three early in the second half to extend Devils Lake’s lead into double digits. The Firebirds went on a run, outscoring Thompson 18-8 in the third quarter. Mason Palmer and Brodina each added threes.
“I think we locked down defensively,” Palmer said. “We made them make shots, and that’s what really got it done.”
The only Thompson field goal in the second half came from Braden Tyce in the third quarter. The Tommies made 10 free throws but were otherwise blanked.
“We talked about not making those mistakes, staying in front and being solid on defense,” D. Brodina said. “I’m really proud of the guys for shoring that up in the second half. Just taking it one possession at a time, and winning that possession and doing it again and again.”
Wirth dunked and Max Palmer hit his second triple of the game as Devils Lake put the hammer down in the fourth quarter. Palmer made it a 20-point game.
“It’s so fun,” Mason Palmer said of his twin brother contributing off the bench. “I love being able to pass it to anybody on the court, knowing that they can make the shot.”
With 2:32 left and the score at 67-41, the Firebirds rested their starters and played the rest of the game out. Talan Gregory hit a three for Devils Lake off the bench to reach the 70-point plateau.
The Firebirds comfortably secured a region championship victory to send them sailing high into the state tournament.
“The little bit of nervousness that we had, I think is gone now,” D. Brodina said. “We’re ready to get that job done next week. There’s gonna be an extreme focus with these guys. I know they’re ready to go. They’re gonna be ready to get back to work, even tomorrow. I know they will. We’re gonna get back in the weight room. We’re gonna get stronger in the next few days, and we’ll be ready to go next Thursday.”
In the meantime, Devils Lake awaits its seeding. Whoever its opponent is, it’ll have to fend with the defending state champion.
“We’re gonna go in with a target on our back,” Mason Palmer said. “But as long as we focus on ourselves, do what we can do, we’ll get the job done.”
