Joel Nelson (Photos by Noah Clooten)
BISMARCK — Different floor, same mission.
The Firebirds are in it to win it.
Devils Lake, a year after ending a 99-year state title drought in the Fargodome, ventured into the capital city for a Thursday afternoon matchup with Des Lacs-Burlington. The Firebirds, who got a week off after winning the Region 2 championship, displayed no jitters in the first game of the 2025 boys’ basketball state tournament at the Bismarck Event Center.
“Our practices don’t change from the beginning of the year to the end of the year,” Devils Lake head coach Dustin Brodina said. “Focusing on hard work and defense. And a little bit of preparation for DL-B. We want to take it one game at a time. But just making sure these guys are focused and working hard at practice every day, and then being able to bring it here to Bismarck.”
Mason Palmer and Joel Nelson each scored 19 points, and Parker Brodina put up 18, as No. 2-seeded Devils Lake (23-1) dismantled No. 7-seeded DL-B (16-9) in a 73-49 beatdown. The Firebirds shot 28-of-51 (54.9%) and outrebounded DL-B 40-19.
“We trust each other,” Nelson said. “It’s a nice thing when you can drive in and trust your guy next to you every possession.”
The Lakers won the tip-off, but Devils Lake stopped them on their first two possessions. Nelson scored the first five Firebirds points, finding the rim and landing a triple.
He was at his most comfortable and relaxed right away.
“Joel did a fantastic job tonight — not only defensively, but offensively,” Brodina said. “Just letting the game come to him; not get frustrated with things… That’s the biggest thing with Joel, is to not let that mental game get to him. But he’s a great piece of the puzzle for this team. Actually, he’s probably as healthy as he’s been all year. He had a couple weeks off there with the ankle issue, and we were joking, ‘I think he’s the healthiest one here, even after the all the injuries.’”
Colton Feller got to the bucket twice for DL-B. It was a 5-4 game. But a barrage of three-pointers — Mason Palmer, Brodina and Max Palmer — catapulted Devils Lake to a 20-4 lead in the first quarter. Mason Palmer also went 4-of-4 from the free throw line in that span.
Kyler Fisher got the Lakers back on the board with his own three. But the Firebirds hit five triples in the quarter and went 7-of-10 from the floor to build a 24-7 advantage by the end of the period. They also outrebounded DL-B 11-3 in the first quarter.
Devils Lake continued to grab nearly every rebound and carve up the Lakers’ defense as it extended its lead as wide as 27 points in the second quarter. It was a whopping 41-15 at halftime. The rebounding margin was 21-6, leaving little room for second-chance opportunities on DL-B’s side.
“We stress not only defense, but blocking out every time,” Brodina said. “Not giving them extra chances on the points and on the boards.”
Feller gave the Firebirds trouble in the third quarter — really the only sore spot of Devils Lake’s night.
He made four triples as part of a 19-point quarter for the senior guard.
“Feller is a great player… You leave him a wide-open shot, he’s gonna hit it,” Brodina said. “And obviously he did today. But we just made some mistakes coming over the screens, coming under the screens. They were really good and disciplined in their actions.”
The Lakers didn’t have very many other weapons up their sleeves, though, and Devils Lake still got a balanced attack from Mason Palmer, Nelson, Brodina and Oliver Wirth — the last of whom scored four points after being held blank in the first half. Max Palmer also hit his second three of the game off the bench.
Feller’s outburst trimmed Devils Lake’s lead to as few as 20 points, with the Firebirds up 60-40 after three quarters.
“We were kind of being lazy in the third quarter,” Nelson said. “So then we picked it up in the huddle, and we just started playing our usual ball.”
The Lakers didn’t score in the fourth quarter until the 4:03 mark. Down by 28, they went on a slight run with Devils Lake’s backups in. But Ben Brodina and Talan Gregory made baskets off the bench for the Firebirds as they finished off a 24-point win.
The defending champions still aren’t satisfied.
“We’ve just gotta be better physically, and not out of position,” Brodina said. “Those are things that we’ll work on tomorrow and the next day.”
Devils Lake plays in Friday’s semifinals at 6:30 p.m. against Thursday’s winner between Shiloh Christian and Wahpeton.
The team — including its eight seniors — is one step closer to a repeat championship.
“The guys are really focused, and I would say mentally prepared for this as part of our process that we do every day,” Brodina said. “This is not new for them, especially from last year. We’ve got a lot of seniors on this crew. So they’re ready to go. They’re poised… We took one more step tonight, and hopefully we take another step tomorrow night.”
