Tylie Brodina takes it down the court in the Firebirds’ game against Turtle Mountain on Monday, Dec. 8. (Photo by Cameron Carlson)
DEVILS LAKE — It’s early, but Devils Lake girls’ basketball has already taken a shock to the system.
The Firebirds let Turtle Mountain hand it to them on Monday. After going neck-and-neck with now-No. 1 Valley City in the season opener, Devils Lake (0-2) fell 72-41 to Turtle Mountain (2-0) in its second game at the Devils Lake Sports Center.
“I don’t think we were quite ready to play tonight,” Firebirds head coach Justin Klein said. “The focus and the lack of effort, I thought, was disappointing. It’s disappointing when they come in here and beat you like this on your home court, in front of your home fans.”
In the most recent Class A poll, Devils Lake and Turtle Mountain were each unranked but received top-five votes.
Turtle Mountain has a unique roster makeup, with nine seniors, two eighth-graders and zero freshmen or sophomores. The Braves are coming off a state tournament appearance from last season.
Turtle Mountain controlled the game almost the entire way through. And the player Devils Lake was keyed in on, Aubree Jeanotte, only scored five points, all in the fourth quarter.
“Their best player didn’t even go off,” Klein said. “That was just, I don’t know, I guess kind of shocking.”
Maddison Patneaud led Turtle Mountain with 18 off the bench. Starters Irelei Zerr and Emberlyn Poitra had 17 and 15, respectively.
Devils Lake had some early turnovers and rebounds but couldn’t capitalize on them. Turtle Mountain finished the first quarter on a 13-2 run to grab a double-digit lead.
“I thought our press and our pressure kind of did our job,” Klein said. “But then we couldn’t capitalize and finish on those turnovers. … We just couldn’t hit a shot. I don’t know what we were in the first half, but it wasn’t good.”
Tylie Brodina and Presley Brown combined for all 11 of Devils Lake’s points in the first quarter.
Brodina hit the Firebirds’ only triple of the game in the second quarter. She had 13 points at the half. But Devils Lake only got three points from other players in the second quarter.
“It really wasn’t just one person,” Klein said. “I think everybody struggled. And then we lost some assignments a few times, and didn’t get out on some of the shooters.”
Turtle Mountain got 19 points off the bench alone in the first half, including 13 from Patneaud.
The Braves went on an 11-0 run between the second and third quarter to run their lead into the 20s. They played a relentless game on the boards and made seven three-pointers.
“They’re a good team,” Klein said. “We made them look pretty good tonight, though.”
Foul trouble had plagued the Firebirds in their season opener, and it came to bite them again. Brown and Ava Beck each had three fouls at the half.
Devils Lake started six-foot freshman Julia Rohr in the second half, with Brown coming off the bench. Rohr is physically gifted but has very little varsity time under her belt.
“Hopefully she can get a little stronger with the basketball and finish,” Klein said of Rohr. “She gets to the free throw line a lot, but she’s struggled there, too. So that’s an area she’s got to work on. But yeah, we need her presence around the rim.”
The Firebirds’ depth is limited right now, especially with Dottie Goss recovering from an injury. Klein doesn’t expect to have her ready for Thursday’s game, but he said she’s going to start some drills on Tuesday. Ideally, she’ll be ready to play again by next Tuesday.
Turtle Mountain’s scoring dried up a little bit over a few minutes in the third quarter. The Braves still made three triples in the period.
Brodina scored six points in the third quarter to lead the Firebirds with 19 overall. She and Brown combined for 30. But Devils Lake just didn’t have enough offensive thump overall to keep up with a scrappy, athletic Turtle Mountain team.
“We were just flat from the start,” Klein said. “We couldn’t finish at the rim. I think then we struggled scoring, and then it just kind of snowballed.”
The Firebirds also went just 12-of-27 from the free throw line.
“We shoot free throws in the practice, but again, they’ve got to do it in the game,” Klein said. “And we’re rushing things.”
The Firebirds travel to play Bottineau on Thursday. They’re still in search of their first win.
“Region titles or state titles aren’t won in December. But yeah, we’ve got to get back to practice and focus in,” Klein said. “We’ve got some work to do, and we need to improve some things, or this is going to get ugly. We’re off to an 0-2 start, which we haven’t had for a while, either. So that’s concerning. We’ve got to find a win on Thursday, hopefully to get a little boost in our confidence.”
