FARGO – Two weeks ago, the Devils Lake Firebirds’ girls basketball team won a state title at the MSU Dome in Minot. On Saturday, it was the boys basketball team’s turn to hoist a championship trophy, as the Firebirds defeated Kindred in the 59-54 in the 2024 NDHSAA Division A Boys Basketball State Championship game in Fargo.

Devils Lake jumped out to an early 13-8 lead at the end of the first quarter, and it expanded the lead to eight heading into halftime.

Kindred answered in the third quarter, outsourcing the Firebirds by five points, but were unable to overcome their deficit in the fourth. The Vikings shot just 50 percent from the free-throw line, going 10 of 20.

Devils Lake saw three players finish in double-figures scoring, led by Wylee Delorme, who scored 16 points and added seven rebounds. Joel Nelson added 15 points, and Parker Brodina put in 11 points to go along with eight rebounds for the Firebirds.

Kindred was led by Presley Pereza’s 17 points, while teammates Jake Starcevic had 12 points and Karson Ouse contributed 11 points in the loss. Brooks Bakko led the Vikings with six rebounds and four assists.

Third-place game: No. 3 Grafton 68, No. 5 Shiloh Christian 65

The Grafton Spoilers and Shiloh Christian Skyhawks battled back and forth throughout the third-place game before the Spoilers outscored the Skyhawks 21-16 in the fourth quarter to pick up the 68-65 win.

Kyler Droog recorded a 14 points and 12 rebounds double-double and Brody Lillemoen scored 22 points for the Spoilers, while Tony Villareal also added 19 in the win.

Shiloh Christian had three players finish in double figures: Wyatt Westin scored 15 points; Atticus Wilkinson had 12; and Isaac Emmel contributed ten points. The Skyhawks also got a massive effort on the boards from Caden Englund, who finished with 13 rebounds to lead all players in the contest.

Neither team shot free throws particularly well. Grafton went 13-of-23 from the line for 56.5 percent, while Shiloh Christian went just 3 of 10 on free-throws for 30 percent. Despite the loss, the Skyhawks outrebounded Grafton 43-28 and they registered 15 assists to the Spoilers four.

Fifth-place game: No. 7 Valley City 67, No. 8 Killdeer 54

In the fifth place game for the 2024 NDHSAA Division A State Basketball Tournament, the Valley City Hi-Liners defeated the Cowboys of Killdeer 67-54 Saturday.

The Hi-Liners jumped out to a 12-6 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. The Cowboys trailed 29-10 at the half but were even in scoring with Valley CIty in the third quarter and out scored the Hi-Liners 31-23 in the fourth quarter, but it was too much of a gap to close.

Valley City had six players score. Carson Eggert had 20 points and 11 rebounds. Bryson Heck and Jack Dieterle each added 12 points while Carver Pederson added 11 points and nine rebounds. Zack Sykora also had 10 points, six rebounds and four assists in the win. The Hi-Liners were 19-42 from the field, 6-17 from three point range and 23-27 from the free throw line with 40 rebounds.

Killdeer had six players score. Cooper Bang had 20 points and five rebounds. Jaxon Reese added 11 points while Kale Hansen scored 10 points in the effort. The Cowboys were 21-64 from the field, 7-27 from three point range and 5-10 from the free throw line with 26 rebounds.

Ultimately the key for the game was better shot selection from the second chance shooting – rebounding gave that to the Hi-Liners for the win.

Seventh-place game: No. 6 Beulah 62, No. 4 Des Lacs-Burlington 39

The Beulah Miners led at the end of each quarter and finished their trip to the 2024 NDHSAA Division A State Basketball Tournament with a 62-39 win over the Des Lacs-Burlington Lakers.

The Miners led 28-22 at the half and both the third and final quarters had the Lakers out scored 17-8 and 17-8 for the final score. Beulah had the edge in shooting percentages across the board, rebounding, assists and blocked shots. The Lakers did record 10 steals to the Miners’ six for the game.

Beulah had six players scoring. Trace Beauchamp led all with 27 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal in the win. Champ Hettich scored 14 points and added seven rebounds while Simon Buchfinck added seven points with seven rebounds. The Miners were 25-54 from the field, 8-21 from three point range and 6-6 from the free throw line with 34 rebounds.

Des Lacs-Burlington had seven players score. Braylon Fisher had 12 points, five rebounds and four steals in the effort. Levon Duchaine added eight points while Ty Hughes hit six points with five rebounds. The Lakers were 14-45 from the field, 3-16 from three point range and 8-14 from the free throw line with 27 rebounds.

2024 NDHSAA Division A Boys Basketball

All-Tournament Team

Kyler Droog, Grafton

Braylon Baldwin, Grafton

Trace Beauchamp, Beulah

Caden Englund, Shiloh Christian

Atticus Wilkinson, Shiloh Christian

Cooper Bang, Killdeer

Carson Eggert, Valley City

Presley Peraza, Kindred

Karson Ouse, Kindred

Jake Starcevic, Kindred

Wylee Delorme, Devils Lake

Parker Brodina, Devils Lake

Tournament MVP – Wylee Delorme, Devils Lake

2024 NDHSCA Division A Boys Basketball Senior Athlete of the Year: Deng Deng, Four Winds/Minnewauken

2024 NDHSCA Division A Boys Basketball Coach of the Year: Brad Woehl, Kindred