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Mar. 17—GRAND FORKS — If there was any doubt Devils Lake sophomore Ben Brodina was ready for an expanded role, the youngest member of a standout basketball family put that to rest in mid-January.
With Devils Lake seniors Max and Mason Palmer out of the lineup for six weeks after Christmas, Brodina scored a school-record 49 points in a game against Grafton.
Brodina went on to average 24 points per game in the Palmers' absence. Now, as the Palmers returned to the lineup for Devils Lake's stretch run, the Firebirds are jelling at the right time entering the North Dakota Division A state tournament.
Devils Lake, the No. 1 seed, opens the state tournament against Dunseith at 6:30 p.m. in Fargo.
"It's tough because both (Palmer brothers) were averaging 25 points per game, so there's 50 points gone," said Ben, who recently turned 16. "Not that I had a green light to do whatever I want, but it was a lot more creating for myself. Those two free us up a lot. Now, we have a lot of guys we are confident in to get it done."
Ben, a 6-foot-2 guard, is the youngest of the Brodina family. His oldest brother Beau plays baseball at Lake Region State College, brother Parker plays basketball at the University of Mary and sister Tylie is one of the state's best guards as a high school junior.
After playing mostly junior varsity as a freshman, Ben was thrust into bigger roles for the varsity all season.
"Losing Max and Mason, both offensive threats, we had to have guys step up offensively," said Devils Lake coach Dustin Brodina, Ben's dad. "Ben kind of accepted the situation and took the bull by the horns to get in position to win some games."
It wasn't immediate smooth sailing when the Palmers returned to the lineup in mid-February. In their first game back, Devils Lake lost to Four Winds-Minnewaukan 60-46.
"We got pounded into the dirt," Ben said. "We had to do some self-evaluation and learn how to play like we did those first six games of the year."
The Firebirds now enter the state tournament winners of seven straight. As the state tournament begins, Ben is ready for a different tournament experience than last year when he played only during blowouts.
"I was a bench hype guy," Ben said. "It's a big jump from last year from two or three minutes to 30 minutes per game. I was ready for it. This summer was easily the hardest I've worked in the gym, so I was confident to go fill a role."
Ben spent most of last season going up against a physical, older Devils Lake lineup in practice that included North Dakota Division A Senior Athlete of the Year in brother Parker, Joel Nelson (now playing basketball at Valley City State) and Oliver Wirth (now playing football at Dakota State).
"The first six games of this year we said focus 100 percent on defense, then it was more you have to play your best defense ... and we'll put the ball in your hands and you need to facilitate and score," Dustin said.
From a coaching perspective, Dustin has had a new experience of a varying lineup that means drastically different minutes for athletes throughout the year.
"It was a lot of communication and we talked every day at practice about it and wanted to be extremely open with everybody," Dustin said. "(The Palmers) messed up, served their sentence and now they're done. There's no need to penalize more. They made a mistake and we move on. At the end of the day, we want to make sure everyone is clicking for the end goal of the state tournament."
Continue reading...
With Devils Lake seniors Max and Mason Palmer out of the lineup for six weeks after Christmas, Brodina scored a school-record 49 points in a game against Grafton.
Brodina went on to average 24 points per game in the Palmers' absence. Now, as the Palmers returned to the lineup for Devils Lake's stretch run, the Firebirds are jelling at the right time entering the North Dakota Division A state tournament.
Devils Lake, the No. 1 seed, opens the state tournament against Dunseith at 6:30 p.m. in Fargo.
"It's tough because both (Palmer brothers) were averaging 25 points per game, so there's 50 points gone," said Ben, who recently turned 16. "Not that I had a green light to do whatever I want, but it was a lot more creating for myself. Those two free us up a lot. Now, we have a lot of guys we are confident in to get it done."
Ben, a 6-foot-2 guard, is the youngest of the Brodina family. His oldest brother Beau plays baseball at Lake Region State College, brother Parker plays basketball at the University of Mary and sister Tylie is one of the state's best guards as a high school junior.
After playing mostly junior varsity as a freshman, Ben was thrust into bigger roles for the varsity all season.
"Losing Max and Mason, both offensive threats, we had to have guys step up offensively," said Devils Lake coach Dustin Brodina, Ben's dad. "Ben kind of accepted the situation and took the bull by the horns to get in position to win some games."
It wasn't immediate smooth sailing when the Palmers returned to the lineup in mid-February. In their first game back, Devils Lake lost to Four Winds-Minnewaukan 60-46.
"We got pounded into the dirt," Ben said. "We had to do some self-evaluation and learn how to play like we did those first six games of the year."
The Firebirds now enter the state tournament winners of seven straight. As the state tournament begins, Ben is ready for a different tournament experience than last year when he played only during blowouts.
"I was a bench hype guy," Ben said. "It's a big jump from last year from two or three minutes to 30 minutes per game. I was ready for it. This summer was easily the hardest I've worked in the gym, so I was confident to go fill a role."
Ben spent most of last season going up against a physical, older Devils Lake lineup in practice that included North Dakota Division A Senior Athlete of the Year in brother Parker, Joel Nelson (now playing basketball at Valley City State) and Oliver Wirth (now playing football at Dakota State).
"The first six games of this year we said focus 100 percent on defense, then it was more you have to play your best defense ... and we'll put the ball in your hands and you need to facilitate and score," Dustin said.
From a coaching perspective, Dustin has had a new experience of a varying lineup that means drastically different minutes for athletes throughout the year.
"It was a lot of communication and we talked every day at practice about it and wanted to be extremely open with everybody," Dustin said. "(The Palmers) messed up, served their sentence and now they're done. There's no need to penalize more. They made a mistake and we move on. At the end of the day, we want to make sure everyone is clicking for the end goal of the state tournament."
Continue reading...
