DEVILS LAKE – Minnesota might hog the spotlight as the state’s annual fishing opener approaches but a certain big lake on the North Dakota side of the Red River shouldn’t be overlooked Devils Lake has a reputation – and a good one The ice should be all or mostly off by May 1 Walleyes will be shallow – and biting – like this time every spring Fishing season in North Dakota is open year-round though new fishing licenses were required beginning April 1 Early season tactics and techniques will be shared later but first a look at what to expect of this North Dakota lake Water levels are governed by Mother Nature’s moisture Devils Lake held at a constant level due to heavier-than-usual rainfall – 25 to 30 inches throughout the summer The Devils Lake area was one of the few areas in the upper Midwest that did not suffer drought conditions The current level is at about 1,450 feet above sea level manager of the Devils Lake Basin Joint Water Resources Board saying the lake will maybe rise one-half foot,” Frith said The regional snowpack was considerably lower than the 56-inch annual average marginal snowpack means very little current is flowing from the smaller lakes and coulees north of the main lake There is enough water for walleye spawning runs to a few upper lakes district fisheries biologist for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department in Devils Lake works on Devils Lake fisheries topics nearly every day there can be good walleye spawning success whether it runs hard or is like this year with minimal current,” Caspers said we have experienced above-average hatches annually,” Caspers said “The long-term average is 25 young-of-year (walleyes) per net That’s good news for the big lake’s tourism industry area businesses and out of town or out of state visitors could be in the main-lake bays or in the upper lakes after ice-out Underwater railroad grades and old road beds also attract spawners Something new for 2025 on Devils Lake will be a tagging study the North Dakota Game and Fish Department is planning to examine exploitation rates About 1,000 walleyes from 13 inches to 29 inches will be wearing metal lip hardware Caspers wants to know when a tagged walleye has been caught call the district Game and Fish office at (701) 662-3617 or enter the information on the Game and Fish website at gf.nd.gov Early season anglers also line the shorelines bridges and just about anywhere they can cast out Typical tactics include dead bait on the bottom for pike Local guides are willing to share their expertise in boats or even on land a 14-year veteran guide and owner of FinHunters Guide Service He leans on slip-bobbers or casting jigs and plastic The key to finding early season walleyes is locating the warmest water that means backs of bays with mud bottoms and some new weed growth Roswick’s go-to casting set-up: Small paddletails by Northland or Berkley (Ripple Shad) on white chartreuse or firetiger 3/16- or 1/4- ounce jigs (Roswick favors Northland RZ jigs) Roswick says he has found two-tone jigs to be especially deadly orange/white or chartreuse/white jigs fished with a steady retrieve just above the bottom Roswick’s rods are spooled with 8-pound lime-green Fireline with the same size fluorocarbon leader He prefers a 3/32-ounce jig baited with a leech DEVILS LAKE — The fourth-place Devils Lake Firebirds fought another battle on Friday at DLYA Field the Firebirds split a doubleheader for the third time this year Facing eighth-place West Fargo Sheyenne (9-7 7-5) lost 3-1 and won 5-3 to add a point to each of the win and loss columns in its EDC record Hunter Remmick and Parker Brodina both gave strong deep outings on the mound to fuel Devils Lake the preseason highest-ranked junior in the Dakotas by Perfect Game the preseason highest-ranked senior in North Dakota “That’s a very good team we played.” Firebirds head coach Brent Luehring said “I thought we couldn’t pitch it any better than we did today to be honest with you… We’re in a stretch here between Friday Saturday and turn-around Tuesday where we’ve got six points up in five days And we’ll take any points we can get just to keep adding on to our win column.” Devils Lake’s offense has been fairly up-and-down this season The team OPS recently dipped below .700 after a hot stretch but it’s shown a complete and well-rounded lineup at times with a knack for getting on base had allowed just seven runs in the last five games entering Friday The latest performance ended up staying mostly in line with these trends — the offense took a while to get going but the pitching was nails nearly all evening Sheyenne starter Parker Henrich pitched a nine-inning complete game in a contest the Firebirds dropped in extras He allowed one earned run on seven hits and two walks while striking out 10 He allowed three runs — all unearned — in 8 1/3 innings He kept his pitch count manageable with no strikeouts and no unintentional walks during regulation he walked two (one intentional) while allowing six hits and throwing 109 pitches (64 for strikes) He threw the ball great,” Luehring said “It’s a senior showing up at home and doing what we ask of him.” tying the game with Devils Lake down to its last out in the seventh But the Mustangs had the upper hand in the eventual ninth inning Sheyenne’s two state-ranked players made an immediate impact in the second inning as the Mustangs struck first but he came close with a deep double to left-center field He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout by Zavadil The Firebirds got something going against Henrich in the bottom half Trason Beck legged out a deep ground ball to the shortstop and Remmick stayed hot at the plate with a single The inning ended on a groundout by Mason Palmer Palmer was the team’s hits leader last summer but he’s recently been bumped down to the eight-hole while in a 2-for-24 slump “There ain’t nobody harder on himself than him,” Luehring said Luehring said Palmer used to switch-hit when he was younger he’d zeroed in on hitting from his dominant side “It’s just trying not to confuse himself,” Luehring said so it’s hard to get the appropriate amount of reps on each side he’s the type of kid where when it comes down to it I know he’s gonna put a good at-bat together and put a good swing together And hopefully he can get in a groove.” The streak was broken by a leadoff single from short-statured nine-hitter James Buffington much to the enjoyment of the Sheyenne visiting section and dugout But Remmick retired Sheyenne’s top three hitters in order to keep Devils Lake within a run “I knew that Hunter was gonna throw the ball over the plate,” Luehring said “And when he locates his curveball for a strike and just keeps them off balance enough he’s got enough tilt where he gets a lot of ground balls.” The Firebirds had a couple more chances to score but couldn’t capitalize Taydon Triepke drew a leadoff walk but was stranded at third base in the third inning Beck and Remmick each recorded another hit but were stranded in the fourth A leadoff single by Triepke was wasted in the fifth and Devils Lake got nothing more than a one-out walk from Brodina in the sixth But he was in line for the loss with Devils Lake down to its last chance The Firebirds’ first two hitters went down in the bottom half who wasted no time with a first-pitch single into left field A run scored to tie the game and bring free baseball to DLYA Field Heilman had been 0-for-3 with two strikeouts before the hit “Will got the monkey off his back a little bit there,” Luehring said The seven innings were completed in only a tick over an hour Remmick had to contend with a leadoff hit in the eighth which moved to third on a bunt and a groundout He intentionally walked leadoff hitter Landon Zink a strategy that worked out as he got Jordan Clemenson to fly out on a diving catch by Triepke The Sheyenne fans vocally disagreed with the call being a catch and there was some scattered tension as the Firebirds retook the field The Mustangs were adamant about Firebird batters getting in the box quicker Devils Lake went down in order in the bottom of the eighth Remmick surrendered a leadoff hit again in the ninth he couldn’t keep the Mustangs at bay Brodina misplayed a hard grounder for an error and Dinger bunted the runners into scoring position with one out Zavadil struck again with a single to the left side Sheyenne had a 2-1 lead with both RBIs belonging to Zavadil After Remmick issued his first unintentional walk of the day Luehring opted to pull him after a hard-fought evening on the mound The left-handed Triepke took over and allowed a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1 But he stranded the bases loaded to keep Devils Lake in it The Firebirds had little answer in the final frame overcoming Devils Lake’s brief heroics in the seventh that extended the game by 45 minutes It wasn’t quite as pristine as his previous two but Brodina threw his third complete game in as many outings throwing 116 pitches (72 strikes) while allowing three runs on seven hits and three walks Brodina came into the game with no earned runs allowed in 14 innings so far this year His strikeout numbers haven’t necessarily been where they were in the past but he’s rounded nicely back into form after the end of last year “I think you’re starting to see the evolution of Parker not trying to strike out everybody and just pitch to contact and trust the guys behind him,” Luehring said ‘I’ve gotta do it all myself.’” A double and two walks loaded the bases in the top of the first against Brodina but Olson made a running catch to keep the Mustangs off the board Starter Parker Rolfson walked the first two batters he faced and he was bailed out by a pickoff of Max Palmer at second and Brodina came up clutch to help his own cause and the right fielder bobbled it to let two runs score Rolfson fielded a soft dribbler from Ben Larson and threw it wildly past first base for another error He worked around a two-out single to pitch a scoreless top of the second Devils Lake got a nice little two-out rally in the bottom of the second Disaster struck the Mustangs again as the first baseman completely flubbed a ground ball then threw it away to bring in a fifth Firebird run But the traffic against Brodina finally caught up to him in the third inning Three singles loaded the bases — and then a long single to right field oddly scored all three runs with all the run production coming in the first three innings Clemenson went the rest of the way for Sheyenne allowing just one hit in four scoreless innings Mason Palmer switched back to his natural right side for the nightcap but lined a hanging curveball up the middle for a base hit in the third He had the only Devils Lake hit after the second inning Brodina worked around a runner in each of the fourth The Firebirds turned a 6-4-3 double play to end the sixth He ended the game with a swinging strikeout on his curveball to close out the 5-3 win the Firebirds move onto another challenge in second-place Fargo South (10-5 10-1) on Saturday at Fargo Davies High School It’s another doubleheader where each game counts for one point “They put the ball in play pretty well They’ve got a pretty deep pitching staff,” Luehring said so I’m sure there’s some revenge factor I think the scores have shown we can play against anybody We’ve just gotta keep putting it together and keep grinding and try to make that EDC tournament [which has eight seeds].” (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start': new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0] j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src= 'https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f); })(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-5JSJKTT'); Subscribe Powered by A proposed resort on Baraboo's south side near Devil's Lake State Park would feature 80 guest rooms An 80-room hotel with 30 accompanying villas is planned for Baraboo’s far south side amid opposition from a group wanting to preserve the natural area which would be owned by Baraboo Bluff Hospitality LLC would be located on a 17-acre land parcel just northeast of Tumbled Rock Brewery on Highway DL north of Devil’s Lake State Park A private road with a covered bridge would lead from Highway DL to the property Gregg McArthur owns Baraboo Bluff Hospitality and he and project developer Martin Cowie are hosting public information sessions Saturday and Tuesday to discuss the proposed project McArthur owns two of three land plots that would be used for the Baraboo Bluff resort and is in the process of purchasing a third and final space “The resort will be a destination for people to come to enjoy the natural beauty of the Baraboo area,” Cowie said to enjoy outdoor activities at Devil’s Lake State Park and other tourist attractions in the Baraboo area.” The 30 villas would be 1,700-square-foot “homes” that would be fully furnished and have kitchens Outdoor patios with fire pits and green space will be with the villas as well Hotel rooms would be “typical resort accommodations,” he said and have various size choices that can accommodate couples Plans call for a “Big Back Yard,” a large patio gathering area with multiple fire pits That’s in addition to five acres of green space and a large pond a balcony and large green space would comprise the "Big Back Yard" of the proposed Baraboo Bluffs resort near Devil's Lake “Guests will be able to view the natural beauty of the space and play on our large lawn,” Cowie said “This will be an excellent space for outdoor events.” and family reunions are among events that could be reserved for the “Big Back Yard.” A full-service restaurant and event center that could seat up to about 150 as well as a fully catered small conference room The resort could generate $700,000 of annual room tax revenue which would be split among the city of Baraboo Baraboo Area Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Baraboo Inc A potential $350,000 annually in property taxes could come from the property as well Where: Carnegie-Schadde Memorial Public Library Since the Baraboo Area Chamber of Commerce announced the planned resort at the end of March some residents interested in maintaining the natural area wildlife and “rural charm” around Devil’s Lake and the Baraboo Bluffs have formed a group Devil’s Lake Community Preservation Alliance opposing the resort and possible future development in the area “It is our fear that the Baraboo Bluffs Hospitality development is the first bold step in a series of projects that will harm our fragile and unique ecosystem further tax our area’s greatest natural resource of Devil’s Lake State Park and rob the Baraboo area of its rural charm,” group representatives said in a statement The natural beauty and “tranquility” are the area’s “true appeal,” according to the group. Representatives encouraged others to attend the Saturday and Tuesday hearings to oppose the project in a Monday Facebook post which would be located on the south side of Baraboo near Devil's Lake State Park along with two main entrances and a large parking lot Baraboo Bluffs Hospitality LLC’s proposed resort is “designed to retain and capture the natural beauty of the area while respecting the unique geography and wildlife resources,” Cowie wrote in a March 27 release The developers also are planning a “beautification fee” for guests and funds from that fee are slated for donations to nonprofits dedicated to cleaning up Devil’s Lake State Park “With development comes great financial gain for a few but a loss of serenity and natural ecosystem for many,” the group stated Cowie said that the resort could be a catalyst for revitalizing an “eye sore and dumping ground” on the corridor leading to Devil’s Lake State Park on Highway DL Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly Email notifications are only sent once a day Developers project the 80-room hotel and 30 villas would generate $700,000 in annual room tax revenue and $350,000 in property taxes Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device Account processing issue - the email address may already exist Invalid password or account does not exist Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account Please select what you would like included for printing: Copy the text below and then paste that into your favorite email application Funeral Services for Dan will be held at the Gilbertson Funeral Home There will be a time of fellowship at City Plaza following the service attended school there and worked at various factory jobs WI where he met his beloved Laurel “Laurie” Johnson in 1993 He was devoted to the skaters he coached and dedicated to his job of almost 9 years at City Plaza He had a smile and a sparkle that put others at ease He wanted to serve others and give them his best He felt in his heart that the Plaza tenants and community deserved to have a Plaza that was well tended to He had a “heart of gold” and always willing to lend a helping hand He genuinely enjoyed being outdoors in the summer which included making delicious meals on the grill He believed in Laurie and her dreams like none other turns to GOLD.” His soul is now in Heaven and Dave Krueger; in-laws Lois and Lewis Johnson; sisters-in-law Lynn Fenton and Kim Paetnick and several nieces and nephews Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors FARGO — The Firebirds continue to show they can beat anybody 8-6) grabbed an EDC win over Fargo South (12-6 since South’s typical home of Tharaldson Park still isn’t ready for use The Firebirds handed the second-place Bruins just their second EDC loss of the season in a 4-1 win coming away with their fourth doubleheader split of the season and second in a two-day span it was still another marginal step for a consistently competitive Devils Lake team “We’re here for a challenge,” Firebirds head coach Brent Luehring said I’m proud of the way they came out in the first game and got a win… The second game didn’t go the way we wanted I didn’t think we played with much energy really well… It’d be nice to get two but I’m happy with the split.” An outing after throwing a no-hitter against Wahpeton Ben Larson came up with another fantastic effort to lead Devils Lake to victory allowing one run on five hits and two walks while striking out seven He’s gonna pound the zone,” Luehring said He’s able to mix and match… They’ve actually seen him the last two years so there’s gonna be no secrets either way who the arms were ‘You’ve gotta be better than the guy across from you today.’” The Firebirds remarked they hadn’t played on dirt in some time with their home field and most of their visiting fields being turf a ball took a high bounce on second baseman Max Palmer but he handled it well and helped Larson through a 1-2-3 first inning Catcher Trason Beck threw out a runner in the second inning and Larson finished the frame with his second strikeout The Firebirds’ offense battled against right-hander Carson Shiek a name they competed against the previous day “That’s the fourth time we’ve seen him in three years it seems like every time we come down here,” Luehring said “We kind of know he likes to throw his slider off of his fastball.” He struck out the first two Firebirds he faced and four of the first seven The first baserunner came on a throwing error by the shortstop bringing the first baseman off the bag and allowing Mason Palmer (batting right-handed) to reach and Taydon Triepke came through with a clutch RBI single “It took us a little bit to get on [Shiek],” Luehring said “But our mindset against him every time we face him is we’ve just gotta make sure our next at-bat we adjust.” The slightly longer wait between innings didn’t faze Larson who struck out South’s eighth and ninth hitters in another 1-2-3 frame He had faced the minimum through three innings South leadoff hitter Matthew Bryant led off the bottom of the fourth with a single but the Palmers turned a 6-4-3 double play to erase him getting out of the inning with his fifth strikeout Mason Palmer continued to slowly but surely work out of his slump with a two-out single in the fifth After Triepke kept the line moving with a walk Max Palmer lined a double into left-center field to bring home his twin brother The Firebirds stranded two in scoring position with an unlucky lineout but they still extended their lead to 2-0 against one of the best pitchers in the state facing a team that had only lost one EDC point all year issued his first walk of the day with two outs in the bottom of the fifth South’s Evan Felber crushed a line drive to the right side but first baseman Parker Brodina instinctively leapt to grab it out of the air and end the inning “Look what I found!” someone from the crowd belted a fan called for the Firebirds to get things going earlier in the inning rather than waiting until there were two outs Will Heilman indeed lined a leadoff single But he was picked off and caught in a rundown between first and second halting the momentum Devils Lake was trying to gather who was at 71 pitches through five innings He started to show some signs of his effectiveness fading with a one-out walk and a hard-hit flyout to center as South first baseman Caden Nelson got ahead of an offspeed pitch stretched his arms and rifled it down the left-field line Nelson reached second with a run-scoring double Larson kept his composure enough to induce a groundout to third baseman Heilman It was Larson who ignited things in the bottom half with his bat He hit a leadoff double and advanced to third on a passed ball prompting South to take a mound visit on a 1-1 count Third baseman Ethan Doll misplayed it for an error and Larson scored with a massive insurance run Devils Lake executed a perfect squeeze play — a strategy that eluded the Firebirds in an earlier loss this season New South pitcher Hunter Giere looked up while fielding the bunt Mason scored and Max was safe at first with a bunt hit to extend Devils Lake’s cushion to 4-1 Fausten Olson and Heilman got on to load the bases with one out but the Firebirds couldn’t add any more to their lead the two-run sixth was exactly what the doctor ordered to make things a little less stressful on Larson in the seventh Larson went back out there for the final frame He gave up a loud leadoff single but induced three straight pop outs to end it Shortstop Mason Palmer caught a shallow fly in left-center flying by a sprinting Olson to end the Bruins’ hopes giving him 14 in 18 innings so far this year Luehring credited a tick in his velocity and an increase of confidence in his offspeed stuff you might miss some more bats,” Luehring said of what he told Larson “But nothing changes in the way we’re gonna attack guys.” The Firebirds played a competitive game but ended up falling short to cap off a long day in the sun they kept the talented junior at shortstop and went with the soft-tossing southpaw Triepke “I just knew that they’re gonna be a super aggressive team and all the scouting reports against them were that they put the ball in play a ton,” Luehring said “And just Mason’s defense is so valuable with a team like that that puts the ball in play.” Triepke survived a one-out double in a scoreless first The Firebirds struck first on back-to-back doubles by Beck and Brodina in the second inning They seemed to be seeing the ball well against right-hander Bryant who used a hard lineout by Mason Palmer to get out of the inning with just the one run South got two runners in scoring position after a strange bloop double that was aided by the wind whacked a harder-hit double to jump the Bruins in front 2-1 Devils Lake missed scoring opportunities in the third and fourth Max Palmer reached on a hard-hit error and Heilman singled but Brodina struck out with two in scoring position Triepke worked out of his own jam in the bottom half getting a couple nice catches from right fielder Gauge Driessen to strand a runner at third Mason Palmer continued to heat up with a double and Triepke worked a tremendous nine-pitch walk to load them up but Bryant recorded a key strikeout of Max Palmer and got Olson to hit into a sliding catch in left grinding through the second game on the hottest day of the year thus far and Triepke’s second balk of the game gave South an extra base induced his fourth soft fly ball in as many batters to keep the Bruins from adding on Heilman led off the fifth with a long single one that Luehring urged him to get out of the box faster on After Beck replaced Heilman on a fielder’s choice Beck was thrown out at second on a hit to the outfield by Brodina It was technically just another fielder’s choice for Brodina South survived a catcher’s interference call in an all-around odd little inning Devils Lake left a potential run on second base and it shouldn’t be something you sleep through,” Luehring said of the team’s fading energy.” So I don’t know and just 14 innings of baseball again… I tell the kids I don’t coach energy and effort after retiring the first batter in the bottom of the fifth Luehring brought in right-hander Cayden McCarthy who was dealt some unlucky blows as South extended its lead to 4-1 He issued a 3-2 walk on some close pitches then surrendered an unlucky infield hit and a seeing-eye single through the left side South scored its second run of the inning on a sacrifice fly McCarthy settled in to throw a scoreless sixth The Firebirds got one back in the top of the seventh after loading the bases but a double play ended it with a 4-2 final “I’m glad we kind of came back there at the end and competed,” Luehring said Devils Lake travels to West Fargo Horace (14-5 11-3) for a two-pointer on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m She was surrounded by love and treated like a queen by the caring staff in her final days and graduated as valedictorian from Arthur High School in 1955 Nancy especially excelled in basketball and was active in 4H earning many awards for her work and creativity Nancy married Monte Swanson and together they raised three children: sons Kim and Shannon and began a successful insurance career with State Farm She later thrived at Powell-Kunkel Insurance before co-founding K & K Insurance and her deep care for every client she served They made their home on a horse ranch called 2 Arrow where life was always full of energy and hard work she was often traveling with John or helping him shoe horses They also opened their hearts and home to foster children building lasting relationships with many over the years Nancy cherished time at her cabin on Round Lake especially enjoying the sound of loons and the beauty of nature bird watching with her binoculars and bird book by the window She especially loved floating in her pool with her nieces her sister-in-law and enjoying lady lunches with friends and family She had been a star player in high school and followed college basketball closely She often dreamed of coaching girls' basketball and proudly supported her grandchildren always offering encouragement and pointers Nancy also loved her morning "Ops Meetings" with John and Kim and hosting card games and chats with visiting nieces John Kuntz; son Kim Swanson (Retired Military); daughter Julie Robbins and her husband Gregg Robbins of West Fargo ND; granddaughter Lacey Kvamme and her husband Paul Kvamme of St MN; grandson Lucas Swanson of New York; great-grandson Obie Kvamme and great granddaughter Shannon Dolly Kvamme; brother Jon “Jack” Fowler and his wife Mary Fowler of Bismarck She is also survived by many beloved nieces and nephews Nancy was preceded in death by her parents were the precious light of her life and brought immense joy and brightness to her days Though we are deeply saddened by her passing we are forever thankful for the time we shared with her and compassion that will live on in all who knew her Funeral Services for Nancy will be held on Tuesday ND with Reverend JoHanna Buchholz officiating There will be a time of fellowship in the church dining hall following the funeral service The Lake Region State College baseball team’s season came to an end with a pair of losses against Miles Community College on Saturday in Miles City It was the first round of the Mon-Dak playoffs The Royals needed two wins to advance and one win to play a decisive game on Sunday which won a program-record 11 conference games during the regular games That’s the second-most total wins the program has recorded in a season The Royals’ baseball team has still never won a playoff series in its roughly decade-long history 18-6) scored seven runs in the first three innings of the first game They walked it off with a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to win by nine with one out in the bottom of the seventh gave up five runs in 1 2/3 innings after the Royals scored two in the first inning on a single by Hugh Montgomery Simon Beach provided some durability out of the bullpen in what turned out to be his last official performance in a baseball game He allowed three runs in 4 1/3 innings with three hits Carson Beaudin allowed the three-run homer that sealed the deal He was solid through six innings against a tough MCC team allowing three runs in six innings with nine strikeouts LRSC took until the seventh inning to score its first run of the game with a pair of productive bunts from Dayton Christensen and Jacob Warnke Hagler stayed out there for the bottom of the seventh and grinded through a three-run inning that deepened the Royals’ deficit to 5-1 getting one more back in the eighth after a leadoff single by Beau Brodina and a two-out RBI hit from Montgomery Hagler stayed out there for yet another inning he allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits while striking out 11 and walking three It was an up-and-down outing against a quality team but the most impressive aspect was Hagler’s ability to wear it out for 127 pitches (84 strikes) The Royals’ offense went down 1-2-3 in the ninth Brayden Ehnert and Lane Kinsella came to an end with the losses Montgomery and Kleinjan will be continuing their baseball careers for Mayville State University next year The Royals have a whopping 16 freshmen on the roster who are all eligible to come back for another year First-year head coach Steve Anderson has already been diving deep into the recruiting trail as well He helped the program to its most successful season yet but has made clear that his work is far from done Runnings had their official grand opening on Friday acquired Home of Economy in May of last year Members of the Devils Lake Chamber of Commerce and others attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday afternoon “Thank you for coming to our community and everybody together here today for what is a beautiful day to have an open house,” said Moe “Thank you for all that you have done to update [the store] coming to our community and to help support us.” Store manager Bradley Haugland told the Journal “We’ve gotten a lot more stuff for customers trying to meet all the different varieties of needs here in Devils Lake we’ve got a lot of carpentry stuff going on.” trying to meet what the customer needs and wants.” Haugland said long-term goals include expansion “To get a little bit of a bigger building” and a “Greenhouse coming next year.” DEVILS LAKE — The Royals had a smile-filled easygoing time at their Sophomore Night on Wednesday at DLYA Field fresh off of sweeping its last conference doubleheader hosted a non-conference game against the University of North Dakota club team to finish out the regular season who own a program-best 11 conference wins this year honored their six sophomores before the game “We left last year was in a really bad spot,” LRSC sophomore Simon Beach said “And to come with a new coach and new everything and turn it around like we did that’s all you can ask for with a new program leader.” The Royals played their final game with a lineup that featured their typical center fielder playing second base one of their starting pitchers batting fifth and one of their relievers batting sixth Safe to say it was a different look for an LRSC team that found a multitude of spots for different guys to play 9-3) by a score of 10-5 ahead of this weekend’s playoffs “Obviously it’s not the result that we wanted I feel pretty good about it,” LRSC head coach Steve Anderson said “The plan for a while was Sophomore Night let the sophomores kind of take charge and write the lineup and decide who’s going where and who’s subbing in My only stipulation is I wanted all of the sophomores to get an inning on the mound… The biggest thing was just getting a few more reps to get ready for this weekend.” started on the mound in likely his last game playing at DLYA Field “You saw a bunch of the community members and family members who’s in his sixth year with the UND club team The Royals scratched out a run in the bottom half on an RBI single by Brayden Ehnert Beach came back out and struck out his first batter in the second inning The Fighting Hawks struck some balls hard to left field — including an RBI double that tied it and then a go-ahead three-run homer that was rifled over the fence by Broc Mutterer The two innings pitched gave Beach 50 for the season and 84 for his career Beach is one of only five pitchers in the entire Mon-Dak with enough innings to qualify for the ERA title this year “It’s just coming out here and competing It’s the same thing that I did in the summertime [Legion season],” Beach said And you’re the best player out there as soon as you’re on the mound And that’s why I tell these guys all the time and they’re just living in it when you’re on the mound.’” He had to grind through a 27-pitch third inning which included another sharp run-scoring double to left field But despite two walks and a hit batter in the inning he escaped the frame having allowed only two runs aided by back-to-back errors from the UND first baseman Sophomore Hugh Montgomery also added a steal to his school stolen base record LRSC went to its next sophomore in the fourth inning with Lane Kinsella He got the first two outs before the Hawks found some holes hitting three straight singles to load the bases UND’s Alex Brosnahan walloped one that snuck over the fence for a grand slam The blast deepened the Royals’ deficit to 10-2 LRSC started to use some of its regulars who were on the bench Lucas Lyons replaced Beach’s spot in the lineup Devils Lake native Beau Brodina drew one of his classic walks to get things going Leif Sigurdson then lined an RBI triple down the right-field line and Montgomery hit a fly ball that narrowly dropped for an RBI double after an aggressive tag-up to get to third scored on a wild pitch to cut LRSC’s deficit to 10-5 The next two sophomores in the pitching lineup were Jacob Warnke and Tyler Kleinjan Despite Kleinjan throwing just six pitches the Royals went to their sixth sophomore in Montgomery to pitch the seventh but he dotted the outer edge with his fastball and struck out the side in order A single by Kleinjan put runners on the corners in the final frame but the Royals stranded them as they fell by five and obviously we wanted a different result Anderson and his assistant coaches stayed out in right field with the sophomores for just a little while longer Anderson said he thanked them for what they’ve done for this program being an instrumental part in getting the team to its most ever conference wins for a playoff matchup with second-place Miles Community College (35-15 but I feel like we continued to grow every day “And from day one on August 29 or whenever that was the goal was to be ready to go to make a run in the playoffs nothing else really matters except for playing our best baseball in the playoffs and winning the first playoff series the school’s ever seen We’re ready to go finally fight the final battle that we’ve been working for all year long.” Braxton Rance (Photo via Devils Lake Firebirds Track and Field Facebook) Peace Garden Conference JH & V Invite Only Langdon Area/Munich boys: 4th out of 12 teams Langdon Area/Munich girls: 6th out of 11 teams The Devils Lake Park Board held a regular meeting on Tuesday Adam Nordenstrom spoke about the maintenance of the skate park at Roosevelt Park He said he was looking at getting the surface area refurbished which would help get the transitions between the ramps and ground back smooth again He said the last time it was resurfaced was four to six years ago “I’ve been skateboarding over 30 years… Sometimes a lot of kids struggle with team sports due to social anxiety or even the cost to their family.” Nordenstrom said the only thing they would need the Park Board to help with is these surface area improvements He said he’s already raised money to help with the repairs There are some areas of the ramps that have settled down into the surface which is creating a dip that could potentially cause injuries Commissioner Jamie Beck said the park board’s philosophy is that if people are willing to help make improvements and raise money the park board will support the improvement He added that it has to be planned so it can be put in the budget Nordenstrom was asked to meet with Superintendent Dennis Nysbit to put together a plan for the improvements and to see if it’s possible to get something done this year The discussion of forbidding metal cleats during baseball games was brought up Dennis Nysbit told the board that he reached out to other towns that have turf and only Grand Forks is the only one that doesn’t allow metal cleats on their field Dennis told the board that it seems like a lot of places will soon be phasing out metal cleats The board felt it was too late for this year but could enforce it for next year It was recommended that the board communicate with the teams to let them know it will be happening next year Shirley had no problem keeping up with all of her brothers She kept that strength and athleticism throughout her entire life Shirley possessed an undeniable air of competence gardening and lifting weights to keep herself fit was still able to lift her own suitcase up into the airplane’s overhead bin on a family trip both in her professional life and in her personal life She was a valued asset to Commercial Security Bank having worked there for upwards of 20 years while managing over 15 employees She was the type of woman who found success in everything she did with many grandchildren and great-grandchildren that they loved and adored Preceded in death by her dear husband and soulmate and her memory will continue to inspire us every day The family will hold a private service to honor her memory Randall Allen Jones, 66, of Maddock, ND passed away April 24, 2025, at Altru Hospital in Grand Forks, ND. Services are pending at this time. Online condolences may be left at www.thenelsonfuneralhome.com Parker Simon is the Mon-Dak Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week native threw 10 innings last week while allowing just one earned run The recognition doesn’t even include his 4 2/3 scoreless innings against Dakota College at Bottineau on April 29 Simon’s season ERA sits at 3.51 with only one run allowed in his last 14 2/3 innings (0.61 ERA) He threw a complete-game one-hitter on April 21 against Bottineau His performance helped finish off a doubleheader sweep at home He struck out seven and walked three in the outing he came back three days later and locked down a two-inning save against North Dakota State College of Science Following his former North Star teammate Dane Hagler’s five-inning start Simon allowed just one hit and struck out two as he closed out an 8-5 win The Royals won the nightcap against NDSCS on April 24 and took three out of four in the season series Simon allowed one run in one inning of relief against Dakota County Technical College to finish the week And although it didn’t count towards this honor he pitched again three days later against Bottineau and threw 4 2/3 scoreless innings to lead a 16-0 win This is the second weekly honor LRSC has received this year Jamison Nelson was named the Mon-Dak Player of the Week on Saturday to face Miles Community College (35-15 Rick Grinsteiner (Devils Lake Youth Football) Lake Chevrolet GMC- Devils Lake Cars partnered with Devils Lake Youth Football on the Chevy Youth Sports program a partnership program built to position Chevrolet as the Official Vehicle of Youth Sports while providing an opportunity for local youth sports leagues to grow The partnership featured a one-time monetary contribution to assist Devils Lake Youth Football with the purchase of new helmets and a test drive event as an opportunity for community members to earn additional funds for the league “Sports can help kids develop skills like leadership and sportsmanship while bringing families and communities together to show their support,” said Wayne Brandt Lake Chevrolet GMC and Chevy Youth Sports are proud to help Devils Lake Youth Football bring so many smiles to kids and families in Devils Lake “Chevy believes in the power of play as a way for young people to build the skills needed to be successful in the future.” The Chevy Youth Sports program gives Chevrolet dealerships the opportunity to provide support for youth athletic programs across the country over 650 Chevrolet dealerships will participate in the program nationwide “Chevrolet vehicles are designed and built with busy families in mind featuring a comprehensive suite of available safety features technologies that make the journey more comfortable and engaging for the entire family and the space and flexibility needed to haul people and cargo We encourage everyone to come take a look at what Chevrolet has to offer,” said Brandt For more information about Chevrolet Youth Sports, please visit www.chevrolet.com/youthsports.com DEVILS LAKE — Devils Lake softball won three of its first four games this season resilient West Fargo team that completely overpowered them on Tuesday 2-8) lost a two-point EDC game against West Fargo (7-9 The Firebirds scored all of their runs in the final inning but it wasn’t nearly enough to overcome a busy first three innings for the West Fargo offense “The main message is we can’t be in sloth mode,” Devils Lake head coach Courtney Loegering said “We’re running things too slowly and I told them that I sound like a broken record We can’t till the fifth inning to start hitting the ball.” The Packers grabbed five in the first inning against starter Tylie Brodina with a leadoff walk and then a popout to catcher Ava Beck Three-hitter Grace Vetter roped one to the right side on the ground but it was hit too hard for first baseman Riley Remmick to react to before Brodina induced a lineout to shortstop Julia McIvor for the second out But the inning spiraled on three more walks and a missed-catch error on a fielder’s choice attempt at third base and the fifth walk of the inning drove in a run to make it 5-0 “The fundamentals — we’ve gotta figure that out,” Loegering said “Sometimes we are struggling with our pitching and need to know that their team can make routine plays.” The second inning picked up where the first inning left off Brodina then induced three straight pop-ups — the first was caught but the second one fell in foul territory and the third one dropped unluckily in right field to load the bases The issue was throwing strikes consistently she’s pitching really well,” Loegering said Brodina then induced another soft infield fly but it popped out of McIvor’s mitt to load the bases back up After some deliberation amongst the Firebirds Brodina slid back to shortstop after 2 1/3 innings in the circle “I don’t know what’s kind of going on,” Loegering said “[Brodina] did get cleated pretty bad during the Shanley game she’s been really struggling throwing strikes I know her knee’s kind of bugging her a little bit with that.” Loegering said the decision for Brodina to come out of the circle was Brodina’s own I’m not helping the team out,’” Loegering said of what Brodina told her “So that’s when Julia came in and stepped up I’m not trying to do anything fancy.’” McIvor got ahead 0-2 on her first batter before running the count even and surrendering a two-run single into left-center The inning finally came to an end on a ground ball that hit a West Fargo runner The Packers had scored their 10 runs thus far on just four total hits had few answers against the hard-throwing Brynlee Rheault and got only a one-out single from Taylor Leben in the second Rheault struck out two in the second inning McIvor stayed in the circle for the third inning she induced a popout to herself to hold runners on the corners But West Fargo went on to score seven more runs in the frame on six hits and three walks with the Packers having batted around in all three innings They added one more in the fourth inning on a single and an errant throw to third base Brodina smacked a leadoff double in the bottom of the fourth for Devils Lake’s second hit Madison Harris worked a nice plate appearance that ended in a walk to put a second runner on but it was caught in left-center to end the inning McIvor finished out the rest of Devils Lake’s innings in the circle working around a pair of two-out walks with a soft popup in the infield she really shows [gutsiness] a lot,” Loegering said “She steps up and talks to kids… So she really is a captain.” The Firebirds avoided the shutout in the final frame and Tori Mikkelson snuck one through for a single That set up an RBI opportunity for nine-hitter Livia Nelson who lined an RBI single to get Devils Lake on the board Brodina and McIvor each legged out back-to-back infield singles It was five straight hits for Devils Lake to cut the deficit to 18-4 One more scored on a missed-catch error by the West Fargo third baseman Rheault struck out the last three batters of the game to finish with seven punchouts overall Devils Lake continues a hard schedule with a home game against Fargo North (5-2 and then a road contest against West Fargo Sheyenne (4-4 “Those are gonna be two tough games,” Loegering said “We just want the girls to come here and actually play how they can play They’ve showed it a couple games so far this year but it seems like we haven’t been able to find that niche just yet So as long as we can hit the ball each inning and not wait to get going Over 150 Fifth Graders Attend Progressive Agriculture Safety Day in Ramsey County Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Agent North Dakota State University (NDSU) Extension–Ramsey County was proud to host its third annual Progressive Agriculture Safety Day on April 3 The event welcomed 157 fifth-grade students from Central Middle School and St Joseph Catholic School to a fun and educational experience focused on safety Students rotated through eight engaging and informative sessions This impactful day would not have been possible without the dedication of our incredible presenters: Officer Christon Dallas (Devils Lake Police Department) Tyler Knutson (Devils Lake Marine & Sports) Kim Miller (North Dakota Telephone Company) Katie Henry (NDSU Extension-Cavalier County) Taylor Hart (Lake Region District Health Unit) Sam Feldmann and James Myhre (North Dakota Game and Fish) and Bryan Lang and Ashley Matheny (Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department) Each student received a take-home bag filled with safety-themed materials and resources made possible by the generous support of local sponsors • Gold Sponsors: High Plains Equipment and the Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health • Bronze Sponsors: First Community Credit Union and Western Equipment Finance. students responded with practical safety goals like “plan a safety plan with my family for if there is a fire,” and “wear the right equipment on an ATV or mower.” Others emphasized the importance of water safety and always wearing a personal flotation device NDSU Extension Ramsey County would like to thank our volunteers and community partners for helping to make the day both educational and memorable Events like this help lay the foundation for a safer You haven’t truly experienced joy until you’ve watched a 94-year-old woman with a titanium hip strike a pose like she’s on the cover of Vogue all because our maintenance man at the nursing home put on a fuzzy bunny costume complete with a violet satin vest with matching bow tie and a pair of floppy ears and feet I talked our maintenance man (a 6’2” burly fellow who normally spends his days unclogging toilets and fixing flickering lights) into dressing up as the Easter Bunny He had the kind of fluff that made you want to hug him and never let go I brought in a professional photographer to capture the moment Residents with arthritis that would make a yoga instructor weep were suddenly twisting and twirling striking cheeky poses and demanding a retake because “my smile looked crooked in that one.” I saw more hip movement in that room than I have at a high school dance I posted an open invitation on Facebook for the public to join us She entered the room like she was carrying butterflies in her purse—nervous but hopeful and dressed to the nines as she has for the last nine Easters since her husband passed but they’re busy with families of their own and arguing over who forgot to bring the deviled eggs ready to spend the holiday with a remote and her thoughts But something stirred in her—a little voice or perhaps the memory of a really good slice of apple pie-just like the pie we serve at the nursing home a bunny photo she plans to frame when she gets it and the kind of glow usually reserved for people who’ve just fallen in love or discovered bingo night includes wine “Thank you for letting me be part of something I didn’t know I needed this until I was in the middle of it.” is the moral of this story – Never underestimate the power of a maintenance man in a bunny suit Or a building full of people who might seem old on the outside but still light up like kids at the mere sight of a bunny with big feet and a gentle heart Loneliness doesn’t stand a chance when connection hops in Photos via Lake Region State College Baseball on X baseball players for Lake Region State College announced Monday that they’ll be continuing their careers at Mayville State University The pair will be moving from JUCO to the four-year level after the completion of this season The team gathered for a group picture to commemorate their achievement Montgomery and Kleinjan are two of the six returning sophomores on the LRSC baseball team They’ve seen the program go from last place to the most conference wins in team history over their two years batted .270/.406/.351 in 37 games last season he’s hitting a similar .274/.356/.359 in addition to playing outstanding defense He stole a program-record 15 bases last year and has broken that record again this season with 21 who’s played both infield and outfield for the Royals batted .341/.453/.364 in 32 games last year His line sits at .314/.442/.352 through 38 games this season He’s also given LRSC 5 1/3 innings on the mound this year with four earned runs allowed he’s walked (40) more times than he’s struck out (35) and he’s stolen 15 bases (five last year and 10 this year) Kleinjan is a Bismarck native who played for Century High School they’ve helped LRSC to a 9-13 conference record which is more than twice as many conference wins as last season led by first-year head coach Steve Anderson are 12-30 overall after a 10-32 season last year they’ll join current Devils Lake High School senior Ben Larson Larson is a pitcher and infielder who recently threw a no-hitter for Devils Lake The 2025 Comets recently wrapped up their regular season where they went 14-28 overall and 6-14 in conference play MSU had a winning conference season as recently as 2023 The squad is head coached by Billy Tomblin in his second year One of the assistant coaches is Cadyn Schwabe a former North Dakota State and professional baseball player and brother of LRSC basketball player Sydney Schwabe about a 100-mile drive southeast of Devils Lake Kleinjan and the Royals will complete conference play on the road Tuesday against Dakota College at Bottineau Their final regular-season game is Wednesday at home against the University of North Dakota club team at 6 p.m It was March 7 when my old friend and game warden Cory Erck called on a Friday afternoon While I was working indoors at a sport show he was out patrolling his district After the usual pleasantries we compared notes of the boat ramps open on the Missouri River to snow geese showing up on the state line Having both lived and worked here for decades we knew without saying that while it looked and felt like spring the true break of winter wasn’t here just yet A month later and it’s as the warm sun and the tranquil sounds of nature set the stage for one of the most anticipated activities of the year spring fishing it is not just about the thrill of the catch but the chance to reconnect with nature relax and appreciate the changes that come with the season It’s a time when the landscape transitions from a stark and there’s no better way to embrace this renewal than with a fishing rod in hand with just the sound of a distant Western meadowlark Canada goose and the gentle ripple of a pike breaking the surface The calm waters reflect the sky and surrounding trees this alone is worth the early mornings and chilly starts It’s about the tranquility that comes with being in as the world around you awakens to the day and seasons The joy of spring fishing in North Dakota also lies in the unpredictability the fishing season brings an element of excitement as fish emerge from the depths after a long winter We have to be patient for the “real” spring and waiting for the first tug of the line embodies that perfectly You never know when the first nibble or catch will come The camaraderie that comes with spring fishing also adds to the joy of the season Whether it’s an early morning with friends or a solo adventure there’s something special about sharing the experience with others Many anglers return to the same spots year after year creating bonds and traditions that make each outing feel like part of a larger story Whether you’re fishing from a boat on one of North Dakota’s numerous lakes and reservoirs or casting from the shore of a smaller water there’s an undeniable sense of community among those who share the passion for spring fishing Spring fishing is much more than just a sport and celebrate the natural world as it comes back to life after a long winter and a few false springs It’s a season of renewal and the start of spring just makes the anticipation and true end of winter feel even better Stay safe obey the rules and enjoy the great outdoors MINOT — There will be a rematch between No 2 South Prairie-Max on the final day of the state tournament — it will just be in the third-place game The red-hot Thompson Tommies put their stamp on a chaotic day at the Minot Dome with a 74-63 win Friday night over the Firebirds in the semifinals of the North Dakota Division A state tournament The Tommies take down the first-ranked team in the Division A tournament After a 2024 state tournament where they were eliminated as the No the Tommies return in 2025 with momentum from a Region 2A third-place finish Thompson felt good about facing Devils Lake’s infamous press even after dropping both regular season games against the Firebirds The Tommies' new-found confidence has them playing at a level they were aspiring for “We knew that handling the pressure was going to be key both in the full court and in the half court our ball fakes and somebody backside is always going to be cutting to the center of the floor we were able to get it to that girl,” Thompson head coach Jason Brend said The girls that got into those scoring areas were Addison Sage and Kya Hurst Sage was the leader against Rugby in the Tommies’ 59-39 win with 21 points She continued her torrid pace out of the gate against the Firebirds with seven points in the first two minutes And as Thompson continued to hit shot after shot she would out-do herself with 26 points on Friday “We just needed to bring the intensity and positivity into this tournament One more and maybe we can win this thing,” Sage said Thompson was 10-for-17 on threes as a team “There were definitely times where we got going but in that fourth quarter they had an opportunity where they had us a little rattled but we stretched it out again,” Brend said Sage put in the proverbial dagger with a hard-effort reverse layup The veracity at which Sage and Hurst were going to attack the press was evident Their attack led to them holding the lead for almost the entirety of the game our answer to the press got better I’d say We’re used to it and I thought we did really well against it,” Hurst said It got dicey for Thompson in the third quarter Devils Lake retaliated with a 14-0 run of its own and brought the score back to a one-possession game With the way the Firebirds’ season has gone a miraculous comeback was not out of the question “Any time a team shoots almost 60% from three they are hard to beat,” Devils Lake head coach Justin Klein said “We dug back and I thought we were going to turn this around and with our pressure they were going to fold.” The pressure on the scoreboard was non-stop from Thompson The Firebirds and Tommies put on a show in the first half in Minot Both sides went blow-for-blow into the intermission cutting each other’s momentum on each possession The fireworks came in the form of trading threes late in the second quarter the two sides exchanged six consecutive possessions that ended with a 3-pointer Tylie Brodina started the stretch to tie the game 30-30 Claire Heilman hit her first to tie the score 34-34 She gave the lead back to Thompson until Torri Fee got in on the action Thompson’s shooting streak continued into the second half while the offensive production dried up for Devils Lake Thompson did have a small seven-point lead in the second quarter but all it took for a quick Devils Lake run was just a little bit of shooting luck to go their way After Jordyn Tozer hit a highlight reel assist to Hurst for an and-one play going a quick four-for-five to make it just a one-point lead for the Tommies Brodina would end up going 3-for-6 from beyond the arc in the first half following their nail-biting 60-59 win over South Prairie-Max The two squads did not square off in the regular season but the Hi-Liners did split with Devils Lake Parker Brodina (3) / Photo by Noah Clooten Devils Lake is represented by a coach and three players on this year’s North Dakota Lions All-Star teams The rosters were announced Thursday evening following a runner-up finish at the Class A state tournament will co-coach the A/B boys’ team for the second straight year — in lieu of Kindred coach Brad Woehl whose squad avenged last season’s loss to Devils Lake in the title game Brodina is set to coach alongside Bishop Ryan’s Broderick Bosch Devils Lake seniors Parker Brodina and Joel Nelson made the A/B boys’ roster Both were all-state tournament and all-region selections and Brodina was the Class A Senior Athlete of the Year Brodina was also an All-State First Team selection with his 18 points per game They’ll join forces with two of their rivals from Kindred: Karson Ouse and Presley Peraza a Warwick senior and Lake Region State College commit is listed as one of three alternates on the team Devils Lake senior Torri Fee made the A/B roster She had eight points and 3.6 rebounds per game during the regular season and was an all-region selection Fee will play with a rival from Carrington The A/B girls’ team is coached by Valley City’s Jimmy Howard and Kenmare/Bowbells’ Mike Zimmer (in lieu of Benson County champion head coach Bryan Kenner) the A/B boys’ team included Devils Lake’s Wylee Delorme Four Winds/Minnewaukan’s Deng Deng and North Star’s Dane Hagler — all three of whom were Mr Brodina and Westhope/Newburg’s Anthony Lee the A/B boys won both All-Star games over the AA team coached by Devils Lake’s Justin Klein and May-Port-C-G’s Keenan Konschak The squad didn’t include any Devils Lake players The games will once again be held in Bismarck and Fargo this year The Devils Lake boys’ and girls’ track and field teams came in first and second in the Clark and Shaaron Lloyd Memorial held Tuesday in Fessenden The boys finished first out of 12 teams with a team score of 301 The girls placed second out of 14 teams with a score of 210 finishing fourth on both the boys’ and girls’ side while the Benson County boys came in fifth The North Star boys and girls also participated and came in 12th and 13th Rugby was the only team to beat the Devils Lake girls Devils Lake sophomore Sara Kraft continued to add events to her list of state qualifiers She placed second out of 74 runners in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.77 which tied Emily Black for the school record She also qualified for state in the 4×100 and 4×200 relays They posted a time of 51.91 in the 4×100 and 1:49.93 in the 4×200 That makes five events that Kraft has qualified in already She’d previously qualified in long jump and 100-meter hurdles Kraft also won the triple jump on Tuesday with a 32-10.00 Junior Aubrie Lebrun placed second in the 400-meter dash while freshman Dottie Goss placed second in the 1600-meter dash Sophomore April Miller and eighth-grader Emily Kraft came in fifth and eighth junior Aubrey Kenner placed second in the 800-meter dash with a time of 2:32.30 It was her season record but not her personal record She also came in fifth in the 300-meter hurdles Freshman Addisyn Faul placed third in the 300-meter hurdles fourth in the 100-meter hurdles and ninth out of 74 runners in the 100-meter dash Kenner and Faul previously qualified for state in the 300-meter hurdles Junior Kale Williams won the pole vault with a score of 8-00.00 Senior Shayna Gossen placed third in the long jump with a 14-09.50 Junior Haley Scevers and freshman Lacie Fautsch placed second and third while sophomore Kaitlyn Maddock placed eighth in the javelin out of 42 contestants sophomore Emmie Belquist qualified for state in the 100-meter dash with a fourth-place time of 13.02 She also qualified in the 100-meter hurdles (16.26 Ava Peterson and Jaida Schumacher also qualified posting a time of 52.35 and coming in third place Belquist has qualified in five events so far this season Schumacher also placed second in the 200-meter dash while Peterson finished second in the javelin senior Jorie Ahlberg placed sixth in the long jump 16th in the 200-meter dash and 24th in the 100-meter dash placed eighth in the 200 and third in the 400-meter The Firebirds won the boys’ competition won the 400-meter dash out of 27 runners with a time of 52.66 He also placed second in the 200-meter dash and 300-meter hurdles along with being a part of the first-place 4×400 relay team (alongside Noah Azure He already qualified for state in the high jump earlier in the season He also placed fourth in the 200-meter and seventh in the 100-meter won the 800-meter dash with a time of 2:09.79 and the 1600-meter with a 4:46.43 Senior Joel Nelson placed second in the shot put with a throw of 46’7’’ He also came in fourth in the 800-meter dash third in the high jump and seventh in the javelin Sophomore Aiden Ackerman won the 3200-meter dash and placed sixth in the 1600-meter He recorded a 22-foot long jump to not only come in first place and qualify for state but break a school record passing the likes of Deng Deng and Bo Belquist Granger also won the 100-meter and 200-meter dash Bennett Meier and Easton Benz won the 4×100 relay as well Freshman Aiden Jackson came in ninth in the 400-meter Eighth-grader Gabe Smith placed second in the 3200-meter Junior Francis Belille placed fourth in the shot put while senior Kage Walford and Belille placed sixth and seventh Walford also came in second in the javelin while Zieman placed fourth in the triple jump and Meier fifth in the high jump senior Holdyn Jacobson placed second in the 800-meter and 1600-meter Senior Carter Engebretson once again won the shot put; he’d already qualified for state in the event and broke the Benson County co-op record in the process He also won the discus with a personal-record 139-11 and placed second in the long jump and sixth in the triple jump freshman Brian Kurtti placed fourth in the 110-meter hurdles and eighth in the 300-meter hurdles The Devils Lake track teams are back in action Thursday in the Shanley Invitational and then Tuesday in the Fargo North High Five Invitational NR-S competes in the Hanneman Memorial on Friday and then the Darwin Gorder Maroon & White Invitational on Tuesday Benson County has the VCSU HS Open on Thursday and the Fargo Elite Meet on Saturday then continues on to the Peace Garden Conference Invite on Tuesday North Star has three meets in three days: the Langdon Invite Varsity on Thursday Bottineau Varsity Meet on Friday and Fargo Elite Meet on Saturday The Bearcats will also be in Tuesday’s Peace Garden Conference Invite 45 of Devils Lake ND passed away on Wednesday There will be a gathering of family and friends at the Gilbertson Funeral Home A time of fellowship will follow at the KC Hall with burial in the Devils Lake Cemetery at a later date son of Lanny and Rebecca (Mertens) Duhamel was born on October 17 He called Devils Lake home his entire short life He attended Prairie View elementary school and graduated from Devils Lake High School with the class of 1998 He participated in wrestling and baseball and went to the National Competition several times as a member of DECA After graduating he attended Lake Region Junior College and earned his Liberal Arts degree and then enrolled at UND While at Lake Region College he continued active in DECA Jerrad worked a variety of jobs including “The Ranch” WalMart and was now working on the REM team He was a talented video gamer and loved to fish He had such a big heart for his special cats Charlie and Bailey Jerrad was a good friend to many and still had several high school friends he truly enjoyed spending time with Jerrad’s loving family include his parents Lanny and Becky of Devils Lake; brother Jason Duhamel (fiancé Kristina Weber) and sister Breanne Duhamel (Travis Sand) all of Devils Lake; nieces and nephews John Beckham Sand and Jordan Hunt; many dear aunts He was preceded in death by his grandparents and other beloved family Jerrad is in the care of the Gilbertson Funeral Home DEVILS LAKE — Last time the Firebirds played on this field — 14 days ago — they lost a close game and won a blowout against Fargo Davies The Devils Lake baseball team returned to DLYA Field on Friday having lost three in a row and not played a game in 10 days it was a complete inverse of the split with Davies 2-4) won an 8-0 blowout before falling in a tight 3-2 contest to Shanley (3-4 it’s just good to get back out there,” Devils Lake head coach Brent Luehring said “We’ve been off for a week and a half We won’t complain about that any day.” Parker Brodina pitched a seven-inning masterpiece in Game 1 Devils Lake led 2-0 in Game 2 but let the lead slip away The Firebirds loaded the bases in the final frame but lost after a failed squeeze play they don’t even score today,” Luehring said “So we didn’t make those plays and then all of a sudden we’re forced to play catch-up… It didn’t go our way there.” Brodina came within one out of a no-hitter in an overall domination of the Deacons to start things off walked one and allowed just a seventh-inning single The Firebirds’ offense collected eight hits and was helped out by a whopping seven Shanley errors to make this a rout from the beginning Devils Lake jumped out to a 4-0 lead in an ugly first inning for Shanley It all started on a seven-pitch single by Max Palmer Fausten Olson reached on a high throw from the shortstop Mason Palmer popped out — but Devils Lake did all of its damage with two outs Brodina hit a routine ground ball to third but another run scored on Shanley’s second error Hunter Remmick added an RBI single to make it 4-0 The inning extended even further on the Deacons’ third error and a hit by pitch he popped out to strand the bases loaded and finally end the frame Shanley right-hander Quinn Miller threw 28 pitches He walked the first batter he faced but then retired the next eight The streak only broke on a two-out error in the third inning Miller got the first two outs in the second The first baseman came off the bag on a routine grounder to short hitting a double to give him his third RBI and bring him halfway to a cycle already in the second inning Shanley left-hander George Giobres replaced Miller after he gave up five unearned runs in two innings Ben Larson reached second base on a single and Shanley’s fifth error Max Palmer popped one up that the first baseman dropped for Shanley’s sixth error Olson drove Triepke home with an RBI sacrifice bunt (that the Deacons almost threw away for another error) to make it 7-0 The frame was capped by a diving catch by shortstop Mason Palmer on a line drive who’d been in an 0-for-12 slump at the plate to start the season (though with six walks) finally collected his first base knock in the bottom of the fourth The dugout met him with a sarcastically appreciative round of cheers because the ball got by the center fielder for a two-base error “I think he’s one of those kids that when things go good it’s really hard to get him out,” Luehring said of Palmer as a hitter “And we’re just trying to get him to be stable So just trying to be positive with him and keep him up.” Beck couldn’t get it out of the infield this time But Brodina bailed him out with an RBI single through the left side Brodina struck out two more in the sixth as he continued to mow down the Deacons’ lineup He got a quick flyout and strikeout in the seventh before surrendering a first-pitch single up the middle off the bat of Ryan Ommen He craned his head slightly in disappointment while looking towards center field as Olson reeled it back in promptly inducing a groundout to second to end the game It was still a fantastic outing for him — his second straight complete game with no earned runs allowed He’d retired 12 in a row before the single (and 21 in a row if counting the error as a “batter retired”) Shanley combined to go just 1-for-23 against Brodina The senior has struck out eight and walked just two in 14 innings to start the season “He’s not trying overpower anybody which is maybe a little bit different from what he’s used to doing,” Luehring said of Brodina “Just attacking the zone and forcing them to put it in play A mostly successful day for the Firebirds ended in frustration Mason Palmer made his second start of the season on the mound He and Shanley’s Landon Hale each retired the first six batters they faced Palmer faced bases-loaded jams in the third and fourth but got out of it each time He survived three walks between the two innings capping the fourth inning with his fifth strikeout Larson was Devils Lake’s first baserunner He stole second and scored on a two-out single by Max Palmer Devils Lake tacked on another in the fourth moved up two bases on wild pitches and scored on a Mason Palmer sacrifice fly Palmer immediately dealt with more traffic in the fifth after back-to-back leadoff singles but then issued a walk to load the bases for the third straight inning He couldn’t find his way out of it this time With his pitch count having risen over 100 he surrendered a two-run single to left field that tied the game in a flash The second run was technically deemed as scoring on an error by left fielder Cayden McCarthy as he didn’t get a clean handle on it Palmer still ended the frame with his eighth strikeout to hold it at 2-2 allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits and four walks “He got his pitch count up there a little quicker than I wanted him to,” Luehring said “He just wasn’t as efficient as he normally is.” After a leadoff error by Larson at second base Remmick issued a walk and allowed a bunt single that loaded the bases — for the fourth straight inning Remmick limited the damage by inducing a double play An unearned run scored to give Shanley a 3-2 lead but that was it for the Deacons in the sixth Max Palmer got the Firebirds started with a leadoff single in the bottom half but Heilman and Mason Palmer were both retired to end the threat Remmick survived a one-out walk in the top of the seventh to give Devils Lake a chance at a comeback in the bottom half and Brodina sparked some hope with a double into left field Shanley opted to intentionally walk Remmick loading the bases and setting up the force at every base Larson hit one hard to the second baseman playing in but the Deacons got the force out at the plate Triepke pulled back a bunt on a pitch that was well high but Brodina was caught between third and home on a squeeze play that didn’t come to fruition ‘Pull back with two strikes,’ I suppose,” Luehring said “But we were trying to force the issue and trying to get one any we can get it Basically not trying to ground into a double play or anything else We were just trying to force the ball in play and see if we could get a run across And it just happened that it didn’t work With the tying run in scoring position with two outs Triepke went down on strikes to end the game the Firebirds will go right back out there late Saturday morning for some early-afternoon EDC baseball with the first game being a two-point counter and the second game being a non-counter “Big two-point game for us,” Luehring said but the best thing about it is we can turn around and play again tomorrow It’s nice not having to go to Wahpeton for the first time in about 10 years and hopefully we have a good crowd and we can get a win.” The Firebirds and Huskies are scheduled to get going at 1 p.m Parker Brodina fell one out short of a no-hitter in an otherwise spotless performance Ben Larson reached that same point in Saturday’s game Larson induced a soft ground ball towards third base Will Heilman charged in but couldn’t get a glove on it “That made my heart stop,” Larson said It was ruled an error to keep Larson’s no-no alive But he still needed that vaunted final out who’d been the epitome of accuracy and efficiency all afternoon threw two balls to Wahepton cleanup hitter Rylan Flack Flack swung and bounced one softly past the mound Larson reached out and nicked it with his glove and he calmly flung it to first to get the final out by a step with the only two baserunners coming on errors striking out six and not issuing any walks in a 9-0 blowout of Wahpeton “It felt really good after a rocky start against Davies,” said Larson who allowed four runs in four innings his previous time out “It just felt good to go out there and pitch strikes and have my team behind me.” 4-4) evened up their EDC record with a two-point win over the Huskies (2-7 It followed Friday’s doubleheader split with Shanley where Devils Lake dropped the nightcap 3-2 “Last night didn’t end the way we wanted it to,” Firebirds head coach Brent Luehring said “But there’s nothing better than being able to fix our mistakes from last night and play ready again the next day… Good feeling.” Larson was in command right from the beginning He struck out one in a perfect first inning The only baserunner he allowed through the first six innings was a leadoff error in the second but it was erased on a 1-4-3 double play to end the frame “He’s never gonna overpower anybody we can go curveball-fastball about every other pitch And it makes them challenging to square up And you could tell he wanted the ball today after last night a senior trying to set us on the right foot The Firebirds scrapped together two runs in the bottom of the third to take the lead then moved to second on Taydon Triepke’s sacrifice bunt and Larson came around to score after the shortstop made an errant throw on the play Palmer scored all the way from second on Fausten Olson’s groundout to make it 2-0 The Firebirds’ offense went right back to it in the bottom half as Trason Beck singled and Brodina hit an infield single Hunter Remmick added another hit to load the bases with nobody out Larson helped his own cause with a sacrifice fly Brodina then scored on a 4-6 fielder’s choice where the shortstop threw it away despite having no chance at a double play Max Palmer stole second to put two in scoring position and Olson came through with a two-run single to break it open Larson was unfazed by the long wait between innings His pitch count was at just 42 while facing the minimum in five no-hit innings “Just knowing that I have my team behind me helping me out through the whole thing,” Larson said “I’m confident in them making plays behind me and they just need to make their plays.” Devils Lake scored another in the bottom of the fifth on back-to-back errors by the Wahpeton shortstop who’d already made two errors in the previous inning was pulled after allowing a single to Triepke Max Palmer drew a walk against the new pitcher and Olson added another on an RBI fielder’s choice to make it 9-0 after five complete innings Larson dropped in a curve to lead off the sixth inning with a strikeout — giving him four punchouts in the last five batters and six overall Max Palmer caught a soft lineout to end another perfect inning for Larson “I got to the sixth and the seventh inning and people were kind of looking at me in ways,” Larson said “They weren’t trying to jinx it but I was just trying to focus on playing the game the whole time.” The final frame was the closest to what one could describe as a “high-stress” inning Larson had to contend with a couple of deceptively soft ground balls one of which was hit past Heilman for an error so this was his first at the varsity level He said he stashed the game ball in his bag and is planning on keeping it Devils Lake played a non-counter to wrap up the day and the conditions were increasingly rainy and windy so the teams agreed to only play three innings Right-hander Cayden McCarthy bounced back from a rough outing his last time out throwing a perfect first inning with two strikeouts Devils Lake put up an eight-spot in the bottom of the first on five hits and three errors They scored one more in the second on two walks and two hit batters McCarthy grinded through his final two innings He limited the Huskies to three runs while collecting five total strikeouts A single in the second inning against McCarthy was Wahpeton’s first hit of the entire day “His last outing he would definitely like to forget about down in West Fargo,” Luehring said of McCarthy ‘You’ve just gotta give us 60 pitches today.’… He’s gonna be a big part of what we do and it’s nice to see him turn the page and have a good outing for us and get a win.” which entered the weekend on a three-game losing streak has now won three of its last four heading into the thick of conference play especially winning both games,” Larson said “I think our confidence will skyrocket from here.” The Firebirds travel to Grand Forks to face Red River (8-3 GRAND FORKS — Devils Lake boys basketball has a goal to hold opponents to less than 40 points per game They allowed 41 to Thompson in the Firebirds’ 70-41 blowout of the Tommies in the Region 2A title game Thursday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center “The boys are going to have one crusher tomorrow,” Devils Lake coach Dustin Brodina joked The old saying ‘defense wins championships’ was true today The Tommies scored just 12 points in the second half it's hard to beat us,” Parker Brodina said Dustin Brodina was named the region’s coach of the year after the win and Parker Brodina earned the region’s senior athlete of the year award The father and son embraced at half court with their trophies in hand “I can't even count the amount of hours I've had in the gym with him,” Parker said Dustin Brodina described his middle son as a “great leader.” but he's been special for our program,” Dustin said “He’s making sure all these guys are accountable every single day he's a great person and I couldn't be happier and more proud of him.” Noah Hippen ended with seven points and Drew Odenbach added six The Tommies will play Central Cass in a state-qualifier game at 3 p.m Saturday at the Sanford Health Athletic Complex in Fargo “The beauty of the new setup is we still have an opportunity here on Saturday,” Thompson coach Brady Schwab said “We’ll see how quickly we can rebound and get back at it and that final eight is much better than the final 12 who dropped a 5-point contest to Kindred in its lone loss of the season on Feb has a week until the Division A boys basketball state tournament begins Thursday “We're going to get back to work,” Dustin Brodina said “We have a lot of seniors on this team and I know they're going to be focused Our goal is to win that game next Saturday We want to be there that Saturday night hoisting up the state championship trophy I know these guys are going to be wanting to get it again.” — Altru Health System’s acquisition of CHI St Alexius Health Devils Lake is tentatively scheduled for the end of March The business side of the purchase agreement has been agreed to by both Altru and CommonSpirit Health its final step before finalizing the transaction is for the hospital to be taken off the Catholic registry by an office in the Vatican “We anticipate receiving word of that approval any day now,” he said Forkel said he couldn’t speak to the price of the hospital but that it was determined through a market evaluation process and Altru will use its cash reserve in the transaction Devils Lake Mayor Jim Moe said Altru has visited the city and has met with a potential CEO Moe said a local resident will be put on the hospital’s board of directors and the CEO will be on some committees in the city Devils Lake is planning to hold an event in celebration “We’ll have an open house and a big celebration of all the hard work of all the entities involved to make this successful,” he said The hard work Moe referenced is a yearslong conversation about health care in Devils Lake which gained traction in 2022 and progressed to public meetings attended by community members When the transaction goes through and ER renovations are finished Forkel said Altru is planning to work on a master campus plan for its entire footprint Altru will explore plans for facilities and technology that need updating Hoeven for his influence and desire to help create something new in the Devils Lake market related to health care,” he said but it was a regular-season rematch of the one from last year when Devils Lake ended a 99-year drought with a triumphant title “What a fun atmosphere,” Firebirds head coach Dustin Brodina said “This is what basketball is all about.” 7-0) was handed its first loss of the year with a 52-47 defeat by No four three-pointers from Mason Palmer and nine second-half points from Parker Brodina faced their toughest match yet and fell short for the first time in 2025 “I’d rather lose this one than the state championship any day,” Coach Brodina said And it’s absolutely gonna motivate these guys for the next three weeks.” well-rounded offensive attack that was led by Brooks Bakko’s 14 points and Jake Starcevic’s 13 Devils Lake’s first-half offense was fueled by five three-pointers by the Palmer twins The first nine Firebird points all came from threes — two by Mason Palmer and one by Wirth That kept them in it against a versatile Kindred attack Peraza missed a one-handed dunk with Kindred leading 13-11 Palmer landed his third triple just a few seconds before the buzzer of the first quarter But the Devils Lake threes didn’t land with the same frequency in the second quarter including two separate dunks by Bakko and four points from Karson Ouse Starcevic landed Kindred’s second triple as the Vikings went on a 13-3 run The Firebirds’ first points of the second quarter didn’t come until over four minutes in It was his fourth triple of the first half But the only deuce by the Firebirds came from Joel Nelson back in the first quarter Brodina was held scoreless in the first half missing multiple three-ball attempts and a put-back We really settled,” Coach Brodina said “We have the mentality if you’re open you shoot it but we need to get a little more inside-out… We just can’t chuck it from the cheap seats and expect to win.” The Firebirds trailed by as many as 13 early in the second half Brodina scored his first points with a triple An 8-0 run got Devils Lake within a 36-31 margin Back-to-back baskets by Luke Starcevic started a 7-0 run back in Kindred’s direction It still only had three total two-pointers to support its nine three-pointers But Brodina started the fourth quarter on a better note He muscled his way to the rim and got the foul It was all of a sudden a five-point game at 43-38 “They don’t want to lose,” Brodina said “We started attacking the rim a little better so it’s difficult to attack the rim.” Wirth made two triples in the fourth quarter helping Devils Lake squeeze within a three-point margin He had nine points in the game’s final period “We let them get too close to the basket trying to push them away from the basket,” Brodina said “They can’t dunk the basketball if they’re not close to the basket.” But the Firebirds didn’t capitalize on a key possession then couldn’t get the ball back in their hands with only seconds left on the clock Devils Lake was down by two possessions and didn’t have enough time to respond The crowd of Kindred blue might have been sad last March when Devils Lake eliminated them “They’re a fantastic team,” Brodina said they’re gonna capitalize on it.” Devils Lake gets back to region play next week against No 28 and Carrington on March 3 to complete the regular season won the grand raffle prize of a 2025 Dodge Ram Midnight Edition pickup truck on Saturday during the Devils Lake Fire Department’s 41st annual ice fishing tournament which is the fire department’s primary fundraiser There were more than $350,000 in raffle and fishing prizes available including a 2025 Toyota Camry for the 170th raffle prize 41st Annual Prize Winners by Brad Dokken on Scribd walleye and northern pike categories were as follows: Lake Region State College baseball swept a doubleheader in Wahpeton over North Dakota State College of Science on Saturday after their Friday home games against NDSCS (8-20 took care of business on the road for their first doubleheader sweep of the season They’ve already won more conference games this year (five) than they did last year (four) The victories also moved them into fifth place out of seven teams in the Mon-Dak Athletic Conference And a big reason they were successful Saturday was because of Cando native Dane Hagler a late addition to the team this past winter Hagler shined with the bat in both games and on the mound in the second game then cruised to a 4-1 win behind a complete game from Hagler free passes and an error put the Royals behind 3-1 after four innings Their lone run at the time was courtesy of a Hugh Montgomery solo shot — his first of the season and second of his career after Lucas Lyons and Tyler Kleinjan reached on free passes Hagler tied the game with a two-run double to right field getting an RBI single from Brayden Ehnert to go ahead 5-3 It scored two more in the sixth — once again courtesy of Hagler who hit a two-run single to put the Royals up by four LRSC right-hander Logan Enns was cruising through six innings He’d only allowed the three-run second inning and his team even added an insurance run in the seventh on a Logan Dearborn sacrifice fly to make it 8-3 But Enns gave up three straight hits to start the bottom of the seventh he surrendered a two-run double that made it 8-5 with southpaw Michael Lindsay in to try to clean up the mess but NDSCS managed to tie the game on a two-run error by left fielder Leif Sigurdson Lindsay was pulled after walking the next batter a fellow North Star alum of Hagler’s It took him three pitches to finally put the inning to rest and avoid a complete disaster where Lyons drew a leadoff walk and it was yet again Hagler who had an RBI hit Hagler went 3-for-5 with five RBIs in the contest Simon stayed in and took care of the Wildcats in the bottom of the eighth Two groundouts and a swinging strikeout ended the game the Royals were fueled by seven innings of one-run ball from Hagler It was Hagler’s first start since March 8 As the Royals’ most prized addition shortly before the season started they’ve been careful managing his innings and keeping him fresh for the postseason His first start of the year was an 11-run disaster against Dodge City Community College in the very first game of the season he’s allowed just three runs in 16 innings of work Head coach Steve Anderson said before the season he was anticipating some big things from Hagler it’s coming to fruition at the perfect time Hagler also went 2-for-3 with a walk in the 4-1 win He’s now batting .309 with a .391 OBP on the season The lone run he gave up on Saturday came in the first inning He walked the first batter he faced and surrendered a two-out He kept the Wildcats off the board after that getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the third with a double play and a second-and-third The Royals committed four errors behind him that he managed to work around All four of LRSC’s runs were scored in the fourth inning Ehnert hit a two-run shot to put the Royals ahead for his second bomb of the year and third of his career Devils Lake native Beau Brodina added a sacrifice fly to achieve the 4-1 score that would eventually hold Hagler retired the final four batters he faced The Royals now return to Devils Lake for just their second set of home games on Monday They’ll host last-place Dakota College at Bottineau (15-21 LRSC sits a game ahead of NDSCS now in the standings though is still a hefty margin behind fourth-place Bismarck State College (24-17 Riley Schmiess (Photo via Devils Lake Firebirds Track and Field Facebook) Langdon Area/Munich boys: 1st out of 12 teams Langdon Area/Munich girls: 2nd out of 12 teams North Dakota is one of the most picturesque and family-friendly states in the U.S the state offers a quiet beauty ideal for weekend retreats Whether you’re strolling through the streets of Minot or relaxing near Devils Lake these areas provide just the right mix of comfort and calm From nature trails to historic landmarks and cozy accommodations each destination on this list is perfect for anyone looking to slow down and reconnect Here are 11 serene towns in North Dakota where you can plan your next weekend escape Bottineau is a beautiful village in northern North Dakota It is known for its natural views and access to the outdoors It’s the kind of place where you can truly unplug for the weekend Nicknamed the “Four Seasons Playground,” Bottineau lives up to its reputation with year-round activities Bottineau Winter Park offers skiing and snowboarding without the crowds the trails and picnic spots around Lake Metigoshe State Park come alive Clark Salyer National Wildlife Refuges are close by ideal for birdwatching and peaceful drives through prairie landscapes The Four Seasons Inn is a cozy and convenient place to stay just minutes from local attractions and restaurants Valley City is set in the scenic Sheyenne River Valley known for its iconic bridges and green landscapes Often called the “City of Bridges,” it's an escape for travelers looking to recharge in nature and explore which has a solar system model and burial mounds that are part of Native American culture The trails take you around the park and serve as an opportunity to stretch your legs during the day the Barnes County Historical Society Museum and the Valley City Rosebud Visitor Center are ideal spots to check out and antique items that shed light on the early days of Valley City which has comfortable rooms that offer many conveniences Minot is a city in north-central North Dakota that blends cultural sites with open spaces making it a good option for a weekend retreat It’s known for its strong community and easy access to both indoor and outdoor attractions home to over 100 animals across 68 species The zoo’s shaded paths are great for strolls The Scandinavian Heritage Park is another key stop featuring replicas from five Nordic countries including a full-scale Norwegian Stave Church and a 25-foot Swedish Dala Horse Art lovers can stop by the Taube Museum of Art which often hosts local exhibits in a calm the Clarion Hotel Convention Center offers comfortable lodging close to major attractions Devils Lake is a peaceful getaway built around North Dakota’s largest natural lake and fishing traditions continue to shape local life today The lake spans 160,000 acres and is popular for walleye offers hiking trails and campgrounds overlooking the water For those looking to learn a thing or two about this community the Lake Region Heritage Center is the ideal place to learn where local artifacts and displays give insight into the region Devils Lake Sportsman Lodge provides all the essentials for a short and convenient stay Between Bismarck and Fargo is the serene Jamestown with a family-friendly atmosphere and landmarks It’s best known for housing the world’s largest buffalo monument a 26-foot-tall sculpture that has become a major roadside stop Right next to the statue is the National Buffalo Museum where visitors can explore exhibits on the American bison and view live bison grazing nearby Frontier Village brings 19th-century prairie life to life with restored buildings Two Rivers Inn provides comfort for the night not too far from Jamestown’s main attractions Walhalla is one of the oldest communities in North Dakota, located near the Canadian border and surrounded by forested hills and river valleys Known as the heart of the “Rendezvous Region,” this stop offers frontier history with peaceful outdoor settings Start your visit at the Gingras Trading Post State Historic Site once a central hub of the fur trade in the 1800s the Kittson Trading Post stands as North Dakota’s oldest surviving building offering a glimpse into early settler life head to Pembina Gorge State Recreation Area for hiking and biking The Forestwood Inn provides a low-key experience with a friendly atmosphere Cooperstown may be small, but its interesting past makes it a standout for tourists seeking a low-key escape. Named after R.C. Cooper, the area’s first homesteader, it holds strong ties to both pioneer life and the Cold War Begin your trip at the Griggs County Museum where you will find an impressive collection of local artifacts including displays about pioneer life and unique exhibits related to the Cold War the Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site lets visitors tour a decommissioned missile launch control center the West Side Motel provides easy access to local attractions and a relaxed setting that reflects rural North Dakota’s pace of life Along the Red River Wahpeton is a destination that combines wildlife attractions and hospitality The zoo also offers walking paths and shaded picnic spots ideal for a cool afternoon with family and friends History buffs can visit the Richland County Historical Museum to view antique farm tools One of Wahpeton's most recognizable landmarks is the world’s largest catfish statue a 40-foot-long tribute to the area's fishing culture the Rodeway Inn offers comfortable lodging with easy access to Wahpeton’s highlights is situated near the North Dakota Badlands It is perfect for a weekend trip thanks to its picturesque scenery Theodore Roosevelt National Park is just minutes away Visitors can hike part of the Maah Daah Hey Trail or stop by the Chateau de Mores State Historic Site and the Maltese Cross Cabin to learn about the area’s frontier past and Roosevelt’s time as a rancher the Rough Riders Hotel offers a quiet place to enjoy its charm known as the geographical center of North America is full of distinctive landmarks and small-town appeal A stop at the Northern Lights Tower offers a view of the prairie and a good vantage point for birdwatching and photos the Niewoehner Bell Tower features over a dozen cast bronze bells and is a short climb for those interested in its design and sound stands out with its Modified Renaissance architecture and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places Make your trip even more memorable at the Pierce County Courthouse the sculpture overlooks the countryside from a nearby hill and honors its dairy farming roots The New Salem Historical Society offers a look into its development and how agriculture has shaped local life North Park Campground provides open space for locals and visitors to engage in picnics accessible place to spend the night before heading out again If you are searching for peaceful places in North Dakota where you can explore without the crowds these destinations are well worth your attention Each one offers a blend of scenic landscapes perfect for a weekend away from busy tourist routes and set out for a relaxed getaway that’s as memorable as it is mellow photos and original descriptions © 2025 worldatlas.com The sign outside the former Thirsty’s bar says “Coming Soon Burgers and Beer.” Watch for the opening day of this new incarnation of Thirsty’s - located at 318 4th St Rumor has it they may be bringing back gourmet hot dogs Old Spirits & Sushi is taking over the once-beloved Thirsty’s Thirsty’s closed last year and was a much-beloved bar in the community many thought that Thirsty’s would just stay empty for a long time But one man came along and decided to save it You might recognize “Big” Dave if you purchase sushi at Leevers He helps prepare the delicious sushi for sale He is now the new owner of Old Spirits & Sushi “I am excited,” he said about being the new owner It will still be the same Thirsty’s that you love and remember Dave said he didn’t want to mess around with too much of the decor for nostalgia reasons that Thirsty’s offered will be making it’s return your favorites that loved to devour will be back on the menu One of the questions “Big” Dave was asked was about the return of the famous Hot Dog Nights where people could get all kinds of different combinations hot dogs You may remember such classics as the OMG dog with macaroni and cheese and pulled pork Or maybe you favorite was the Elvis Presley which was a hotdog with bananas and peanut butter Sushi rolls will be a regular item on the menu The alcohol menu will have Japanese sake aldo The plan is for the first floor to be operated as Thirsty’s was Games such as bingo and the gambling machines will be available Old Spirits & Sushi hopes to open very soon MINOT — This year’s run for the defending-champion Devils Lake Firebirds ended in the state semifinals The Firebirds (21-4) lost 74-63 to Thompson (22-5) “Disappointed,” Devils Lake head coach Justin Klein said You neve know when somebody’s gonna beat somebody on an off-night or a good night It’ll be a state title rematch in this year’s third-place game South Prairie-Max lost to Valley City in the first semifinal matchup of the day meaning the Firebirds and Royals will play for third place on Saturday South Prairie-Max was undefeated during the regular season We’re disappointed,” Klein said “But we’ve just gotta go out and play basketball.” Thompson shot 10-of-17 from three-point range and 53% overall The Tommies got 26 points from Addison Sage and 22 from Kya Hurst Devils Lake was led by Presley Brown’s 15 Claire Heilman’s 13 and Tylie Brodina’s 12 though the trio was held to four total field goals in the second half Sage traded go-ahead threes with Brodina in the first quarter Sage had all seven points in a 7-5 Thompson lead to get things going Five straight points from Hurst stretched the Tommies’ lead to 16-11 coming off an injury scare on her ankle on Thursday took a breather in the middle of the first quarter continuously finding ways to carve up Devils Lake’s defense and get to the rim still went into the first quarter break with a 20-16 lead Thompson led by as many as seven in the second quarter after a pair of and-ones But Brown had three straight baskets for Devils Lake to get it within one point But Thompson’s Claire Kolling hit right back with a three of her own to put Devils Lake down by three with less than three minutes left in the first half tying it at 34-34 on a mid-range jumper by Heilman but Hurst’s third triple of the half gave Thompson the upper hand at halftime Devils Lake headed to the locker room with a 42-37 deficit we were kind of out of sorts and out of sync,” Klein said “And they kind of took us out of our game But anytime a team shoots almost 60% from three Thompson opened the second half with a barrage of threes stretching their run to 17-0 going back to the first half to put them up 54-37 Things spiraled out of proportion quickly for Devils Lake “It just really wasn’t our night.” The first Devils Lake points came almost halfway through the quarter on a pair of free throws with the student section keeping its energy up Cabryn Fritel grabbed a steal and an and-one and Brodina made her first points of the quarter with less than a minute left because it could have got ugly,” Klein said And I think we had the right group of girls out there to battle back They made it pretty entertaining for everybody.” Devils Lake just couldn’t extend that into the fourth quarter It took over two minutes to score in the final period and Thompson got another triple from Hurst Seven fourth-quarter points by Heiman helped Devils Lake cut the gap as tight as seven points It just never could get back within two possessions The Firebirds committed 21 personal fouls on the night compared to Thompson’s 14 now we’re gonna get over the hump,’” Klein said “But we couldn’t get over it.” with their heads held high but the disappointment fresh in their eyes went through the handshake line with the newly victorious Thompson Tommies It was redemption for a determined Tommies team one that was considered the team to beat last year but got upset by South Prairie-Max in the semifinals Devils Lake’s Region 2 foe will compete in the state title game the two teams from last year’s championship will meet again each trying to finish its season on a high note after taking a premature loss “That’s what I just told the seniors; the seniors and we’ve had some poor years and good years — last year “And we can get a third-place trophy and finish the season on a win who’s a team that — it was supposed to be us Devils Lake and South Prairie-Max face off in Saturday’s third-place game at 3 p.m. followed by Valley City and Thompson in the title game at 5 p.m BISMARCK — Devils Lake is heading back to the boys’ basketball title game 2-seeded Firebirds (24-1) grinded their way to victory on Friday against Shiloh Christian (21-4) a team they’d previously beaten 67-39 on Jan 3-seeded Skyhawks lost their first game since that fateful evening in Devils Lake — ending a 15-game winning streak It was a 68-63 affair that saw the Firebirds hang on after nearly letting their lead slip away in the fourth quarter Mason Palmer put up 21 points in the first half and finished with 23 while Parker Brodina scored 25 in the second half to lead the team with 27 overall Shiloh Christian got 21 points from Caden Englund 14 from Wyatt Westin and 13 by Triston Griess “That was unreal,” Devils Lake head coach Dustin Brodina said Each team throwing punches back and forth the whole game We gave everybody a heck of a show here this afternoon.” The Firebirds led by only one point with 1:18 left “That’s definitely a relief coming out of that win against a very tough team,” D “And you can tell they were ramped up Each team made 25 field goals — Devils Lake in 49 attempts and Shiloh Christian in 55 The Skyhawks went 11-of-22 from three-point range while Devils Lake went 7-of-20 The Firebirds only narrowly beat Shiloh Christian on the boards “They were just an overall better team than when we faced them before,” Palmer said We just outworked them tonight; it was awesome.” A stagnant start offensively saw Devils Lake open in a 9-4 hole Englund and Westin hit threes for Shiloh Christian The Skyhawks led by five after an and-one on the Firebirds’ third team foul in the first few minutes — something they were good about avoiding in Thursday’s win But a three by Palmer sparked some magic into them Max Palmer hit a triple to get Devils Lake within one and Mason Palmer’s second three-pointer of the game gave the Firebirds a 15-13 lead Englund just as swiftly responded with his own go-ahead three — but then back came a locked-in Mason Palmer He hit back-to-back threes to give him four in the quarter “I was feeling it,” Mason Palmer said The final seconds of the period came ticking down six inches of him — found an uncontested lane to the basket and capped the quarter with a thundering two-handed dunk Devils Lake led 23-16 with an 8-0 run to end the first quarter “I was proud of him for kind of putting us on the back a little bit,” D because he kind of kept us in the game that first half Some of that magic wore off in the opening seconds of the second quarter and a three by Westin got Shiloh Christian back within two Nelson made an important put-back after Brodina missed a triple Mason Palmer missed his first three-ball attempt of the second quarter — but right there was Max Palmer all lined up and composed as he landed his second triple of the game Westin’s third three-pointer of the game and second of the quarter sliced into Devils Lake’s lead once again who led the Skyhawks with 16 first-half points made five straight points to trim the gap to 30-29 Devils Lake didn’t capitalize on a key offensive rebound by Fausten Olson then turned it over and allowed Englund to get back down the floor Mason Palmer got another one in from beyond the arc to make it 33-29 But Englund hit his fourth triple of the game — two in each quarter — to keep it a one-point game Devils Lake got the stops it needed down the stretch and clung to a 35-32 lead at halftime A far cry from when the Firebirds beat this team by 28 a couple of months ago “They were more disciplined,” D “And they were just better defensively So we knew it wasn’t gonna be a layover like when they came to play us earlier in the year… They had a lot of confidence I couldn’t believe they had that much confidence.” Palmer’s 21 points led Devils Lake in the first half Second on the team at the half was his twin brother The rest of the team combined for just eight points scored the first six Devils Lake points out of the halftime break “We talked about it halftime; we’re pretty team-oriented but we’ve gotta lean on him to kind of carry us home a little bit,” D because he’s gonna make that extra pass.” Shiloh Christian rapidly tied it up on a basket by Carson Quam and a triple by Triston Griess Nelson found the rim to give Devils Lake the lead back and prevent the Firebirds from trailing for the first time since early in the first quarter Brodina got inside the paint and came up with a massive and-one to give Devils Lake a hint of breathing room then grabbed his own rebound and missed the second chance — but got fouled in the process scoring 10 of Devils Lake’s first 12 points of the half Nelson had another massive move to keep the Firebirds up by multiple possessions Dawson Davis hit a three to cut the lead in half but it was Brodina yet again who padded the Firebirds’ advantage with 2-of-2 free throws and another basket ‘We’ve just gotta get you and Joel going,’” P and then I just kept taking it to the rim and finishing strong at the hoop Devils Lake finished the third quarter on a 9-0 run He went 5-of-6 from the free throw line and shot 7-of-9 from the floor in the period The Firebirds were up 58-46 — seemingly on the precipice of Shiloh Christian scored the first two baskets after the quarter break then got within two possessions after Westin’s fourth triple of the game Devils Lake’s lead was back to as many as six after a Brodina basket after being held blank in the third quarter scored five straight points for the Skyhawks to make it a one-point game in a flash “We’ve been here before,” P this is what we’re built for.” and the defense came up with a huge stop to hold a three-point lead Brodina hit two more free throws down the stretch — greeted with appropriate chants of “Automatic!” from the student section — to put the game away Brodina went 9-of-10 from the line overall — a massive boost that could have swayed the game in the other direction had he not come through A game in which he only had two first-half points turned into one of the best performances he’s had all season we had to fix some things at halftime because they were hitting some shots It turns out that getting a huge half from two players — Palmer in the first and Brodina in the second — is a good recipe to winning a game “I think we really feed off each other,” Palmer said “I just try to create for my teammates But the mission isn’t accomplished yet where it beat Kindred in a battle last year This year’s Vikings squad is the only team seeded ahead of the Firebirds and the only team to beat Devils Lake this season Kindred won a 52-47 battle in Kindred on Feb “We’re looking forward to it,” Palmer said To make the state championship game is great and hopefully we can come out on top.” Kindred beat Thompson 66-53 in the second semifinal game Friday night The championship game is scheduled for roughly 5 p.m and hopefully we can have a show tomorrow night again.” DEVILS LAKE — Two days after suffering its first defeat of the season the Devils Lake softball team got back in the win column with authority on Thursday continuing a strong start to the 2025 campaign They got a big performance from Tylie Brodina both in the circle and at the plate along with a well-rounded overall offensive effort to win 12-2 We needed that recovery win after Tuesday,” Devils Lake head coach Courtney Loegering said So that was one thing that we talked about before the game That’s just kind of how we do it.” The teams traded two-spots in the first inning Two infield errors by Devils Lake led to a pair of Grafton runs but catcher Ava Beck ended the frame by catching a runner trying to steal second “Her catching IQ has really improved,” Loegering said of Beck Brodina ripped an RBI double into left field to get the Firebirds on the board She eventually scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-2 after an inning of play She watches the ball,” Loegering said That’s part of the reason why she’s a captain She struck out the side in order in the second inning An error and a walk put her in a tight situation in the third with two runners in scoring position with two outs But Brodina came up with a clutch strikeout — her fourth — to keep the game tied It was Brodina again who ignited things for Devils Lake in the bottom of the third She hit another ball hard up the middle for a single Cleanup hitter Julia McIvor singled to right and an error allowed Brodina to come home with the go-ahead run The Firebirds’ rally still wasn’t done with two outs Tori Mikkelson whacked a triple into the left-field corner The game started to unravel a bit for Grafton in the fourth aggressive baserunning from her and Riley Remmick led to a free run Brodina added an RBI double for her third hit in as many trips to the plate The third run of the frame — and sixth in the last two innings — came home on a dropped popup by the Grafton catcher The Firebirds left the bases loaded but still stretched their lead to 8-2 after four innings They put the game away with a four-run bottom of the fifth pulled off a double steal that caught Grafton off guard Beck eventually scored on a wild pitch to make it 10-2 — ending Grafton pitcher Chloe Kadlec’s day after an adventurous afternoon in the circle Brodina and McIvor kept the line moving against reliever Abby Horejsi with a walk and a single and McIvor stole home to end the game automatically with a 10-run margin “We have a lot of really quick girls,” Loegering said “We’re just trying to build our softball IQ and that was one way we’ve been trying to do it Just being a little bit more aggressive and a little bit smarter on the bases.” Brodina worked around a leadoff single in the fourth and worked a quick 1-2-3 fifth to set up the walk-off Loegering particularly praised the sophomore’s strike-throwing on Thursday which has been one of her only issues as she’s settled into being Devils Lake’s primary pitcher for the first time “That kid is just such a good athlete all around,” Loegering said she took herself out of the game; she said she wasn’t helping the team at all by throwing balls It helps having Ava Beck behind the plate helping her out.” after winning three of its first four games still has most of its biggest tests in the future The Firebirds travel to play Fargo Davies and Shanley next Tuesday and Friday “We’ve had lots of conversations about this We have a lot of tough games coming up,” Loegering said “My kids know that they’ve just gotta go out there and play their game It’s not every day that a famous actor and magician comes through Devils Lake Actor and magician Steve Valentine came to Lake Region State College on Thursday to put on a magic show that the college students would never forget The Scottish-born Valentine has acted in TV shows such as “Monk” and “Crossing Jordan.” His film work includes “Spider-Man 3” and “Monster High” and a number of Disney projects He has also lent his voice to a number of video games including the PlayStation smash hit “Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.” he made his career as a magician for the stars His clients have included Bryce Dallas Howard and Sylvester Stallone he has included magic as a part of his character a video reel was played of his various appearances in TV and film cards were left on the stage for some chosen people to initial which would be later used in a trick he amazed the students with a variety of sleight-of-hand tricks and other magic that would make you do a double take He invited the Director of Student Life onstage and got water to come out of his ear He also successfully picked out the cards on which students had written initials He brought students on stage to be his assistants for some tricks and to show that there were no wires or anything hidden to help with his tricks Valentine did a Q&A with the students He talked about how he started off in magic BISMARCK — Kindred’s Jakob Starcevic missed his second free throw Presley Peraza grabbed the offensive rebound The 6-foot-9 senior shot a three-ball attempt and missed The ball came tumbling towards a huddle of Firebirds and Vikings and it tipped off the hands of Kindred’s Brooks Bakko — into the basket as time expired “There’s things you can’t change in life,” Devils Lake head coach Dustin Brodina said “You can’t change the way the ball bounces The ball’s gotta bounce a certain way sometimes And it just didn’t go our way towards the end there.” It took even the Kindred student section a second to process what had happened But a sea of blue quickly swarmed the Bismarck Event Center floor the Vikings celebrating a revenge championship before either team hardly had a chance to soak it in Devils Lake was denied a repeat championship Despite leading by as many as 26 in the first half the Firebirds (24-2) were sniped by a Kindred team (25-1) that was ranked No 1 for the majority of the year and seeded No 2-seeded Firebirds their only regular-season loss persevered in a 59-58 game for the ages to win the 2025 boys’ basketball state championship on Saturday That was the first message,” Brodina said about his return to the locker room after the game You can’t blame anybody for anything that happened throughout the game Just be proud of each other for what they’ve accomplished this year.” Devils Lake was led by 18 points from Oliver Wirth It was Kindred’s second state championship ever — both coming in the 2020s It was the first championship in Class A for the Vikings with this being the second year of the three-class system They previously won the 2021 Class B state championship and were runners-up in 2022 when they fell to Four Winds/Minnewaukan in the title game it was the Vikings being denied by a victorious Firebirds team will have to settle for its two state championships “There’s wins and losses in life,” Brodina said “It’s not the highlight of your life There’s bigger things in life than just the ball going in the hole And that they’re gonna be grown men someday and that they’ll learn from it.” It was a game highlighted by a big run from each team — Devils Lake in the first quarter and Kindred in the fourth They cruised to a 19-0 run after initially going down 3-0 Bakko and Wirth traded and-ones to start the game had already made more two-pointers than they did in the entire first half of their 52-47 loss to Kindred on Feb and Devils Lake built an enormous lead in the blink of an eye Wirth and Brodina each converted awkward reverse layups and Lukas Starcevic had a layup take an unlucky spin in and out of the basket After Wirth landed a three from center-court Kindred took a timeout with the score having ballooned up to 19-3 who will be playing college football in the fall had been quiet for most of the tournament thus far Kindred’s next points didn’t come until an Ouse triple with 1:32 left in the first quarter Nelson shot right back with a three from the corner and Brodina got down the floor to make it 24-6 The Firebirds actually didn’t make any two-pointers in the second quarter Each Palmer — Mason and Max — had two of them the barrage of threes completely spoiled the Vikings’ desperate attempts at capturing momentum Starcevic each scored five in the second quarter for Kindred But Devils Lake still went into the locker room at halftime with a seemingly comfortable 42-22 advantage Two quarters away from its second consecutive championship Kindred came out looking marginally better in the third quarter Starcevic made 2-of-4 free throws after Brodina’s third foul and Nelson’s second Devils Lake’s lead was trimmed to 48-34 with 2:11 left in the third quarter Kindred scored the last five points of the period Devils Lake led 52-41 going into the final eight minutes of game time And that’s when things slid further off the rails The Vikings opened the fourth quarter on a 15-3 run Wirth opened the quarter with a sloppy pass out of bounds Kindred got a stop on Nelson with Devils Lake’s lead at eight and the Palmers missed the type of three-pointers they’d been landing all tournament Mason Palmer ran in and missed a layup — then Bakko hit a triple to make it a one-point game With slightly over two minutes left on the clock and they didn’t allow us to have any open shots,” Brodina said “And then we didn’t hit any shots make sure we took it one possession at a time Brodina had a shot bounce out of the basket — but he was fouled by Ouse in the process at the 1:59 mark He came up huge from the line in Friday’s semifinal win and his two shots kept Devils Lake in it right there The Vikings led 56-55 with 1:02 on the clock Wirth — the hero of the first half — knocked down a three to finally spark some life back into Devils Lake with less than 30 seconds left in the game It was the Firebirds’ first field goal of the fourth quarter Brodina fouled out with the clock down to 6.1 seconds and he made the first free throw before Kindred took a timeout It’s not often that a team gets three shots off with only six seconds on the clock Peraza’s offensive rebound proved to make all the difference A Devils Lake rebound could have effectively ended the game Ouse missed his dramatic buzzer-beating three attempt but Bakko somehow found a way to get a hand in there and tip it in confusion and joy befell the Kindred students Devils Lake players keeled over in disbelief “That’s the way the ball bounces,” Brodina said with each winning a state championship game over the other in the last two years Devils Lake was deservedly well-represented in the postgame awards ceremony Nelson and Mason Palmer were named to the all-tournament team Brodina was also named the Class A Senior Athlete of the Year “He’s the one kid that makes sure everybody’s accountable,” Parker’s dad and head coach said “He’s in the weight room at six o’clock in the morning making sure everybody’s there at practice That’s what I’m gonna miss a lot And it’s hard to replace guys like that: leaders that lead every day and I’m gonna miss coaching him every day.” The high school basketball careers of Brodina and seven other Devils Lake seniors came to an end Saturday night “I’m gonna be proud of the dedication they had in the program and the staples of the program that we started — that I started here four years ago,” Brodina said “They’ve been with me all through the four years And that hard work and dedication that the younger underclassmen I hope they see; they see the hard work and the success that could happen if you dedicate your time to that hard work.” Thus brings an end to the 2024-25 high school basketball season The Firebirds will have to wait until next December to fill the Devils Lake Sports Center once again MAYVILLE — The Firebirds avoided a whole lot of extra stress with a win on Thursday 3 Devils Lake girls’ basketball lost to Carrington The Firebirds and Cardinals split their season series The teams met again Thursday in the Region 2 championship at Mayville State University It wasn’t an elimination game — but it was one that would send the loser to a state qualifier against Kindred a team that beat Devils Lake during the regular season during the Firebirds’ eventual state championship run they had to win a state qualifier just to make it to the ultimate tournament They won’t have to do that this time around The Firebirds (20-3) plucked the Cardinals (16-6) with ease on Thursday Tylie Brodina and Presley Brown scored 15 and 13 points Eleven different Devils Lake players were in the scoring column “This is a relief,” Firebirds head coach Justin Klein said especially for the six seniors… It gives us a little relaxation for the next couple days Sit back and watch the other region challenge games and get ready for next week.” Devils Lake came out playing the same fast-paced aggressive style that fueled it to victory in the second half of Tuesday’s game against Grafton Brown made a drive right away to get the Firebirds on the board and they led 7-0 after 3-of-4 free throws from Claire Heilman and a layup by Torri Fee The Cardinals didn’t score until 4:00 in the first quarter But they rapidly made it a one-point game on back-to-back threes by Aniston Hoornaert and Brodina made a deuce and a triple to cap a 9-0 run “They really took Tylie out of their game in Carrington and they didn’t really do that tonight,” Klein said “She did a good job getting away from the defense and finding open spots we were probably better prepared and ready to play a little bit more than we were the last time.” Brown scored eight points on four field goals in the first quarter And the Firebirds stormed out to a 24-9 lead “I think we just tried to have pressure on their guards,” Brodina said “and try to force them and make them do errors And that just really showed tonight.” with Devils Lake outscoring Carrington 13-11 Fee made the Firebirds’ second triple of the game Their advantage at halftime was a comfortable 37-20 despite Brodina and Brown being limited to three total points in the period Carrington got just one field goal from its starters in the first half Isabel Wendel scored first for Carrington in the second half Devils Lake responded with a 14-0 run that completely put the game away Brodina made her second three-pointer of the evening and Brown and Heilman each got to the rim twice Devils Lake’s lead was a whopping 57-25 after allowing just five points in the third quarter “We changed it up a little bit on the press,” Klein said “We didn’t adjust a lot of things It cruised with a running clock in the final eight minutes and won by 34 The state tournament takes place at the Minot State Dome from Thursday to Saturday “That’s the trouble; there’s a week off,” Klein said “We don’t want that lapse… We can go back tomorrow and practice get some things lined up and then kind of game-watch on Saturday to see who maybe we’re gonna play.” “I think we just need to come in with a new mind,” Brodina said “And just work hard in every game and listen to the coach.” Torri Fee (Devils Lake) and Suri Gourd (Four Winds/Minnewaukan were named to the all-region team Jason Wiberg (Devils Lake) was named the Region 2 athletic director of the year memory-making moment for so many young people something a little extra magical happened—not just for the teens in tuxedos and gowns but for the residents of our beloved nursing home It all started with a phone call to the head of the local prom committee “Would the kids be willing to put on a little prom fashion show?” I asked She said she’d ask and get back to me would swing by the nursing home before heading out for their big night But what none of us expected was the profound impact this would have on all generations The main room was transformed into our very own runway Staff and I arranged the chairs in neat rows and helped a few eager residents create over 40 handmade signs They scribbled words like “Stunning!” and “Wow!” with markers and glitter and enough enthusiasm to power a disco ball the couples began to snake through the rows like they were walking the red carpet at a Hollywood premiere Residents waved their signs high in the air You’d think Elvis himself had walked in What struck me most was the way these young people carried themselves Every one of them treated our residents with such gentleness and respect and soaked in the wisdom passed to them with smiles and gratitude And just when we thought our hearts couldn’t be more full visiting those who couldn’t make it out of their rooms “They brought the prom to me.” After our glittering guests had their photos taken and headed to the golf course for dinner and dancing we gathered for our own kind of after-party—a discussion group about proms past “We didn’t have proms,” one resident chuckled “We had barn dances—or just danced in someone’s field!” was asked if he’d ever spend $300-$800 on a prom dress He didn’t miss a beat: “No!” he barked “I might spend $50—but I wouldn’t even want to do that!” The room erupted with laughter It’s easy for older generations to misunderstand or even dismiss the younger ones But when we meet each other with open hearts and open minds These incredible teens gave our residents a night to remember And I have a feeling they left with something just as meaningful in return Here’s to every generation—dancing together The Blonde on the Prairie is a lover of ND owner of “Monkey Balls” food truck and Joyologist to the elderly the disabled and also to children wherever she is needed during the school year and beyond either Devils Lake or South Prairie-Max could be fairly described as the “team to beat.” only got better from last year’s state runner-up finish winning all 21 games during the regular season And they did indeed meet in a rematch on Saturday — but in the state third-place game Each of last year’s state title participants took a disappointing loss in Friday’s semifinals bringing them together for one final showdown It was a young SP-M team (26-2) that outlasted Devils Lake (21-5) in Saturday’s third-place game at the Minot State Dome The Royals won 64-56 behind 20 points from Skotti Beck and 16 by Mya Gunville but Devils Lake had 27 turnovers of its own The Firebirds shot 35% and went 2-of-12 from three-point range They got 11 points from Presley Brown and 10 each from Tylie Brodina and Claire Heilman “There’s a different feeling today in the locker room at the end than it was last year,” Devils Lake head coach Justin Klein said “I think we learned how to win last year and we learned how to lose in this tournament But you run into a hot Thompson team who shot well you can’t just show up and beat these teams at the state tournament.” Beck got SP-M going with a three-ball right away Devils Lake responded with layups down the floor from Brown and Heilman But those were the only two field goals Devils Lake had in the first quarter The Royals took the lead with less than three minutes left in the period and they widened the gap with a three from Gunville “That kind of half-court or extended zone up there threw us off,” Klein said “We didn’t really know how to handle that That’s been something we haven’t seen So I guess that was kind of the difference maker.” The Firebirds were sent to the free throw line four times in the first quarter They trailed 14-8 at the end of the first quarter They got within two points after SP-M turned it over getting baskets from Heilman and Brown once again with the Royals leading by as many as 10 before Devils Lake got back into it with repeated drives down the court Jolie Martinson came off the bench to score six in the second quarter while Emma Hofstad and Brodina also made buckets The Firebirds trailed 26-24 before Gunville’s second triple of the game Martinson and Heilman were tied for the team lead in points Devils Lake was just 8-of-28 from the floor and 0-of-6 from three-point range But it came out with higher energy in the second half Back-to-back baskets from Heilman gave the Firebirds a lead and Brodina found the rim to keep them ahead Beck traded go-ahead threes with Torri Fee Devils Lake’s lead was as large as 38-34 Gunville swished her third triple in as many quarters to get SP-M back within a point The period ended up featuring eight lead changes with the Royals taking a 45-44 edge into the fourth quarter Devils Lake went up 48-45 after baskets by Ava Beck and Brodina And SP-M’s Beck missed a potential go-ahead layup But Gunville came back to haunt the Firebirds yet again Her fourth triple of the game put the Royals ahead 50-49 Brown missed two free throws that would have tied the game and Beck hit her third triple of the game for SP-M but the last eight points of the game went to the Royals “I thought our energy was pretty good,” Klein said “I just think we kind of got in our funk again where we couldn’t really score or finish We didn’t really know what to do sometimes with the ball and they were aggressive and physical with us Klein put in his seniors for one last time Anna Shock and Kendra Eckes entered to make it an all-senior lineup The team’s six seniors will depart Devils Lake with a state championship and a region championship under their belts “They had two rough years as freshmen and sophomores bounced right back and won the state title,” Klein said “So there’s a lot to talk about and remember for them And they’re great leaders on and off the court but we just have to move on and keep reloading or rebuilding.” the team’s top two scorers this season They were both named to the 2025 all-tournament team “It’s gonna be good to build around them,” Klein said “I think they need to take some leadership roles now from the seniors and lead by example with some of the younger kids that we have coming in junior high.” Through two years of the three-class basketball system in North Dakota a region title and two state tournament appearances It’ll look to keep this program moving forward in the coming years “There’s always things we have to work on and improve,” Klein said “And consistency on offense is a big thing we need to really work on throughout the offseason But it’ll be huge to have Tylie and Presley And so hopefully they step in and become leaders.” The girls now get to sit back and cheer on the defending-champion boys’ team over the next two weeks But it’s off until December for Firebird girls’ basketball Devils Lake won an appeal to the NDHSAA on Tuesday to keep both of its basketball teams in Class A on behalf of its boys’ and girls’ teams presented to the NDHSAA Classification Committee alongside the Valley City girls Westhope/Newburg boys and Bishop Ryan boys Each of those squads won its appeal to stay in its respective class All of those teams have one thing in common: They accumulated six or more tournament performance factor points over the first two years of the three-class basketball system which was adopted in North Dakota last season The original procedure outlined by the NDHSAA declared that a team with at least six points over a three-year period would be promoted to the next-highest division with schools having an opportunity to appeal The maximum points that a team can earn in one year is four The Devils Lake boys and girls each reached that mark last year with a state title Teams are awarded three points for being a state runner-up so the Firebirds boys totaled seven points over the last two years The girls reached a state semifinal this season which gave them two extra points and six overall A news release on NewsDakota.com wrote that Devils Lake was represented by multiple officials they argued that Devils Lake was an “oddball” in terms of enrollment given that the town is larger than a typical Class B town but significantly smaller than Fargo The Firebirds’ struggles against the larger schools was a reason why the three-class system was beneficial for them in the first place; before last season the Devils Lake boys had gone 99 years without a state championship NewsDakota.com also noted that Wiberg brought up the boys’ and girls’ “unusually strong senior classes,” which will peter out in the coming seasons The Devils Lake boys are certainly losing a powerful chunk of players to graduation this year Four of their five starters were seniors (Parker Brodina including three of their four all-region players (Brodina They also had the Class A Senior Athlete of the Year in Brodina They’ll be losing eight seniors total “We’ve got eight seniors; we’re gonna drop off,” Devils Lake boys head coach Dustin Brodina said on Hot Mic with Dom Izzo on March 21 “We’re not gonna reload like some of the bigger schools And so we’ll ebb and flow; I know we will.” The girls are also losing some key seniors Torri Fee and Claire Heilman were all starters for most of the season Anna Shock and Kendra Eckes all playing important roles off the bench Both teams’ current junior classes are comparatively small in numbers Another point consistently brought up by coaches Devils Lake gets to play relatively closer teams like Four Winds/Minnewaukan Thompson and Carrington instead of taking numerous late-night trips to Fargo and back Devils Lake was always somewhat of an outlier in the EDC — and still is in other sports — with being smaller and farther away Through two years of the three-class system thus far there have been no repeat champions at any level The only championship matchup that’s been the exact same both years is in the Class A boys’ division Many people have taken to social media to argue Bishop Ryan is a private Catholic school in Minot which many feel isn’t true to the spirit of small-town The Bishop Ryan boys won a state championship this year They lost in the semifinals last year to North Star the arrangement will remain the same for these teams NewsDakota.com added that the committee had a “lengthy discussion” about the reclassification system and how heavily enrollment should weigh in The article indicated that they’re still very open to modifying the system What would normally have been a day off for all city employees turned out to be exactly the opposite for many of them as a large water main break was detected early in the day On 10th Street NE a virtual fountain of water bubbled up from the street affecting the supply to the city’s water tower It was “all hands on deck” to battle the extreme cold temperatures wind chills of more than -25 and tons of water flowing down the streets and avenues below the water tower in the city By later in the day through the valiant efforts of city workers the break was managed and repaired however the city’s water supply was compromised during the break and now the entire city was under a “Boil Order.” Instructions were posted on the city’s website as a precaution for residents “Whenever there is a catastrophic break like this one the protocol is to issue this kind of warning to make sure residents are safe.” No contaminants were detected but merely the possibility that they might have compromised the city’s water delivery system is enough to issue the warning 18 Grafsgaard was pretty certain that the “Boil Order” would be lifted probably by tomorrow afternoon sometime – that would be Wednesday He stated that the testing would be on-going from various different sites along the way to make sure before lifting the alert By the time you are reading this story in the Devils Lake Journal on Thursday 20 everything should be “back to normal” Grafsgaard assured this reporter Check the city’s website to make sure before using water from your home faucet Grafsgaard emphasized how happy he was that city workers were able to isolate the break and repair it as quickly as they could “Most people recognize that and understand,” he stated Most of the bottled water available in the city was purchased during this crisis as it was reported that Leever’s and WallMart both were out of bottled water by early Tuesday morning Grafsgaard told the Journal that the location of the break was in a very large pipe that was approximately 70 years old Somehow the extreme cold weather contributed to the break as the aging pipe was rigid and when the frozen ground shifted it was enough to cause the break Numerous local businesses reached out to assist the city workers who had to work in these extreme conditions An unconfirmed report said that Proz End of the Line sent over fresh pizza and other food to help workers as they battled the water main break Someone brought over a heated enclosure to act as a warming house for the workers faced with below zero temperatures The ND Coffee Connection offered free hot coffee and chili for the workers Editor’s Note: For more specific information regarding this community crisis see Boil Notice on page 2 and the Fact Sheets 1 and 3 on pages 2 and 3 inside today’s DLJ Clip and save them in your files in case a similar emergency happens in the future Second Hands Off Protest features signs; “No Kings” and “My Vote!” people from around the Lake Region started to gather in front of the Old Post Office and Lake Region Heritage Center for a second “Hands Off” protest By noon on Saturday more people had joined them and the group broke up into four to stand at the four corners of 4th Street and 4th Avenue The message was similar to the first protest from April 5 When everyone had joined a group on Devils Lake’s main street there were even more attending this second protest than the first This one’s theme was “No Kings for America – then or now!” and “Hands off our vote” in response to the proposed changes to US voting laws that appear to be targeting women voters Ava Beck (Photo via Firebird Softball Facebook) While the Firebirds baseball team was beating up on Grafton in Devils Lake the softball team was getting its season started over in Grand Forks on Tuesday The Firebirds played on the brand new Albrecht Field Devils Lake won a wild 23-15 affair over May-Port-C-G to improve to 1-0 in the early going Sophomore catcher Ava Beck was the team’s “Diamond Destroyer” of the game It was a game in which the Firebirds led 13-0 in the third inning They scored nine in the second and four in the third Sophomore Tylie Brodina pitched the first two innings and didn’t allow a run Junior Julia McIvor took over and gave up nine runs in the third inning on six hits Brodina came back in and ended up pitching the rest of the game for Devils Lake but otherwise had a solid outing with six runs (three earned) allowed on six hits while striking out six Brodina was the team’s first pitcher out of the bullpen last year but will likely be the primary hurler going forward in the wake of Calin Boline’s graduation She led the team with seven total bases (a triple and four singles) Junior Madison Harris and freshman Tori Mikkelson each hit a double Freshman Jossalin Carpenter went 4-for-5 with three RBIs Every Firebird reached base at least twice and scored at least one run It was as close as 15-12 in the fourth inning but Devils Lake put the game away with five in the seventh The only inning in which the Firebirds didn’t score was the first May-Port-C-G’s barrage of errors made 11 of the Firebirds’ 23 runs unearned Reliever Alicia Foss allowed eight runs in three innings Devils Lake recorded 20 hits against freshman Bailey Bergstrom in four innings The Firebirds’ next action is a conference game against Fargo South on Friday April 11 at Tharaldson Little League Complex at 4:30 p.m Their first home game is scheduled for Tuesday GRAND FORKS — Devils Lake boys basketball knocked off Kindred last year to win its first state championship in 99 years “Taking each day and getting better every single day,” coach Dustin Brodina said “and adding those building blocks to our goal of reaching the top.” 2-seeded Firebirds’ search for a second-straight state title starts at 1 p.m Thursday against Des Lacs-Burlington in the first round of the Division A boys basketball state tournament at the Bismarck Event Center “Our preparation and our practices pretty much stay the same,” Brodina said teamwork and competitive greatness as staples for every practice and they’re focused every day on the task at hand.” Devils Lake has lost one game this season — to No entering the state tournament with a 22-1 record rolled over Thompson 70-41 last week to win the Region 2A title Brodina was named the region’s coach of the year was named the region senior athlete of the year Oliver Wirth and Joel Nelson were also named all-region players “They’ve been solid for us all year in the offensive and defensive ends,” Dustin Brodina said We make defense a priority in everything we do Positioning and effort are a couple big things we stress each day and all those guys do a great job of that.” The Firebirds’ goal is to hold opponents to 40 points per game Opponents are averaging 46 points per game against Devils Lake this season the Firebirds are scoring 73 points per game led by Parker Brodina’s 16.8 points per game He also leads the Firebirds with 5.5 rebounds per game Nelson averages 11.6 points per game and 5.4 rebounds per game “They’re an extremely disciplined team that doesn’t make mistakes at all,” Dustin Brodina said they play very hard and their defense is solid we will need to focus on the defensive end rebound and hopefully get some easy baskets in transition.” GRAND FORKS — The Firebirds trailed at the end of the first quarter to a Grafton team they beat by a 20–plus margin twice during the regular season you can’t expect blowouts,” Devils Lake head coach Dustin Brodina said “You know that Grafton’s gonna bring it as hard as they can Thus is the mindset of a defending-champion Firebirds team one that finally got to play a postseason game Tuesday night at the Betty Devils Lake (21-1) kept its composure and took Grafton (13-10) down 76-64 in the Region 2 semifinals The Firebirds were led by 21 points from Oliver Wirth and 18 off the bench by Max Palmer They took the lead late in the first half and held on to win despite having two starters foul out and two others reach four fouls “We were lacking a little bit on the defensive end,” Wirth said “But it was the first game in this gym We came out and we couldn’t shoot very well we started knocking down a couple shots and just got in a rhythm and found each other We trusted each other in the end and got the job done.” Grafton got out to a 10-4 start with threes by Brody Lillemoen and Reggie Rice The Firebirds were grabbing offensive rebounds but not finding ways to finish They didn’t score until over two minutes of clock had gone by “I’m sure it’s the week-off jitters,” Brodina said We were hoping it wasn’t gonna be a slow start Parker Brodina hit a go-ahead three to put the Firebirds up 15-11 But the 6-foot-7 Lillemoen swished another triple as part of an 11-point first quarter for the junior guard Grafton squeaked ahead 18-17 going into the second quarter Joel Nelson committed his third foul with 1:52 left in the first quarter who finished off the first quarter with a put-back at the rim made another put-back to get the Spoilers going in the second quarter Grafton went just 4-of-11 from the line in the first half The Firebirds still weren’t doing themselves many favors and Brodina missed a potential game-tying three after the Spoilers turned it over But then Max Palmer hit a successful three “Max is fantastic,” Brodina said “He can put the ball in the hole as soon as he crosses half-court We all expect the guys to have that confidence.” Trason Beck had to sit after his third foul but Rice missed the free throw on the and-one and a Grafton turnover led to Mason Palmer putting Devils Lake ahead 26-24 with a running layup including a dunk that came with a delay-of-game-warning helped give Devils Lake a 32-27 lead at halftime Nelson and Beck reentered for the second half But it took Beck all of 35 seconds to get charged with his fourth foul Wirth’s flashiness took over as Devils Lake came out hot anyway Nelson added his own triple from the corner “It’s always fun to get a couple dunks,” Wirth said “I think there’s a lot more to my game than just dunking I like to create for my teammates and hit threes.” Fouls continued to be a pest for Devils Lake and Lillemoen — who didn’t score in the second quarter — went 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the third quarter Grafton cut the Firebirds’ lead as slim as six But after Max Palmer and Bryar Exner hit threes off the bench but he’s got a big heart,” Wirth said Really looking forward to what he has to bring in the future.” A moment of confusion befell the scorer’s table after the third quarter with the Firebirds leading 55-48 but the scoreboard displaying 53-50 Grafton head coach Riley Lillemoen reacted with surprise when it was brought to his attention “So it’s actually a seven-point game?” It took the officials roughly 10 minutes of delayed game time to come to a consensus on what the score was It was eventually deemed that a shot had accidentally been charged to Grafton’s No dunking the ball to get Devils Lake started in the fourth quarter Each Palmer hit a triple to essentially seal the deal Wirth added his second three-pointer of the game and Devils Lake brought its lead back to double digits making three triples and going 12-of-13 from the free throw line The final tally was Brodina and Nelson with five fouls each “We didn’t get much of a rhythm with our five guys on the floor at all tonight,” Coach Brodina said That’s adversity that we’ve gotta deal with And I thought we battled really well the second half And it’s part of the team mentality that we have.” The frustration boiled over for Grafton as Max Palmer went to the free throw line on a foul the Spoilers’ coaches believed was on Fausten Olson Palmer and Wirth combined to go 8-of-12 from the line in the fourth quarter as the Firebirds finished out a 12-point victory It advanced Devils Lake to a region championship matchup with Thompson The Tommies beat Four Winds/Minnewaukan in the second semifinal game on Tuesday “I think we’re pretty confident,” Brodina said we didn’t do as much as we wanted to tonight… So hopefully we get a day tomorrow see who we play here in a bit and get back here Thursday.” The Firebirds and Tommies face off at roughly 7 p.m. following the third-place game between FW/M and Grafton