FARGO - Devils Lake was not going to get a fourth win against West Fargo this season. Tanner Farkas made sure of that.
The West Fargo junior scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half and notched a key 3-point play late in the game to give the Packers a 72-63 win over Devils Lake on Friday in the consolation semifinals of the state Class A boys basketball tournament.
"It's playoff time. You have to step your game up," Farkas said. "I just wanted to give our team a boost."
The Firebirds beat West Fargo the first three times they played this season by an average of eight points per game.
It looked like it was going to be four in a row for Devils Lake at the start, as Jordan Mertens scored the first nine points of the game.
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The calm Packers were unfazed, following with a 14-0 run of their own to take the lead.
"Good game plan, huh?" West Fargo coach Greg Limke joked. "We were in early trouble, but we loosened up and the defense picked things up."
West Fargo took its biggest lead into the half, leading 36-24. Mertens was the only threat in the first half for Devils Lake, scoring 13 points. The rest of the Firebirds were just 3-for-19 (15.8 percent) from the field in the first 18 minutes.
Jordan Mertens finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds. He hit four 3-pointers in the loss. B.J. Mertens added 14 points, while Mitch Sylling had seven for the Firebirds, who dropped to 15-9. Devils Lake lost to Minot 75-54 in Thursday's first-round game.
Devils Lake got as close as three points in the second half, but Farkas came through to squash the run.
With less than five minutes to play and West Fargo up by five, Farkas took a great pass from Seth Dye, sank a layup and was fouled.
He made the free throw to start a 9-0 run that put the game away. Farkas scored six in the surge.
"That was a big turning point for us," Farkas said. "Seth made a great play to get me the ball, and I was able to get it to go in."
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