Devils Lake has been an up-and-down team with its 3-point shooting this boys basketball season.
"When we do hit the threes, we're pretty good,'' Firebirds coach Derek Gathman said. "When we're not, it's a struggle for us to score.''
On Friday, the Firebirds were hot. They were cold. And, just in time, they were hot again, hitting a pair of late 3-pointers to hold off Grand Forks Central and claim a 52-46 win at Central High School.
The Firebirds made 11 treys-their second-highest total in a game this season, and the third time they've reached double figures in made 3-pointers. They're 3-0 in those games and 6-5 overall.
"That shooting isn't an always thing for us,'' Gathman said. "Leif (Nelson) hit some shots to get us going. We seemed to be shooting with confidence in the first half.''
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The first 12 DL points came on four treys. The Firebirds had eight of them in the first half, which closed with Central trailing 31-18.
But Devils Lake went cold and Central took advantage. The Knights closed to within 43-41 on a Mason Gravseth free throw with 5:38 remaining.
But treys by Michael Widmer with 3:47 remaining and Jacob Greene with 2:09 left sparked DL to a game-closing 9-5 run.
"Those were huge shots by Widmer and Greene,'' Gathman said. "You could feeling Central was making a run. We needed something or we were going to be in trouble.''
Central's second-half rally was led by Chris Demuth. The senior scored 13 of his game-high 22 points after intermission. He had the first five points in the 8-2 run that pulled Central (2-10) within 43-41-the closest Central was to the lead since the Firebirds used eight unanswered points early in the first half to go from a 7-6 deficit to a 14-6 lead.
"We had better ball movement in the second half. We took better care of the ball and that got us better shots,'' said Central coach Dan Carlson, whose team committed 10 of its 13 turnovers in the first half. "And we got some stops and rebounds so we could run, something we didn't do in the first half.
"That (ball movement) gave Chris room to work. He was getting to the free-throw line (7-of-9 in second half).''
Nelson's team-leading 17 points, including five treys, all came in the first half. He missed the part of the first half and all of the second with an injury. "We missed him. He's such a good defender,'' Gathman said.
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Widmer added 11 points for the Firebirds, who had more than twice as many treys as two-point field goals (five).
