3rd Time is a Charm

3rd Time is a Charm

Coming off a great defensive performance against the Tri-Valley Mustangs, the Orioles will play the West Central Trojans for the third time this season. Now, I know what you're thinking, why are they playing a team for the third time this season? It is a legit question. The Orioles played them in their Dakota XII Conference game in West Central on January 19th. But why did the Orioles have to play them three times?

The Orioles were ranked sixth in the Dakota XII Conference rankings when the Dakota XII Conference Classic came. So that forced them to play the fifth seed in the Dakota XII Conference. The fifth seed happened to be the West Central Trojans. That is what gave the Orioles a redemption oppurtunity. After the Orioles first 58-45 lost in Hartford, they got the oppurtunity to play the same team at the the same location. This time, the Orioles offense came to play and the Orioles walked off the court in Hartford with a 64-59 win. Hinker's 21 and Raabe's 11 helped the Orioles get to the 64 point mark. In the first game, Lennox shot 29% from the field. In the second game, the Orioles shot 42%. The Orioles played great even though they were coming off a tough lose to Madison.

So after losing once, and then winning, the Orioles are all set and ready to play a West Central Trojans team for the third time. What makes beating the West Central Trojans so hard. It is a great question that can be answered, even though the answer is hard to find. The Orioles match up so well against the Trojans. We each have our players that match up well. Both teams have high point getters. Hinker and #24 Noah Vettrus are both evenly talented. The Trojans have #11 Odegard who can shoot threes well, and Lennox has Creighton Raabe who can shoot 3's well too. They have a power house foward #42 Jace Hanisch, and we have our power house forward and that is Collin McEntee. Then they have their shooting forward who can power up and shoot which is #32 Cody Bussell. The Orioles have Nathan Timmerman who can match Bussell quite well. Finally, West Central has an all around player who can shoot and rebound and that is #10 Dan Skinner. The Orioles have Oldenkamp who matches him very well.

Lets see what Coach McVey had to say about a few questions that we asked him. We asked him what the Orioles did differently in the first game vs West Central into the second game vs West Central. He said that in the first game they caught fire in the second half and we started to panic. However, McVey loved how the Orioles held their composure versus the Trojans in the second half of the second game. They caught fire quite well, but they didn't get as hot as the first time. This helped the Orioles to earn a win. He said they played great defense in the fourth quarter and added good offense to win. They moved the ball well and attacked the hoops well too. Then we asked the coach why it has been so hard to get a win over the Trojans. He answered by saying that West Central is a good team and they have 2 or 3 good shooters. He says that nothing special is needed but that they need to play great like every other game. Playing smart is a key idea to win. Finally, we asked the coach what it would take for the Orioles to win. Coach said, in order to defeat West Central we need to dominate the offensive and defensive glass. We need to guard their offensive actions and make them take contested shots.

Shoutouts of the Week:

Lane Smit for being selected Player of the Game vs the Tri-Valley Mustangs. He played well and we will have an interview with him coming up next week.

Grant Sweeter

Senior Lennox High School

Manager for Lennox Orioles Basketball Team