Orioles' Season Ends on Heartbreaking Loss

The Orioles trailed by as much as 18 points on Tuesday night while playing Dakota Valley in North Sioux City. The Oriole men battled but through a stretch in the 3rd quarter, they trailed 41-23 at its most ugly point. However, a great fourth quarter helped the Orioles charge right back into it. 

The Orioles had struggled mightly from the field as they only scored 28 points through three quarters but their defense kept it close as Dakota Valley led 41 to 28 after three quarters of play. However, the Oriole men came out electric in the fourth quarter providing the essential spark they needed to try and close the 13 point gap. The Orioles put up a game high quarter total of 21 points. However, Dakota Valley sunk too many of their free throws down the stretch to hold off the Orioles and keep a five pont lead. Dakota Valley advances to play Vermillion at a final score of 54 to 49. 

The Orioles were led by a couple of sophomores Quincy Ihnen and Brock Anderson. Anderson hammered home three total three pointers to highlight him to a game high fifteen points. Ihnen had 13 points in which 9 of those points were scored off the three ball. The Orioles as a team scored 27 points off the three as they shot 31 percent from three land. The Orioles as a team shot 34 percent which is quite an average shooting percentage for high school basketball. From the free throw line, the Orioles shot an unbelieveable 100%. The only issue is that the Orioles only found the charity stripe six times. 

The Orioles will lose a few seniors and they are Devon Jongeling, Marshall McLaren, Mason Meyer and Braedon Wallenstein. However, the Orioles men's basketball team has a very bright future as the JV team went 9 and 6 this season and the Orioles had some impressive stats from some younger members of the team. Both Qunicy Ihnen and Josh Arlt averaged double figures points per game with Brock Anderson not far from 10 at 8.6 points per game. 

There is a lot of youth in this team and next year will be a year to remember for Lennox Oriole Men basketball. While it is hard to overlook the fact that a season just ended, it is very exciting to look ahead to what will be an exciting 2017-2018 season for Oriole basketball. Also, good luck to the Oriole women who will battle for a State Tournament spot on Friday in Parkston.