With three games in five days, last week was a grind for the Oriole boys’ basketball team. But it was also a week that culminated in an event that will have memories they’ll take with them long after their basketball “careers” are over.

Stanley-Boyd played on the “big stage” Saturday, accepting an invitation to play a non-conference game against Bloomer at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The team, family and fans got to stick around for that evening’s Timberwolves game against the Los Angeles Clippers. Nothing against the Wolves, but the highlight of the day was seeing the Orange and Black competing in the NBA venue.

Bloomer came out on top in the game by a 47-37 margin, but that didn’t dim the experience for the team.

“It was a great experience playing on the Target Center floor,” said coach Tom Hause. “We rotated players quickly to start the game as we knew the extra 10 feet (court length) and a game the previous night would be a factor. We had a lot of energy in the first half. Fatigue became a factor in the second half, and we couldn’t match the physical play of Bloomer. We battled back to the end but couldn’t close the gap in the final two minutes.”

It was a popular night to be at a Timberwolves game with the team active at the NBA trade deadline. The Orioles got to spend time with family before that game and then watched what NBA players could accomplish on the very same court they had just played on.

“The team went to eat pizza with family and fans. It as great food and a fun time visiting with players and families,” said Hause. “We went back to the Target Center for the Timberwolves/ Clippers game. The game featured many newly acquired players in a trade this week and came out hot and shot lights out on the night. They made 26 threes setting a franchise record and beat the Clippers 142-115. It was an impressive game and showed the good things to come for the Wolves, who were coming off of 14 straight losses. The Target Center was sold out Saturday night, and we were treated to a great game and great atmosphere.”

Plus, everyone in the place got to know Stanley-Boyd basketball a little bit better.

“Players and parents enjoyed getting on the JumboTron during the pre-game warm-ups and timeouts,” recounted Hause.

Bloomer came-from-behind in the second half for the win in that preliminary game. S-B led 21-16 at the intermission. S-B had a balanced scoring attack with Cooper Nichols, Brady Potaczek and Lucas Smith with seven points apiece. Carsen Hause and Jacob Schneider each had six, while Brady Ingersoll scored three and Spencer Booth had one.

The Orioles decided to leave the high-flying dunks and long three-pointers for the big boys that night.

The Orioles were coming off a rough night Friday, when they fell to Western Cloverbelt Conference-leading Altoona 80-45. Earlier in the week, they played Thorp tough but ran out of juice at the end.

Altoona scored 44 points in the first half to Stanley-Boyd’s 27.

For the first time in two days, the Orioles were led in scoring by Potaczek, Nichols and Smith as they collectively finished with 30 points. Hause also hit a three pointer in each half to finish with six points.

Keshawn Harris led the Railroaders with 24 points in the 80-45 Railroader victory. According to wissports.net, the junior is fourth in the Western Cloverbelt in scoring with almost 17 points per game and leads the conference in rebounding and assists.

The young Orioles work hard at spreading the ball around. Lucas Smith scores over 12 points per contest while fellow sophomores Carsen Hause and Brady Potaczek are close behind, chipping in over nine points per game on average.

The Orioles are 2-9 in league play and 3-14 overall.

The previous Tuesday, Thorp traveled the short distance to Stanley-Boyd High School. The Cardinals are 8-3 in league play and right in the thick of the conference race.

Ethan Reis and Isaac Soumis lead the 12-5 Cardinals in scoring on a nightly basis, both averaging over 16 points per contest.

The Orioles drew first blood, as Nichols drove for a layup to start things off. The game remained close, as Potaczek brought the Orioles within one with a high-arching layup to avoid a blocked shot that made the score 9-8 Thorp. He scored again to give S-B a brief lead, and it was their last one on the night. The Cardinals jumped up by eight before S-B cut that lead to 22-18 at halftime. Some nice rebounding by Schneider and a steal by Ingersoll kept the game tight, and the Orioles were within a point with 10 minutes left. The Cardinals inside game was too much down the stretch, though.

Although Hause scored all eight of his points in the second half, the Cardinals outscored the home team and won 51-36. It was an interesting looking score sheet for the Orioles: Ingersoll, Potaczek, Nichols and Hause each had eight points and Smith added four.

The Cardinal’s senior dynamic duo of Reis and Soumis combined for 41 points to lead all scorers.

After playing two of the top three schools in the conference last week, the Orioles play at Regis Thursday and return home for a non-conference game Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. against Saint Croix Central. Tuesday, S-B travels to Osseo-Fairchild, wrapping up the regular season at Fall Creek Feb. 21.