Taking to the road Tuesday, Jan. 17, the Oriole boys varsity played Bloomer, coming away with the score 63 – 33 in the Hawk’s favor.

Three days later against the O-F Thunder at home, they did better, making it within two points of victory for the night. Varsity head coach Dakota Nichols shared his thoughts after the score sheet tallies.

“We had a rough shooting night against Bloomer, only hitting on 22% of our shots,” Nichols said. “Bloomer is a big and physical team so when you get open looks, you have to knock them down. Bloomer also secured the defensive rebound 88% of the time, which means we only get one shot attempt per possession. Good teams limit your attempts and their height made it a tough matchup for us. I thought we did a great job of taking care of the basketball, having only 9 turnovers. Our goal every game is to have single digit turnovers, so I was proud of them for that.”

As to Osseo-Fairchild, Nichols said things went better, beginning with baskets.

“We shot a lot better against Osseo-Fairchild, making 44% of our shots,” he said. “I was proud of the way the kids battled. There was a lot of lead changes and momentum swings, and I thought the boys did a great job of focusing and executing the gameplan. We lost the game due to having 14 turnovers, going 2/8 from the free throw line, and allowing Osseo-Fairchild to get an offensive rebound 40% of their possessions which led to second chance opportunities for the Thunder.”

As to the rest of the season moving forward, Nichols said that he was excited, but that the team still had some things to clean up. That said, he has confidence.

“I have confidence in our guys and know that we can put it all together and start winning these closer games,” he said.

With the boys varsity set to play next against Fall Creek away this Thursday, the outcome is still in play.