With the Oriole girls’ basketball team locked in a physical battle with Eau Claire Regis Thursday night, Mallory Gustafson stepped up and led the charge for Stanley-Boyd.

She didn’t lead the charge as much as she took it. Actually, she took two of them.

With players rotating in and out because of foul trouble in a game that took almost 1-1/2 hours to play, the Ramblers were trying to chip away at the Oriole lead.

That’s when Gustafson made her presence known. On the defensive end, she stood her ground and drew the foul, jumping off the floor to a big round of applause from an appreciate crowd. Then, on the offensive end, she sliced through the Regis defense for a layup to put the Orioles up by 12.

On the next few possessions, she continued to make her presence known. She tied up a Regis player and forced a jump ball situation and then sacrificed herself with another charge in the lane.

“She was great out there. She works really hard, and those two charges meant a lot to us,” said Oriole coach Alison Becker.

Stanley-Boyd went on to win 62-41 in a game marred by lots of whistles.

“It was a win we needed. We’re at the point in the season, where we’re hoping to get a big win. We were hoping for that against Mc-Donell, but we just came up a little short,” said Becker. “We have Osseo-Fairchild Tuesday and we finish against Fall Creek, so our goal is to get some big wins.”

The Ramblers have just one win in Western Cloverbelt Conference play and one outside of conference play this season. The Orioles are now 7-5 in league play, good for fourth place, behind first place Osseo-Fairchild (10-2), Fall Creek (9-3) and McDonnell (8-4).

Teagan Becker led the 12-5 Orioles in scoring with 18 points. Lily Hoel wasn’t far behind with 17 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots. Marissa Gustafson barely missed one of her nine free throw attempts on the way to 15 points, five rebounds and led the team with three assists. Leslie Derks had some active hands, grabbing six rebounds and a pair of steals to go along with two points. Gustafson and Hoel also had three steals each. Emily Brenner added another eight points and five rebounds for the Orioles in the win. Mallory Gustafson and Aaliyah Moore had two points each also.

The Orioles fell at McDonnell Tuesday night, 68-65.

The Macks sit just ahead of the Orioles at third with an 8-4 conference record this season.

McDonnell took a 34-30 lead into the break after the first half. The Orioles outscored the home team 35-34 after halftime but it wasn’t quite enough as the Macks went on to win, 6865.

Stanley-Boyd was led in scoring by freshman Emily Brenner with 18 points. Brenner made all six free throw attempts and grabbed seven rebounds on the night. Hoel, a sophomore, finished with sixteen points and 12 rebounds to go along with a pair of blocks and steals. Junior Marissa Gustafson had an active game and recorded fourteen points, four rebounds, three assists and led the team with three steals. The Orioles also outrebounded the Macks, 30-21.

Juniors Maggie Craker and Anna Geissler made nine of their 19 shots from outside the arc on their way to combining for 32 points to lead the Macks.

With just two conference games left this season, the Orioles will look to improve their standing in the conference rankings Tuesday when they host Osseo-Fairchild and Friday when the travel to Fall Creek. As of today, the Thunder are leading the Western Cloverbelt Conference at 10-2 and the Crickets are just behind them at 9-3. The Orioles will know who their Cloverbelt Conference crossover foe is by this weekend for next week’s game.