Playing their last game before the playoffs, the Orioles traveled to Loyal Thursday, Feb. 20, falling to Loyal 55-52 at the finish.
Starting out with Loyal ahead, Kendall Sikora scored the first points for Stanley-Boyd, following a two point shot with two free throws to put four points on the board for Stanley-Boyd. Following Sikora, Caitlen Ketterhagen and Bailey Sikora both landed three pointers, followed with a two pointer from Aaliyah Allard, before a resurgent Loyal fought back to even the score.
Following Loyal’s resurgence Lula Chwala scored two points for Stanley-Boyd, followed with two three pointers from Bailey Sikora to leave the score at halftime 32-23 in Loyal’s favor.
Coming back after the half, Syleen Seichter scored two points for the Orioles followed by two 2 pointers and a free throw by Kendall Sikora, Loyal answering to leave the score 37-30 Loyal. Allard scored two points while Bailey Sikora scored three, with further action by Allard, Bailey, and Kendall bringing the score 44-41 Stanley. With back and forth along with fouls affecting the score, the final tally Thursday came out 55-52 in Loyal’s favor.
Orioles Head Coach Ryan Wundrow shared more after the game.
“We played good enough to win the Loyal game but just didn’t make plays when we needed them,” he said. “I was really proud of our girls. We came back from being down 14 to take a lead. We just had a couple of bad defensive lapses that gave them some easy buckets at the end of the game. Bailey Sikora had 5 threes and 18 points on the night and Kendal Sikora had 17.
“It was nice to put up some points past 50, we had been very low for a while. Tuesday we need that same production against Viroqua to give us a chance. If we minimize our turnovers and hold their 20 point scorer in check I like our odds.”
The Orioles play Viroqua in a home regional after press time Tuesday, Feb. 25.