The Lennox High School varsity boys’ basketball team was able to defeat a tough Tri-Valley team 47-36 on the road Tuesday night, Feb. 10.
The Orioles dominated the offensive and defensive rebounding battles, and played great post defense against the taller Mustangs. Lane Smit sparked the Orioles by coming off the bench to hit three three-pointers on his way to 11 points total. Jacob Hinker had another incredible performance with 15 points, 15 rebounds, and four assists. John Oldenkamp had seven rebounds and ten deflections to go along with five points.
Also scoring for the Orioles were Nathan Timmerman with eight, Collin McEntee with six, and Austin Weischedel with two.
“This game really speaks volumes for our team defense, and our ability to get our opposition to play our way,” said Oriole head coach, Paul McVey. “These are the kinds of victories that can propel our confidence and our season to a higher level of play.”
Following the Tri-Valley game, the Orioles battled against conference rival West Central on Friday night, Feb. 12. Lennox ultimately lost the game 63-57.
“It was an absolute shootout with both teams having hard times stopping each other because extremely high quality offensive play,” said McVey. “Both teams are very good defensively, so really this was just high school basketball played at an incredibly high level. Unfortunately for us their shots were dropping and they made plays in the last two minutes. It was a back and forth game the entire way and we had some unlucky plays that cost us at the very end.”
Hinker had a huge game for the Orioles recording another double double with 16 points, 17 rebounds. Timmerman scored 13 points on very solid shooting, and Creighton Raabe slashed his way to 12 points. Oldenkamp had eight rebounds, and six assists to go along with three points. Also scoring buckets for the Birds were Smit (3), Weischedel (2), McEntee (3), Masen Oltmanns (2), and Chirstopher Oltmanns (3).
“Our offensive is really starting to click,” said McVey. “We need to guard the three ball and pick and roll better. We kind of wish we had an NBA-style best of seven series against West Central. We really bring out the best in each other when we play.”
After the West Central loss, the Orioles regrouped to host Tea Area on Saturday night, Feb. 14.
The Orioles played a masterpiece of a game against Tea, winning 76-32.
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In photo: Jacob Hinker led the Orioles against Tea with 28 points.