As senior Luke Peterson competed in his last home Section game, he said he noticed a more thrilling atmosphere in the team’s 85-70 victory compared to their previous game against Washburn.

“This was more fun to play in. It was a Section game, seniors’ last home Section game. The atmosphere was great and we played our hearts out,” Peterson said.

According to assistant coach Robert Griffin, the Orioles beat the Washburn Millers 85-70 in their first Section game of the season.

Griffin said the team played strong for the majority of the game, but struggled to maintain a 20 point lead toward the end.

“I think we played about 28 to 30 minutes of really good basketball,” Griffin said. “Down toward the end we kind of let up, and that’s not something I like to see because we’ve got to play every game until the end.”

Peterson said he believes the boys team played well because of the effort they put into each play.

“I thought we played awesome for most of the game. When we played well, we played together,” Peterson said.

According to Griffin, Washburn’s strengths lie in their fitness and work ethic, making them a difficult team to play against.

“They are a team that plays hard,” Griffin said. “They’ve got a lot of athletic guys, and so our number one thing was trying to match that athleticism with good execution on our side.”

Peterson said as long as Park focuses on playing their game, he believes they will be successful in their second round of Sections.

“(Our goals are) to take care of business, play our basketball and we should come out on top,” Peterson said.

Park will play at 7:00 p.m. March 9 against Wayzata at Osseo High School for the second round of Sections.