ARGYLE — The opportunity was there for the Argyle’s girls basketball team to make the biggest splash of their season to this point. The undermanned Orioles had sixth-ranked Shullsburg on the ropes all game before losing 40-37 in their nonconference matchup Jan. 24.

“All-in-all these girls played their hearts out; we just got a little reckless with the ball at times,” Argyle coach Nicole Allison said. “I thought we had a good game plan coming in, it’s just our experience in these high-pressure games gets to us a little bit and causes these costly turnovers.”

Shullsburg (14-2) came into the game ranked sixth in the Associated Press Division 5 poll, and seventh in the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association rankings. Argyle (11-6) is unranked, but stands second in the Six Rivers East standings.

“I told the girls that nothing hurt from this loss. This is something that we’re working towards — playing teams like this and getting ready for the playoffs,” Allison said. “We still are second in our conference and have a lot of games to go, but this will show that we have heart and will play to the very end. I was really pleased with that.”

The game opened up sloppy and rarely changed course until the final buzzer. It took nearly three minutes for either team to score — Tori Lantz scored in the paint at the 15:07 mark for Argyle. To that point, Shullsburg had turned the ball over five times in three minutes, and Argyle’s starting point guard McKenzee Granberg had picked up two quick fouls. 

“It was a struggle, but you just have to push through and make it happen,” said Granberg, who isn’t known for getting into foul trouble. “It was all or nothing. You have to give it your all and push through, really.”

The Miners seemed to figure out Argyle’s press and went on a 10-2 run over the next six minutes, then using a press of their own to cause headaches at times for the Orioles.

“We just kind of rushed it a little bit. Their press worked very well on us. We were able to break it a few times and push the ball up the court and get some easy baskets off of it,” Lantz said.

Allie Godfrey sank a 3-pointer at the 8:54 mark to bring it back to a one-possession game. The rest of the half was a back-and-forth battle, and the Orioles went into halftime ahead 22-19.

Granberg came out of the locker room with three fouls but immediately sank a 3. Moments later, Maggie Godfrey hit another trey for Argyle, which put the Orioles ahead 28-21. It was the largest lead of the game for either side, but one that didn’t last long.

Shullsburg started hitting shots from around the floor, and Argyle, which suits just eight players, started creeping into deeper foul trouble. By the halfway point in the second half, Lantz was on the bench with four fouls, Maggie Godfrey had three more. By the 6:32 mark, Granberg had four fouls and the Orioles led by just three.

Lantz would foul out with 2:37 left with her team ahead by just a point, and 11 seconds later Maggie Godfrey hit the deck hard going for a rebound.

“Tori Lantz, this was probably one of the best games I’ve seen her play this season — she was aggressive, she worked hard. Yeah, she got herself into foul trouble, but she is our go-to on things and we kind of revolved around her,” Allison said.

When Godfrey went down, Allison said she was a bit dismayed at the misfortune. 

“I was like, ‘You have got to be kidding me,’” Allison said. “Maggie, I couldn’t put her back in with hitting her head, and I just thought, ‘Woo, this is going to be tough.’ Not going to lie, I was a little nervous when I had both her and Tori sitting on the bench.”

Trying to step up for Argyle was sophomore guard Grace Ganshert, who scored five of her seven points in the final three minutes of the game — all five were the final points Argyle would score.

Tied at 37, Shullsburg’s Kayla Klotz hit a pair of free throws with 11.1 left to make it 39-37. Ganshert tried to break the press but confusion at the midcourt line between her and a teammate caused a loose ball that Shullsburg’s Madison Russell scooped up. She would hit one of two free throws, but the Orioles were out of timeouts and the full court heave could not get off in time.

“You can tell our inexperience in that situation,” Allison said.

The win was the record 184th for Shullsburg coach Nathan Russell, which breaks the program’s career wins mark. The Miners made just 11 field goals in the game — eight 2s and three 3s. Shullsburg was 14 of 27 from the free throw line and was led in scoring by Klotz, who had 15 points.

Lantz scored 13 to lead Argyle, despite missing much of the second half with foul trouble. The Orioles hit 11 2s and three 3s and went 6 of 7 from the charity stripe. Argyle was called for 22 fouls and five of the eight Orioles had three or more fouls. Shullsburg was whistled just nine times in the game, including only twice in the second half.