PARK RAPIDS SCORES 52 IN SECOND HALF TO BEAT PIRATE BOYS HOOPS

The Crookston Pirate Boy’s Basketball team had a five-point lead at halftime, but the Park Rapids Panthers exploded for a 52 point second half on their way to a 75-53 victory in a Section 8AA matchup in Crookston. 

FIRST HALF –
The teams played even in the first six minutes of the game and Crookston led 12-11 when they went on an 8-0 run with five points from Carter Bruggeman and a three-pointer by Easton Tangquist for a 20-11 lead halfway through the first half. “We had a few things going for us early,” said Pirate Coach Greg Garmen. “We were running the offense hard, hitting some shots and things were going well.” A few minutes later Park Rapids was trailing 22-13 when they went on a 10-1 run with four different players scoring to tie the game at 23 with two minutes left in the half.  Crookston finished the half strong with the final five points on a free throw from Jacob Miller, two free throws from Tangquist, and a basket by Karsten Isaacson for a 28-23 lead at halftime. “It was a nice way to end the half,” said Coach Garmen. “It was nice to see Karsten get the bucket and it seemed like we had a little momentum going into the half.”

SECOND HALF – 
Whatever Park Rapids Head Coach Jason Meader told his team at halftime seemed to work because the Panthers started the half on a 9-0 run.  The run started with a Nick Michaelson basket and few seconds later he stole the ball and went in for a one-handed slam dunk to set the tone for the rest of the game.  The Panthers’ Logan Jackson followed with a three-pointer and Parker Harmon capped the run with a basket for a 32-28 lead.  Crookston’s Brady Butt stopped the run with a basket before Park Rapids went on an 11-2 run.  The Park Rapids run was fueled by Noah Morris’s two three-pointers and the Panthers led 43-32 with 12 minutes left in the game.  Park Rapids continued to build on their lead and led 69-49 with two minutes left in the game.  Both teams went deep to the bench in the final minutes and Park Rapids held on for a 75-53 victory.   “They came out strong in the second half and that hurt us,” said Coach Garmen. “You can’t give up 52 points in a half.  We missed a lot of layups tonight and shot ourselves in the foot I thought.  We also need to box out better and put a body on them and we didn’t do that enough.  We aren’t big so we really have to box out well.”

Crookston drops to 1-5 on the season and is scheduled to host Thief River Falls on Friday evening in a varsity only game.  Park Rapids improves to 1-4 on the year.