CROOKSTON GIRL’S BASKETBALL HANDS PELICAN RAPIDS FIRST LOSS OF THE SEASON

The Crookston Pirate Girls Basketball team used a 10-0 run to start the second half and outstanding defense throughout the game to beat the Pelican Rapids Vikings 49-34 in a Section 8AA matchup in Pelican Rapids. “Pelican Rapids is a very good basketball team, and to play the way we played today was great,” said Pirate Coach Darin Zimmerman.

FIRST HALF
Crookston had a great start to the game and scored the first seven points with an Emma Borowicz three-pointer and four points from Halle Winjum. “That was a great way to start the game,” said Coach Zimmerman. “Emma got us going with that shot.” Pelican Rapids finally scored their first points of the game on a Greta Tollefson three-pointer from the corner with 12:27 left in the half. “We started strong on the defensive end,” said Coach Zimmerman. “It was all five on the floor playing well to set the tone.” Crookston responded right away with another Emma Borowicz three-pointer for a 10-3 lead. Pelican Rapids battled back to get within a 13-10 deficit with 8:39 left in the half before Crookston scored the next seven points with another Emma Borowicz three-pointer and two points apiece from Halle Winjum and Ally Perreault for a 20-10 lead with 2:34 to go. Pelican Rapids finished the half on a 5-1 run, and Crookston took a 21-16 lead into halftime. “It was a good half,” said Coach Zimmerman. “We locked down on the two we thought were going to possibly hurt us. We were pretty happy with where we were at halftime.”

SECOND HALF
Crookston came out of the locker room like a determined team as they scored the first 10 points of the half behind two Abby Borowicz three-pointers for a 31-16 lead almost four minutes into the half. “We told the girls at halftime to do the things we do in practice,” said Coach Zimmerman. “The girls came out and executed, and we were better on the defensive end. We also made some shots early to get us going, and it was nice to see Abby get a couple of three-pointers.” Pelican Rapids scored their first points of the half when Tollefson scored with 13:57 left in the game. Pelican Rapids got within a 10 point deficit before Emma Osborn scored five straight points to build the Pirate lead to 36-21. “Everybody contributed today,” said Coach Zimmerman. “The kids in the game and the players on the bench were active and loud, and that helped. It also helped that we were patient and worked the ball until we got an open look.” Crookston continued to use their outstanding defense to shut down the Vikings. After a basket, the Pirates added five more points with an Emma Borowicz basket and a step-back three-pointer from Halle Winjum for a 41-23 lead (the biggest lead of the game) almost halfway through the half. The scoring was light in the game’s final nine minutes as Crookston tried to slow the game down and run the clock out, and they held on for a 49-34 victory. “This was a nice win, and I thought we picked up the defense in the second half,” said Coach Zimmerman. “It was a good win for us. The girls fought hard, and they are motivated to continue to get better.”

Crookston improves to 7-1 on the year and will travel to Fergus Falls on Friday. Pelican Rapids drops to 6-1 on the season and will travel to Barnesville on Tuesday.
J.V. – Pelican Rapids won 32-30