PIRATE GIRLS BASKETBALL CRUISES TO A VICTORY OVER ROTHSAY

The Crookston Pirate Girls Basketball team scored early and often in the first half and built a 42-8 lead at halftime and cruised the rest of the way to a 65-26 win over Rothsay in the first round of the Blizzard of Basketball classic at Concordia College in Moorhead.
Crookston made three-pointers on their first three possessions for a 9-0 lead and they continued to shoot well for a 19-2 lead early on in the game. “We came out and shot the ball very well,” said Pirate Coach Darin Zimmerman. “We put some full-court pressure on them right away but pulled it off about three minutes into the game.  Our offense was very good tonight.”  Crookston continued to roll on the offensive end and built a 42-8 lead at halftime.  “We weren’t sure what to expect after a postponement and the storm, but the girls came out and played well in all aspects of the game.  It was nice to see.”
Crookston was able to play a lot of people in the second half and rest some of the starters and that evened things out in the second half and Crookston outscored Rothsay 23-18 in the second half on their way to a 65-26 victory.  Kasey Cwikla led Crookston with 14 points, one of three players in double-figures.  “The bench came in and played well and that was nice to see because they keep getting better each week,” said Coach Zimmerman. “We shot the ball well and I think we shot around 60 percent on two-pointers and around 50 percent on our three-pointers.  We also played very well defensively, especially in the first half.  Hayden Winjum had a bunch of deflections at the top of the key.”  The aspect of the game the Pirates struggled was at the free throw line, making 12 of 24 free throw attempts.
Crookston improves to 8-1 on the year and will play Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton on Saturday at 12:15 p.m.  “Rothsay decided they weren’t going to play varsity again tomorrow, just J.V., so that has put a wrinkle in tomorrows schedule,” said Coach Zimmerman. “I wasn’t happy and I let them know.  We wanted to take on Menagha tomorrow because we are likely the best two girls teams at the tournament and it is unfortunate.”  Rothsay drops to 1-8 on the year.