The Red Lake County Rebels used several runs throughout the game to beat the Crookston Pirate Boys basketball team 85-53 in a game played at the Crookston High School gymnasium.
FIRST HALF –
Crookston had a solid start with Jacob Hesby scoring the first basket for a 2-0 lead. Red Lake County responded with five straight points from Gerald Melin. Crookston’s Tanner Giese buried a three-pointer to tie the game at five. Jack Garmen took a charge and Crookston had the ball when Hesby scored another basket and the Pirates had a 7-5 lead. Red Lake County responded with a Melin three-point play and a Connor Duden basket for a 10-7 lead. Hesby responded with a basket and after a Duden basket Jack Garmen made a three-pointer and the game was tied at 12 with 12:15 left in the half. “We had a good start,” said Pirate Coach Greg Garmen. “We were playing well and hitting some shots.” Red Lake County built an 18-14 lead when they went on a 10-2 run with four different players scoring for a 28-16 lead. Garmen made a three-pointer stop the run, but Red Lake County outscored Crookston 16-3 in the final six minutes of the half to take a 44-32 lead at halftime. “We seem to play well for nine minutes or so and then we struggle,” said Coach Garmen. “We struggled in the final nine minutes and that has happened in several games this year.”
SECOND HALF –
The teams exchanged baskets for the first eight minutes of the half and Red Lake County had a 55-32 lead with 12 minutes left in the game. Red Lake County led 61-36 when Chase Nelson scored two points and then Duden took over with six straight. points for a 69-32 lead halfway through the half. “We didn’t have an answer for them,” said Coach Garmen. “They are big, athletic, aggressive and we couldn’t keep up with them.” Crookston’s Isaac Thomforde stopped the run with a basket and Hesby followed with a three-pointer to get within a 69-37 deficit. Red Lake County continued to build on their lead and both teams went to the bench late in the game and the Rebels held on to win 85-53. “Red Lake County has a good team,” said Coach Garmen. “We played well for a while, but we couldn’t keep up with them.”
Crookston drops to 2-11 on the year and will host Barnesville on Tuesday. Red Lake County improves to 5-6 on the year.
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| Red Lake County | 44 | 41 | 85 |
| CROOKSTON | 22 | 31 | 53 |
| For CROOKSTON | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Jacob Hesby | 22 | 2 assists/2 steals | |
| Isaac Thomforde | 11 | 3 | |
| Tanner Giese | 6 | 7 | 2 assists/2 steals |
| Jack Garmen | 6 | 3 | |
| Haden Michaelson | 4 | ||
| Hunter Nicholas | 2 | ||
| Evan Christensen | 2 |
| For Red Lake County | Points |
| Connor Duden | 19 |
| Gerald Melin | 18 |
| Owen Chervested | 15 |
| Clancy Hanson | 14 |
| Chase Nelson | 8 |
| Will Gieseke | 4 |
| John Powers | 3 |
| Tyler Eskeli | 2 |
| Matt Renner | 2 |
