SACRED HEART USES 17-2 RUN TO BEAT CROOKSTON BOYS BASKETBALL

The Sacred Heart Eagles used a 17-2 run in the second half to build a double-digit lead, and they never looked back as they pulled away for an 81-64 victory over the Crookston Pirate Boys Basketball team in a game played in Crookston. 

FIRST HALF –
Sacred Heart started the game strong with five straight points from Kobe Tomkinson, Sacred Heart Boys Basketball’s all-time career leading scorer with 1,340 points breaking Brendan Bethke’s record, for a quick 5-0 lead.  Crookston got on the board with a Jacob Hesby three-pointer.  Sacred Heart’s Ethan Arnston scored before Crookston Freshman post Hunter Nicholas grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to bring the Pirates within a 6-5 deficit.  Sacred Heart scored before Nicholas grabbed another offensive rebound and scored.  “Hunter did some good things on the boards tonight,” said Pirate Coach Greg Garmen. “He played a solid game inside.” Crookston tied the game at 10 with 12:30 left in the half, but Sacred Heart responded with five straight points from Sam Gapp.  Crookston answered with six consecutive points, three points each from Hesby and Jack Garmen for a 16-15 lead halfway through the half.  The game was tied at 18 and was back and forth the rest of the half, and Sacred Heart took a 32-27 lead into halftime after a Josiah Sundby layup before the buzzer sounded at halftime. “That was a good momentum boost on a nice play from Josiah.  That is what he does, he makes great plays,” said Eagle Coach Destry Sterkel.  “We didn’t play our best half, so it was nice to take a lead into halftime.”

SECOND HALF –
Crookston’s Jack Garmen came out determined in the second half and scored nine of the team’s first 11 points while the Pirates outscored Sacred Heart 11-4 to take a 38-36 lead four minutes into the second half.  With the game tied at 41, Sacred Heart went on a 17-2 run, with Kobe Tompkinson scoring seven points, Sam Gapp had five, Josiah Sunby added three, and Zach Martin added a basket for a 58-43 lead halfway through the half. “Give credit to Crookston and Coach Garmen and his boy Jack,” said Eagle Coach Destry Sterkel. “They fought like heck and gave us a lot of problems and we finally got things going on both ends of the floor in the second half with good all-around team play.” Crookston couldn’t recover the rest of the way as Sacred Heart picked up their play on both ends of the court and continued to hold a double-digit lead the rest of the game.  Crookston trailed 81-61 with 41 seconds remaining, with both teams playing their reserves, and Pirate fan favorite Omar Petithomme got a pass in the corner in front of the Crookston bench and made a three-pointer before time expired. The players celebrated, and the student body almost rushed the court. They were so excited.  Sacred Heart won the game 81-64, but some of the sting was taken away for the Pirates as they celebrated Omar’s three-pointer in a perfect example of what high school sports are all about.  “That group that was in at the end ran Utah perfectly and of all people it was Omar. The reason why I put Omar in is because he is our motivational, spiritual leader. He is just Omar.  He let it go and I thought….man that is going in and it hit nothing but net and it was a game within a game.  He is a great kid and good for him,” said Pirate Coach Garmen. “I thought it was our best complete game this year. We had one bad stretch and needed to make more plays but didn’t, but overall I thought it was a solid game for us and hopefully it is a sign of things to come the rest of the season.”

With the win, Sacred Heart pretty much locks up the #1 seed in the Section 8A West Sub-section with a 22-3 record.  Crookston drops to 4-21 on the season and will host the Bagley Flyers on Tuesday night.