WINJUM GOES FOR 29 POINTS, 10 REBOUNDS TO LEAD PIRATE GIRLS HOOPS PAST BARNESVILLE

The Crookston Pirate Girl’s Basketball team used fantastic defense and made four free throws in the final minute of the game to beat the Barnesville Trojans 53-46 in a Section 8AA game played in Barnesville.  In the pre-game show, Barnesville Coach Ryan Bomstad said they needed to keep Halle Winjum in check and they couldn’t let her score 30.  She didn’t score 30, but she had 29 points and 10 rebounds for another double-double.

FIRST HALF – 
Barnesville opened the game red-hot from three-point land and made a three-pointer on their first possession.  Crookston’s Halle Winjum responded with a three-pointer of her own to tie the game 3-3. 
After a Barnesville free throw, Crookston’s Chloe Boll had a nice pull-up jumper and kissed the shot off the glass for a 5-4 lead.  The next few minutes belonged to Barnesville as they made four three-pointers and took a 16-7 lead halfway through the half.  Crookston finally started to get the offense going as they responded with a 15-2 run with 11 points scored by Winjum, a basket apiece from Libby Salentine and Abby Borowicz for a 22-18 lead with four minutes remaining.
Barnesville finished the half on a 6-2 run, and the teams were tied at 24 going into halftime.

SECOND HALF – 
Crookston took a 28-26 lead after four straight points from Winjum before Barnesvilles’ Abigail John answered with five straight points to give the Trojans a 31-28 lead four minutes into the half.  Crookston responded in a big way by putting a 9-0 run together with a three-pointer from Winjum, four straight points from Borowicz, and a basket for Winjum and a 37-31 lead with 11 minutes left.  Barnesville stopped the run with a three-pointer only to have Crookston’s Borowicz scored on a layup, and Isabelle Smith buried a three-pointer for a 42-34 lead. Barnesville would slowly chip away at the Crookston lead and got within a 49-46 deficit with 1:39 left in the game.  Crookston missed the front end of a bonus free throw with 55 seconds left, but Halle Winjum made two free throws with 38 seconds left, and Borowicz made two more free throws with 24 seconds left.  The Pirates played fantastic defense in the final minutes and blocked three shots in the final minute as they held on to win 53-46.

Crookston improves to 6-4 on the year and 5-2 in section play and will host another Section 8AA opponent on Tuesday when Park Rapids comes to Crookston. Barnesville drops to 4-5 on the year. 

FOR COACH DARIN ZIMMERMAN’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW –