The Fertile-Beltrami Falcons used their height and muscle to power past the Crookston Pirate Boys Basketball team 73-37 at the Fertile-Beltrami High School gymnasium in Fertile.
FIRST HALF –
Fertile-Beltrami had a strong start as Preston Hanson had a layup off the opening tip. 6’8 senior Drew Gullickson followed with back-to-back baskets for a 6-0 lead. Crookston’s Gunnar Groven got his team on the board with a jump shot. Fertile-Beltrami answered with a basket before Crookston’s Groven answered with a baseline jump shot. Seven minutes into the game, Fertile-Beltrami led 14-9. The teams exchanged baskets and the Falcons led 20-14 when Gage Henrickson kicked off a 19-6 run to end the half. Drew Gullickson added four straight points and after a Pirate basket from Nolan Cassavant, the Falcons answered with a Preston Hanson basket, a Brady Bjerk three-pointer for a 34-17 lead. Crookston’s Reggie Winjum made a free throw before Stephen Sather buried a three-pointer and two Bjerk free throws for a 39-17 lead with 28 seconds left in the half. Crookston worked the ball around and Carter Fee had the ball and was pushed back to near the half court line by the outstanding Falcon defense and chucked up a three-pointer that hit nothing but net as the buzzer sounded and Fertile-Beltrami took a 39-20 lead into halftime.
SECOND HALF –
Fertile-Beltrami dominated the second half as they scored the first five points of the half with baskets from Bjerk and Hanson and a free throw from Drew Gullickson for a 45-20 lead. Crookston’s Beau Smith stopped the run with a basket before Fertile-Beltrami’s Bjerk made a three-pointer. Crookston’s Carter Fee went in for a layup, and after the ball hit the backboard, it was blocked, and goaltending was called, and the Pirates trailed 48-24. The Falcons’ Bjerk answered with another three-pointer, and Gullickson added a basket for a 53-24 lead over four minutes into the half.
Crookston eighth-grader Beau Smith scored a basket before Fertile-Beltrami went on a 14-2 run with eight points from Preston Hanson and six points from Drew Gullickson for a 67-28 lead with 7:45 remaining. Running time started with nine minutes left in the game and that made the rest of the game fly by. Crookston’s Smith got a three-point play to stop the run, and he ended with a career high 11 points in the game, but Fertile-Beltrami cruised the rest of the way as both teams went deep to the bench as the Falcons won 73-37.
Crookston drops to 0-3 on the year and will take on Badger/Greenbush-Middle River on Monday in Greenbush. Fertile-Beltrami improves to 2-0.
J.V. Fertile-Beltrami won 43-23. C squad – Fertile-Beltrami won 41-34
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| Crookston | 20 | 17 | 37 |
| Fertile-Beltrami | 39 | 34 | 73 |
| For Crookston | Points | Rebounds | Steal/Assists |
| Beau Smith | 11 | 5 | 2 assists |
| Nolan Johnson | 9 | 3 | |
| Carter Fee | 5 | 4 | 1 assists |
| Reggie Winjum | 4 | 3 | 2 assists |
| Gunnar Groven | 4 | 1 steal | |
| Nolan Cassavant | 4 | 2 |
| For Fertile-Beltrami | Points |
| Drew Gullickson | 24 |
| Preston Hanson | 15 |
| Brady Bjerk | 12 |
| Steven Sather | 10 |
| Gage Henrickson | 4 |
| Conner Haaven | 3 |
| Easton Fredrick | 2 |
| Bryer Strem | 1 |
| Griffin Roragen | 1 |
