The Crookston Pirate Girls Basketball team won their 4th game in a row with another defensive masterclass as they defeated the Norman County East/Ulen Hitterdahl Titans by a score of 55-22 at the Crookston High School Gymnasium on Friday night.
FIRST HALF
The first half started in a dream way for the Pirates, as they scored the first 11 points of the game. Madi Bruggeman had 5 and Chloe Boll had 4 to lead the way. The Titans didn’t get their first points of the game until there was 10:32 remaining in the half, when Olivia Theis hit two free throws to cut the lead to 9. NCE/UH didn’t get their first proper bucket until there was 7:22 remaining, but with 6:24 remaining they kept the game respectable, trailing 17-8. From there, however, the Pirates went on their best run of the game, ending the half on a 17-2 run. Chloe Boll led the way, scoring 10 points, with 5 of them coming from the foul line. Overall, the Titans committed 12 fouls in the first half, and that led to the Pirates making 11 free throws. The Pirates held the Titans to just 4 points that weren’t free throws, and that led to Crookston taking a dominant 34-10 lead at the break.
SECOND HALF
In the second half, the Pirates slowed down a bit on offense, but the defense kept its great play going, holding the Titans to just 6 points in the first 10 minutes of play. The Pirates opened the half on a 17-6 run, getting 4 points from Brooklyn Waldal, 2 points from Nora Groven and a breakaway layup to help their cause. This put the game into running time with 8:54 remaining, at a 51-16 lead. The Titans began to create some turnovers and get fast break layups of their own, and they cut the lead down to 30 at 52-22 with a few minutes left. The final 3 points of the game came from Nora Groven, who hit a 3-pointer that sent the bench into a frenzy and clinched the Pirates’ 55-22 victory.
Crookston improves to 7-16, and NCE/UH drops to 3-18.
JV – Crookston won 35-22
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| NCE/UH | 10 | 12 | 22 |
| Crookston | 34 | 21 | 55 |
| For Crookston | Points | Rebounds | Misc. |
| Chloe Boll | 20 | 3 | 3 assists/2 steals |
| Madi Bruggeman | 11 | 7 | 3 assists/1 steal |
| Brooklyn Waldal | 11 | 8 | 1 steal |
| Nora Groven | 5 | 1 | – |
| Halle Nicholas | 4 | 2 | 2 steals |
| Morgan Boll | 4 | 11 | 4 assists/4 steals |
| For NCE/UH | Points |
| Madelyn Walstrom | 7 |
| Olivia Theis | 7 |
| Tess Anderson | 4 |
| Avah Bailey | 3 |
| Izabella Jacobson | 1 |
