BARNESVILLE ENDS PIRATE GIRLS BASKETBALL SEASON IN SECTION QUARTERFINALS

The Crookston Pirate Girl’s Basketball team only has two seniors. Emma Borowicz, one of the seniors, scored 23 of her team’s 46 points, and Emma Boll, the other senior added six points, but it wasn’t enough as the Barnesville Trojans won the game 54-46 in the Section 8AA Quarterfinals in Crookston.   “Barnesville executed all night long,” said Crookston Coach Darin Zimmerman. “They made shots when they needed to, they played consistent defense all night, so hats off to them.  Coach (Ryan) Bomstad is a great coach, and they have great athletes.  They earned it.”

FIRST HALF – 
The teams were a little tentative to start the game, and Barnesville’s Kim Maesse scored the first points with a three-pointer 1:43 into the game.  “There might have been some nervous energy early,” said Pirate Coach Zimmerman. “Both teams struggled a bit early on.”  Crookston responded with two Halle Winjum free throws and an offensive rebound and putback by Emma Boll for a 4-3 lead.  The teams were tied at 9 and 14 before Barnesville took a 20-15 lead after back-to-back baskets from Lexi Bolgrean. Crookston tried going inside several times, but Lauren Halvorson came up with several blocked shots and a handful of rebounds while adding nine first-half points. “Lauren was a beast out there,” said Barnesville’s Coach Bomstad. “Especially on the offensive glass.  She controlled herself very well, and she let the game come to her. She did a tremendous job for us.”   On the flip side, Barnesville was aggressive offensively and got several Crookston players into foul trouble. “We picked up more fouls tonight than we did the entire month of March,” said Zimmerman. “Give Barnesville credit, they were strong with the ball, and we didn’t move our feet, and we reached in, and there were a couple of fouls 80-feet from the basket, and those hurt us.” Barnesville kept the lead around five the rest of the half and took a 33-28 lead into halftime.  

SECOND HALF –
Barnesville continued to be the aggressor in the second half as they used their physical, hard-nosed offense and defensive play to build an 11 point (42-31 lead) six-minutes into the half with five different players scoring. “We weren’t playing good defense, and they were getting dribble drives and being aggressive,” said Pirate Coach Zimmerman.
Crookston responded with a 7-0 run with a Hayden Winjum basket and five points from Emma Borowicz to get within a 42-38 deficit with 5:14 remaining.  Four minutes later, Crookston was within four points after an Emma Borowicz drive and layup to get within a 47-43 deficit with 70 seconds left, and it seemed like momentum might be on Crookston’s side. “We kept whittling away, and that shows toughness on the girls part,” said Coach Zimmerman.
Barnesville’s outstanding eighth-grader, Abby John, took it strong to the basket and scored.  She added a free throw 12 seconds later for a 51-43 lead.  25 seconds later, Barnesville’s Bolgrean made two more free throws for a 53-43 lead with 28 seconds left, and they held on for a 54-46 victory. “Our girls were focused and ready to go,” said Barnesville Ryan Bomstad. “You have to be when you play Crookston.  They are so good, they are fundamental, and they are good kids.” Barnesville was only 16 of 32 from the free-throw line, and Crookston was 13 of 24, with Emma Borowicz making 7 of 9 and Halle Winjum making 6 of 8, and the rest of the team was 0-7.  “Free throws plagued us throughout the year,” said Coach Zimmerman. “It was a little bit of a factor tonight.  Barnesville made free throws when they needed to.”

Barnesville improves to 13-5 on the year and will play Pelican Rapids in the Section 8AA semi-finals on Tuesday.  “It stinks at this time of year that somebody has to win and somebody has to lose,” said Barnesville’s Coach Bomstad. “I feel sad for the Crookston girls because they’re a class act.”
Crookston ends the season with a 15-4 record and will say goodbye to seniors Emma Borowicz and Emma Boll. “It is disappointing because this is such a good team,” said Coach Zimmerman. “They work so hard together. They work so well together in terms of what you want from a team.  They are unselfish. They work hard, they have fun together, so it is tough to be done.  They wanted to play longer, and it is tough because of how close this team is, and that is something pretty special.”