The Warroad Warriors came out with a lot of intensity and used stellar defense, athleticism, and great three-point shooting to cruise to an 84-29 victory over the Crookston Pirate Boys Basketball team in a Section 8AA game played in Crookston. “It was bad…..it was bad,” said Pirate Coach Greg Garmen. “It was tough for everyone to watch and be a part of. You feel bad for the kids, but we need to work on getting better.” Warroad made 10 three-pointers in the game which accounted for more points than Crookston scored.
FIRST HALF –
Warroad started the game on a 10-0 run with baskets from Kyle Kvarnlov and Dylan Fox followed by back-to-back three-pointers from Evan Grover. “That isn’t the start anybody wants ever,” said Pirate Coach Greg Garmen. Crookston finally got on the board a little over three minutes into the game when Ryan Abeld stole the ball and went in for a layup and that was followed by a Jacob Hesby three-pointer to get within a 10-5 deficit. The teams exchanged baskets and Warroad led 12-7 with 12:25 left. It was at this point in the game that Warroad blew the game open by going on an 18-1 run, let by three straight three-pointers from Gage Thompson. “We were daring him to shoot and he kept making them,” said Coach Garmen.. After a Ryan Abeld free throw, Thompson buried another three-pointer and then had a steal for a layup. Warroad continued the run with two free throws from Grover and two more from John Davis for a 30-8 lead with 8:20 left in the half. Hayden Michaelson stopped the run with a three-pointer only to have Warroad go on a 17-0 run behind 12 points from Dylan Fox for a 47-11 lead. Isaac Thomforde, who started his first-ever varsity game, tried to get the Pirates going with a free throw and a three-pointer, but Warroad took a 53-15 lead into halftime. “Fox has done it for years and they have a good point guard with Grover,” said Coach Garmen. “We needed to rebound and we had 13 turnovers in the half. It was a tough half and we made a lot of bad mistakes. Give credit to Warroad for taking us out of rhythm.”
SECOND HALF –
Crookston only scored nine points in the second half until the final minutes. The Pirates trailed by 60 points (84-24) when crowd favorites Omar Petithomme made a three-pointer and Gavin Winger followed with a steal for a layup to add five more points in the final minute and Warroad won the game 84-29. “That was good with a little excitement with two crowd favorites,” said Coach Garmen. “It was a tough one tonight.”
Crookston drops to 0-3 on the year and will travel to Bagley on Tuesday. A game you can hear on KROX Radio. Warroad improves to 3-0 on the year.
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| Warroad | 53 | 31 | 84 |
| CROOKSTON | 15 | 14 | 29 |
| For CROOKSTON | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Jacob Hesby | 14 | 4 | |
| Isaac Thomforde | 4 | ||
| Ryan Abeld | 3 | 3 | 2 steals |
| Haden Michaelson | 3 | ||
| Omar Petithomme | 3 | ||
| Gavin Winger | 2 |
| For Warroad | Points |
| Dylan Fox | 25 |
| Gage Thompson | 16 |
| Evan Grover | 14 |
| Kyle Kvernlov | 12 |
| John Davis | 8 |
| Logan Kvernlov | 7 |
| Cole Spenst | 2 |
