CROOKSTON BOYS BASKETBALL COMES UP SHORT IN LOSS TO ROSEAU

The Crookston Pirate Boys Basketball team couldn’t hold off the Roseau Rams as they made a late run to take the lead and held on for a 66-65 victory in a Section 8AA matchup played at the Roseau High School gymnasium.

FIRST HALF-
The first half was a classic back-and-forth battle with eight lead changes and four ties. Roseau scored the first points of the game on a Jake Borowicz basket. Crookston responded with an Isaac Thomforde three-pointer for the first lead change. Roseau responded with another Jake Borowicz basket and a Gunnar Lund basket for a 6-3 lead. Crookston’s Hunter Nicholas had an offensive rebound and putback, and after a Roseau free throw, Nicholas had another offensive rebound and putback, and the game was tied at 7-7, the first tie of the half. Roseau’s Jake Borowicz had another basket before the Pirate’s Tyler Michaelson got hot. Tyler made a three-pointer to give Crookston a 10-9 lead. Roseau responded with a three-pointer of their own before Reggie Winjum made a free throw, and Michaelson buried another three-pointer for a 14-12 lead.
With the game tied at 17, Roseau scored six straight points for their largest lead of the half (23-17). Crookston’s Nicholas and Michaelson responded with baskets to get within a 23-21 deficit. The teams exchanged baskets, and Crookston took a 27-25 lead after a Winjum basket with 4:08 left in the half.
Roseau shut down Crookston the rest of the half and outscored them 6-0 for a 31-27 lead. The final points of the half came on a Michaelson three-pointer, his 16th point of the game, to bring the Pirates within a 31-30 deficit going into halftime.

SECOND HALF –
The second half was a half of runs as Roseau took a 44-36 victory in the first four minutes of the half, only to have Crookston respond with a 10-1 run. The Pirate run was started by two Nicholas free throws and a Winjum three-pointer. After a Roseau free throw, Crookston’s Rylan Lubarski made a free throw, Michaelson and Thomforde made baskets, and the run was capped by another Michaelson three-pointer for a 49-45 lead with 10 minutes left. Roseau responded with a. 12-2 run for a 57-51 lead. Crookston settled down and scored the next 11 points, with Michaelson scoring five points, Thomforde made two free throws, and Winjum had a steal that led to a layup and 30 seconds later made a shot to give Crookston a 62-57 lead with 3:15 remaining.
Crookston’s offense went cold at the wrong time as Roseau scored the next nine points on a run that was started by Jordan Borowicz’s three-point play. The Rams led 66-62 after missing the front end of the bonus with 12.5 seconds left in the game. Crookston grabbed the rebound, and Winjum banked a three-pointer with less than a second left to get within a 66-65 deficit. Roseau inbounded the ball, and Crookston wasn’t able to foule before the buzzer sounded, and Roseau won 66-65.

Crookston drops to 1-6 on the year and will be off until Saturday, January 6 when they host Menagha. Roseau improves to 6-1 on the year.
J.V. – Crookston won 58-41

CLICK HERE to listen to Coach Greg Garmen’s post-game comments.