The Crookston Pirates Boy’s Basketball team concluded their season on Thursday night with a 68-37 loss to the #3 seed in the Section 8AA Tournament, the Perham Yellowjackets. Both teams played great defense early, but Perham’s was better overall throughout the game to help the Yellowjackets earn the win.
FIRST HALF –
Points were hard to come by in the opening half, as both teams were playing strong defense while also struggling a little offensively. Perham got the opening basket of the game, and Crookston responded with a nice spin move layup from Tanner Giese to tie the game at 2-2 with 15:05 remaining in the first half. The teams went scoreless for over three minutes before the Yellowjackets knocked down a three to take a 5-2 lead with 11:52 on the clock. After a Perham free throw, Jack Garmen would knock down Crookston’s only three-pointer of the first half to give Perham a slight edge at 6-5 with 9:01 until halftime. The Yellowjackets did a tremendous job making life difficult on Pirates Seniors Jack Garmen and Jacob Hesby the remainder of the half, and Perham would finally start to gain some momentum offensively, going on an 8-0 run to take a 14-5 lead. Crookston would finally end the run with a layup from Hunter Nicholas giving Perham a 14-7 lead with 4:05 remaining in the opening half. Nicholas’s layup also ended a five-minute scoring drought for the Pirates. Crookston would continue to struggle offensively, and the YellowJackets would take advantage, ending the first half on a 13-0 scoring run to take a 27-7 lead into the halftime break. After Garmen’s three with 9:01 remaining in the first half, Perham outscored the Pirates 21-2 the rest of the half. Leading the way for Perham in the first eighteen minutes was Soren Anderson with 9 points, and the YellowJackets last four of the half. Scoring for Crookston in the first half was Jack Garmen with 3 points, and Hunter Nicholas and Tanner Giese with 2 points each.
SECOND HALF –
Perham’s offense carried over the momentum from the end of the first half as they hit back-to-back three-pointers to take a 33-7 lead in the first two minutes of the half. Crookston also got some offense going in the second half, as Hunter Nicholas would make his second field goal of the game, and Ryan Abeld would splash in a three giving Perham a 36-12 lead. The Yellowjackets would extend the lead again going on a 7-2 scoring run to take a 43-14 lead with 14:45 left in the game. The teams traded a few baskets for the next couple of minutes giving the Yellowjackets a 53-22 lead, before Tanner Giese would cash in two three-pointers for the Pirates, giving Perham a 55-28 lead with 7:42 remaining in the game. The lead never got below 25 the rest of the game, as Perham would cruise the rest of the way for a 68-37 win to advance to the Section 8AA Quarterfinals. Crookston was led by Ryan Abeld and Tanner Giese with 10 points each, while Perham got 22 from Soren Anderson in the win.
Crookston ends their season with a final record of 5-22. They will lose four Seniors from the team, as Jacob Hesby, Haden Michaelson, Jack Garmen, and Evan Christensen will all graduate this spring. Perham improves to 15-10 on the season with the win.
The full postgame interview with Pirates Head Coach Greg Garmen can be found below.
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| CROOKSTON | 7 | 30 | 37 |
| Perham | 27 | 41 | 68 |
| For CROOKSTON | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Tanner Giese | 10 | 2 assists | |
| Ryan Abeld | 8 | 5 | |
| Jack Garmen | 8 | 2 steals | |
| Hunter Nicholas | 7 | 8 | |
| Jacob Hesby | 2 | ||
| Isaac Thomforde | 2 |
| For Perham | Points |
| Soren Anderson | 20 |
| Micah Thompson | 13 |
| Alex Ohm | 9 |
| Charles Melvin | 6 |
| Jacob Daniels | 5 |
| Joshua Peterson | 4 |
| Marcus Belka | 3 |
| Michael Schwantz | 3 |
| Austin Aanenson | 3 |
