They don’t only play hockey in Warroad, as the Warrior Boys Basketball team stayed undefeated by using two big first-half runs to beat the Crookston Pirates 70-36 in a Section 8AA game played in Warroad.
FIRST HALF
Warroad scored the first four points of the game before Crookston’s Jack Garmen hit a three-pointer with 15:26 left in the half to bring the Pirates within a 4-3 deficit. Warroad responded with a quick seven points for an 11-3 lead before Garmen buried another three-pointer from the left wing just shy of five minutes into the game. Warroad answered with five straight points and it looked like Crookston’s Easton Tangquist was going to get a basket on a fast break layup, but a Warroad player pinned his layup against the backboard for a blocked shot and that seemed to set the tone for the rest of the game. “That would have been nice to get two there and we knew he was trying to block the shot and we didn’t jump stop and pump fake him,” said Pirate Coach Greg Garmen. “That was a big momentum change, that is for sure.”
Trailing 22-10, Crookston’s Jacob Hesby made a three-pointer from the sideline, but Warroad ended the half on an 11-1 run to take a 33-14 lead into halftime. “They turned us over and made a bunch, and when we didn’t turn it over we couldn’t make a shot and before you know it they were up 20,” said Pirate Coach Greg Garmen. “They got some run-outs on us because we weren’t getting back like we need to. We turned it over 10 times in the first half and that didn’t help.”
SECOND HALF
Warroad had a strong start to the second half by turning steals into quick points and scored the first 13 points of the half for a 46-14 lead shy of five minutes into the half. Warroad built a 30 point (55-25) lead halfway through the second half. Crookston was on the short end of running time for the second straight game and Warroad cruised to a 70-36 victory. “We struggled tonight and couldn’t get by anybody again,” said Coach Garmen. “We couldn’t get going offensively and missed some layups and when you are struggling it seems like nothing will go in and it snowballs into a 30 point loss. It is a long bus ride up there and an even longer one home when you play like that. That is all I know.”
Crookston drops to 1-4 on the year and will host Park Rapids on Tuesday. Warroad improves to 5-0 on the year.
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| CROOKSTON | 14 | 22 | 36 |
| Warroad | 33 | 37 | 70 |
| For Crookston | Points | Rebounds | Steals/Assists |
| Jack Garmen | 10 | ||
| Easton Tangquist | 8 | ||
| Carter Bruggeman | 6 | 5 | |
| Jacob Hesby | 6 | ||
| Jacob Miller | 5 | 2 steals | |
| Brooks Butt | 1 |
| For Warroad | Points |
| Dylan Fox | 26 |
| Evan Grover | 13 |
| Virgil Laznicka | 10 |
| Cole Spenst | 8 |
| Kyle Thompson | 6 |
| Daniel Rose | 4 |
| John Davis | 2 |
| Kyle Kvernlov | 1 |
