The Crookston Pirate Boys Basketball team had a great start and built a 12 point lead early, but the Fosston Greyhounds picked up the defensive pressure and pulled away for a 70-49 victory in a game played in Crookston. “We played better tonight than we have all season,” said Pirate Coach Greg Garmen. “But we ran out of gas after we ran into some foul trouble. It was an entertaining game, I will say that.”
FIRST HALF –
Crookston started the game with an Isaac Thomforde basket before Fosston’s Carsen Boushee responded with three free throws for a 3-2 lead. Crookston started to heat up from outside as Haden Michaelson, Jacob Hesby, and Jack Garmen all made three-pointers for an 11-3 lead with 14:40 left in the half. Fosston’s Boushee stopped the run with a basket only to have Crookston’s Hesby make back-to-back three-pointers for a 17-5 lead with less than 12 minutes to go in the half. “It was good to see Jacob and Haden get some shots early on,” said Coach Garmen. Crookston was stuck on 17 points for over five minutes as Fosston picked up the defensive pressure and the Pirates missed the few shots they were able to get and Fosston went on a 12-0 run to tie the game at 17. Crookston regained the lead after a Ryan Abeld basket with 5:07 left in the half and the rest of the half was a wild back-and-forth battle. Fosston had the best of the final five minutes including a Noah Mahlen three-pointer before the buzzer for a 33-28 Greyhound lead at halftime. “They hit that three at the end of the half, after what I thought was some good defense on our end,” said Coach Garmen. “Everybody is going to press us because we struggle with it and tonight we had 12 turnovers in the first half and Fosston made some nice plays.”
SECOND HALF –
Fosston continued their stellar defensive pressure and started on an 18-3 run to take 51-31 with 12:35 left in the game. “It felt like the run was more than 18-3 that is for sure,” said Coach Garmen. Crookston’s Abeld made two free throws and Thomforde had a nice drive on the baseline for a layup. After a Fosston basket, Haden Michaelson had a three-pointer and Hunter Nicholas had a basket to get within a 53-40 deficit with 8:46 left in the game. Every time Crookston tried to make a run, Fosston had an answer and let 62-47 with over three minutes left. Fosston made nine of the last 10 free throws to pull away at the end for a 70-49 victory. “We started the game playing well,” said Coach Garmen. “We will need to improve our play against the press, but I thought we played a little better tonight, at times.”
Crookston drops to 1-5 on the year and will travel to Roseau on December 28. Fosston improves to 5-1 on the year.
J.V. – Fosston won 53-39 C-Squad – Crookston won 42-27
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| Fosston | 33 | 37 | 70 |
| CROOKSTON | 28 | 21 | 49 |
| For CROOKSTON | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Jacob Hesby | 15 | 2 | |
| Hunter Nicholas | 9 | 3 | |
| Ryan Abeld | 7 | 4 | 2 steals |
| Jack Garmen | 6 | 7 | 5 steals |
| Haden Michaelson | 6 | ||
| Isaac Thomforde | 4 | 3 | |
| Tanner Giese | 2 | 4 | 2 steals |
| For Fosston | Points |
| Carson Boushee | 17 |
| Aaron Norland | 15 |
| Cullen Norland | 11 |
| Noah Mahlen | 10 |
| Zach Theis | 6 |
| Tony Carlin | 6 |
| Darren Skala | 3 |
| Thatcher Palubicki | 2 |
