CROOKSTON BOY’S BASKETBALL CAN’T KEEP PACE IN LOSS TO WADENA-DEER CREEK

The Wadena-Deer Creek Wolverines used streaky three-point shooting and 31 points from Bereket Loer to earn a 72-59 win over Crookston Boy’s basketball in a Section 8AA game played at the Crookston High School Gymnasium.

1st Half –
Bereket Loer scored a lay-up off a steal for Wadena-Deer Creek’s first basket before making a three-pointer giving the visitors a 5-0 lead. Lucas Hinojos knocked down back-to-back triples increasing the Wadena-Deer Creek lead to 11-0 to start the game. Caden Osborn made a lay-up for the Pirates’ first basket trimming the deficit down to 11-2. Down 15-4, Walker Winjum connected on a corner three-pointer bringing the Pirates within 15-7. Trailing 19-9, Caden Osborn scored consecutive baskets followed by a Brady Butt three-pointer trimming Wadena-Deer Creek’s deficit down to 19-14. “We were right back in it (after a slow start),” said Crookston head coach Greg Garem. “But we needed to keep going. We probably ran out of energy.” Jack Garmen made a free-throw to cut Crookston’s deficit down to 21-17, but Loer and Hinojos knocked down three more three-pointers as part of a 10-3 run to close the first half with Wadena-Deer Creek taking a 32-20 lead into the locker room. “Those three threes they hit late, that hurt going into the half,” added Garmen.

2nd Half –
Caden Osborn made a jump shot to start the second half, scoring as Crookston closed within 32-22. “I thought we had an okay start to the half,” explained Garmen. “We had a steal right away and needed to convert on some of the good fortunes that we had, but we weren’t able to convert like we needed to. We just needed to be sharper.” Wadena-Deer Creek’s Payton Rondestvedt responded with a personal 5-0 run increasing the Wolverines’ lead to 37-22. Wadena-Deer Creek continued to score with relative ease extending their lead to 57-36 with a three-pointer by Bereket Loer halfway through the second half. Crookston responded with six-straight points scored by Easton Tangquist. Caden Osborn added a lay-up followed by a Walker Winjum three-pointer from the wing bringing the Pirates within 57-46. Loer and Garmen traded triples before Crookston’s offense went cold down the stretch. Wadena-Deer Creek protected its lead at the free-throw line in the closing minute to secure their seventh win in eight games by a final score of 72-59. “They’ve got some kids who can shoot it, and they made their free-throws,” summarized Garmen. “We needed the same energy that we had last night. Some times you have to make your own energy. This was a tough one. Everything is going to be tough for us this year, as we know. We just need to keep working. I don’t think we ever gave up or rolled over. We just needed to be sharper.”

Crookston drops to 7-10. The Pirates return to the court on Monday when they travel to Hawley to play the Nuggets at 7:30 P.M. on KROX. Wadena-Deer Creek improves to 11-6.