CROOKSTON BOYS BASKETBALL BEATS WARROAD 72-70 ON A BASKET WITH 4 SECONDS LEFT

The Crookston Pirate Boy’s Basketball team used a Carter Bruggeman basket with four seconds left in the game to beat the Warroad Warriors 72-70 in an exciting Section 8AA game played at the Crookston High School gymnasium on Pirate Brother night.

FIRST HALF – 
Crookston couldn’t have drawn up a better start to the game by jumping out to a 14-2 lead with 11 of the points scored by Caden Osborn and a three-pointer from Jack Garmen.  “All those kids (Pirate brothers) give us a lot of energy and we haven’t had many good starts like tonight,” said Pirate Coach Greg Garmen. “Caden had a great start and Warroad had a hard time stopping him early.”
Warroad slowly chipped away at the Crookston lead and got within seven points a couple of times, the last time 24-17 with 7:44 left in the half. Crookston finished the half strong and took a 38-25 lead into halftime. “I thought we did a good job of finishing the half strong,” said Coach Garmen. “It was nice to have a big lead and not allow Warroad to make a run late in the half.”

SECOND HALF – 
The start of the second half wasn’t what Crookston was looking for.  Warroad slowly chipped away by outscoring the Pirates 25-14 to cut Crookston’s lead down to two points (52-50) with 9:02 left in the game.  Crookston led 54-52 when they put a 7-0 together with five points from Carter Bruggeman and two points from Osborn for a 61-52 lead with five minutes to go.  Crookston led 65-57 when Warroad caught fire with back-to-back three-pointers from sophomore guard Dylan Fox.  After a Crookston basket, another Warroad sophomore, Evan Grover buried a three-pointer to bring the Warriors within a 67-66 deficit with less than a minute remaining.  Bruggeman was fouled and made one of two free throws, and after a Warroad free throw, he made two more to give Crookston a 70-67 lead 28.7 seconds left in the game.  Warroad’s Grover made another three-pointer with 17 seconds left to tie the game.  Crookston had the ball and worked the clock down to about six seconds when Bruggeman drove the lane and put up a shot from about four feet away and it hit off the back of the rim and in to give the Pirates a 72-70 lead with four seconds left. “Carter, that is what he does, drives and that was a big one for us,” said Coach Garmen. “He took it strong and was able to get the shot off and get us the lead.”  Warroad inbounded the ball and a half-court shot by Grover went off the backboard and Crookston held on for a 72-70 win.  “It was a nice win for us and will hopefully help us in the seeding process,” said Coach Garmen. “We didn’t shoot free throws well early, but we made enough late.  Warroad got hot and started hitting some three-pointers and made it interesting, but it is nice to come away with a win.”

Crookston improves to 7-9 on the year and will host Wadena-Deer Creek on Saturday.  Warroad drops to 8-8 on the year.
J.V. – Warroad won 69-46   C squad – Warroad 32-31