The Crookston Pirate Boys Basketball team had a slow start in the first half and had another slow start in the second half and the Barnesville Trojans held on for a 79-60 victory in a Section 8AA matchup at the Crookston High School Gymnasium.
FIRST HALF –
Crookston took a 3-2 lead in the first three minutes of the game with a Carter Bruggeman free throw and a Walker Winjum basket. Barnesville took over with a 10-0 run over the next three minutes with two free throws from Adam Tonsfeldt, back-to-back three-pointers from Jack Neilson and Matt Samuelson, and a basket from Neilson for a 12-3 lead. “We turned the ball over too many times,” said Pirate Coach Greg Garmen. “It wasn’t the start we were looking for, that is for sure.” Crookston stopped the run with an Easton Tangquist three-pointer, but Barnesville answered with another Samuelson three-pointer. Barnesville led 15-8 and went on a 7-2 run to build a 22-10 lead and continued to slowly build on their lead and took a 39-20 lead into halftime. “
SECOND HALF –
Barnesville started the second half on a 14-3 run to take a 53-23 lead with 12:18 left in the game. “We have to take better care of the ball and had three turnovers in the first minute or so,” said Coach Garmen. The teams exchanged baskets and Barnesville led 57-27 with 10 minutes remaining in the game when the Trojans went to the bench. Crookston took advantage of Barnesville only having two starters on the floor and went on a run with five straight points from Tangquist and an offensive rebound for a basket to complete a 7-0 Pirate run to get within a 57-35 deficit halfway through the half. “We had a late spark with some kids hitting some three-pointers,” said Coach Garmen. “It was a little late though because it was too much of a hole against a team like Barnesville.” Crookston trailed 63-43 when Garmen hit a three-pointer from the corner, Winjum followed with a three and after two Barnesville free throws Winjum added another three-pointer to get within a 65-49 deficit. The teams played even the rest of the way and Barnesville held on for a 79-60 victory. “We know it is going to be tough scoring without Caden (Osborn) in there, but some guys did some nice things tonight,” said Coach Garmen. “We have to have better starts and can’t get behind by that much and expect to win.”
Crookston drops to 8-14 on the year and will travel to Erskine to take on Win-E-Mac on Tuesday. Barnesville improves to 15-7 on the year.
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| Barnesville | 39 | 40 | 79 |
| CROOKSTON | 20 | 40 | 60 |
| For Crookston | Points | Rebound | Steals/Assists |
| Walker Winjum | 20 | 2 assists | |
| Easton Tangquist | 15 | 4 | 5 assists/3 steals |
| Jack Garmen | 12 | 3 | 4 steals |
| Jacob Hesby | 6 | ||
| Carter Bruggeman | 4 | 6 | 2 steals/2 assists |
| Joseph Ramirez | 3 |
| For Barnesville | Points |
| Adam Tonsfeldt | 29 |
| Jack Nielson | 10 |
| Kaden Zenzen | 10 |
| Logan Ernst | 6 |
| Noah Krause | 4 |
| Tate Inniger | 4 |
| Cam Heng | 4 |
| Blake Torfin | 3 |
