CROOKSTON BOY’S BASKETBALL’S COMEBACK FALLS SHORT IN LOSS TO WIN-E-MAC

The Crookston Pirate Boys Basketball first-half offensive struggles and the Win-E-Mac Patriots’ strong play throughout proved to be too much as the Pirates came up short in a 71-61 loss a game played at the Crookston High School Gymnasium.  Before the game, Crookston Pirate Coach Greg Garmen was awarded a game ball and a plaque honoring his recent 400th career coaching victory. 

1st Half
Win-E-Mac’s Bryer Strom would open up the scoring with a bucket down low early in the game for a quick 2-0 lead.  The Pirates answered when Carter Bruggeman would drove the lane and finished off the glass over two Win-E-Mac defenders, and Easton Tangquist followed with a basket after a drive down the lane to give the Pirates a 4-2 lead. That would end up being the only lead of the night for the Pirates. Crookston struggled on the offensive end in the first half, settling for outside shots. “We were a little sluggish and really not looking to be aggressive in the offensive end,” said Coach Greg Garmen of their first half.
Crookston would try to hang with the Patriots, who used excellent ball movement to find open players down low for some easy baskets in the paint. Crookston would stay within eight to twelve points of Win-E-Mac for the majority of the half, as Gavin Walker had a strong half, leading the Patriots with 10 points and the Patriots took a 32-18 lead into halftime.  The Patriots were 2 for 8 from the free-throw line in the half. 

2nd Half
Win-E-Mac started the second half strong by going on an 8-3 run to take a 40-21 lead. At around the twelve-minute mark, the Pirates would find their shot from beyond the arc. Carter Bruggeman hit a three in transition off an assist from Jacob Miller to cut the lead to thirteen. The Pirates would hit seven three-pointers over the next eight minutes to cut the lead down to seven with four minutes to go. Coach Garmen on the Pirates shooting from outside the arc, “Well, we have some kids who can shoot that just have not to worry if they miss one and just keep shooting, cause that’s our game.” The Pirates’ foul trouble would come back to hurt them in the end, with the Patriots going into the bonus with just over four minutes left in the game. Kobe Hamre, who had a strong second half scoring fifteen of his twenty points, went to the line and hit both shots to make it 59-52 Patriots. After a steal and lay-up by Tangquist, a corner three-pointer by Jack Garmen, who was fouled on the play for the rare four-point play, brought the Pirates within one, 59-58 with 2:27 left to play in the game.
The Pirates would go cold, and the Patriots would take advantage of the Pirates foul troubles, going on an 8-0 with all the points coming at the free-throw line. The Pirates would get their final bucket with a three-pointer from Jack Garmen to put the Pirates within eight with 37.4 seconds left, but the Patriots would hold on for a 71-61 win. 

The Pirates fall to 1-9 on the season and will travel to Roseau on Thursday. Win-E-Mac wins their fifth in a row and improves to 9-2 on the season.