HEALTHY WIN-E-MAC CRUISES TO A WIN OVER PIRATE BOYS BASKETBALL

The Crookston Pirate Boys Basketball team’s leading scorer and rebounder was back in the line up for the first time since suffering a knee injury and it didn’t seem to help as the hot-shooting Win-E-Mac Patriots cruised to 73-51 victory in a game played at the Win-E-Mac High School gymnasium in Erskine.

FIRST HALF –
Crookston started the game strong with a Walker Winjum steal for a layup, which was followed up with an Easton Tangquist three-pointer for a 5-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.  “It was a good start,” said Pirate Coach Greg Garmen. “I guess I should have called a couple of time outs.” Win-E-Mac answered in a big way with 11 straight points with a basket, a three-point play, and back-to-back three-pointers for an 11-5 lead. Crookston settled down on the defensive end and picked up the offense with back-to-back three-pointers from Tangquist and Jack Garmen to tie the game at 11 with 13:25 left in the half. Win-E-Mac led 21-18 halfway through the half before they finished the half on a 24-9 run while taking advantage of a bunch of Pirate turnovers and some poor Crookston defense to take a 45-27 lead at halftime.  “We couldn’t recover after we got behind by a bunch,” said Coach Garmen. “Win-E-Mac made some tough three-pointers and they rebounded better than us.  We struggled defensively and it showed on the scoreboard.”

SECOND HALF –
Win-E-Mac shot well in the first half and continued their hot shooting in the second half when Bryer Strom made a three-pointer. Crookston answered with a three-pointer from Walker Winjum and a basket from Tangquist to get within a 48-32 deficit three minutes into the half. The Patriots responded with a 7-0 run with four straight points from Gavin Walker and a three-pointer from Strom for a 55-32 lead. The teams exchanged points for the next nine minutes and Win-E-Mac led 67-47 with four minutes left in the game. The teams emptied the benches with two minutes left and Win-E-Mac won the game 73-51.  “We tried a couple of different things and it didn’t work,” said Coach Garmen. “We need to find a win in our last few games, but we need to defend and rebound better.  We will have to do it in a hurry because time is running out.”

Crookston has lost six of their last seven games and drops to 8-16 on the year and will host Roseau on Thursday. Win-E-Mac wins their fourth straight game and improves to 9-15 on the season.