THIEF RIVER FALLS BOY’S BASKETBALL USES MONSTER FIRST HALF TO DEFEAT PIRATES

FIRST HALF –
Crookston drew first blood on a three from Hunter Nicholas, but the Prowlers wasted no time showing their high-powered offense, rattling off a 14-3 run and forcing a Pirates timeout in front 14-6 with 14:39 remaining in the half. The timeout didn’t seem to help, and the Prowlers would score the next eight points and force another Crookston timeout with the score 22-6. Isaac Thomforde would put an end to the Thief River Falls big scoring run with an and-one, and Crookston started to settle into more of a rhythm, Thomforde continued to play well offensively, and after a bucket from Hunter Nicholas as well, the Pirates found themselves trailing just 28-16 with 7:51 left to play until halftime. Crookston’s momentum would be taken back by the Prowlers who would go on an 11-0 run knocking down 3 three-pointers to take a 39-16 lead with just over five minutes still to play in the half. It was all Thief River Falls the rest of the half, and they continued to shoot well on their way to a 53-21 lead at the halftime break. Crookston was led by Isaac Thomforde and Hunter Nicholas who each had 8 points in the first half. Thief River Falls knocked down six first half 3’s and was led by Jack Rosendahl with 18 points, along with the Prowlers all-time leading scorer Jack Manning who chipped in 11 points.

SECOND HALF –
Just like the first half, Crookston scored first on a Hunter Nicholas layup, but after that the Prowlers went on a 9-0 run making it 60-23. Jack Manning continued to play well for Thief River Falls and helped extend the lead all the way to 72-32 as everything seemed to be working for the Prowlers. Once the game got under 9:00 of time remaining, the rest of the game was played with running clock and each team got an opportunity to play a few different players with the outcome decided. Thief River Falls would end up winning the game by a final score of 89-43, but the Pirates were able to get Omar Petithomme into the game, and the senior drained a three before the clock expired, getting a big roar from the Pirates fans who made the trip.

Crookston drops to 6-11 and will host Warroad on Friday night. Thief River Falls improves to 14-2 with the win.

FOR PIRATES COACH GREG GARMEN’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW