CROOKSTON GIRL’S BASKETBALL GIVES STEPHEN-ARGYLE THEIR FIRST LOSS

The Crookston Pirate Girls Basketball team used their stellar defense to force Stephen-Argyle into a bunch of turnovers and used an 18-0 run early in the second half on their way to a 58-31 victory in a game played in Argyle.

It was senior night and the Storm started a different lineup with all three seniors getting the start. The different lineup combined with the suffocating Crookston defense caused problems for Stephen-Argyle from the beginning.
Crookston jumped out to a 9-0 lead with a run that was started with an Emma Borowicz free throw, followed by baskets from the Winjum sisters (Halle and Hayden), a three-point play from Emma Borowicz, and the run was capped by a Halle Winjum free throw for a 9-0 lead with 12:17 left in the half.  “That was a great start for us,” said Crookston Coach Darin Zimmerman. “We played well defensively and that led to some of our points.”
Stephen-Argyle finally got on the board with two Mary Kazmierczak free throws with 11:02 to go. Crookston responded with a 6-0 run with a Hallie Winjum basket, a three-pointer from Emma Osborn, and a free throw from Halle Winjum for a 15-2 lead.  “We thought we were going to come out a little more aggressive,” said Stephen-Argyle Coach Heidi Carlson. “I think our girls got a little intimidated a little bit at the beginning.”
Stephen-Argyle got the first basket of the game when Greta Weberg scored and converted a three-point play to bring the Storm within a 15-5 deficit with 6:21 left in the half.
The teams played even the rest of the way and Crookston led 20-10 when Halle Winjum stole the ball from the Storm and went in for a layup right before the buzzer sounded and the Pirates had a 22-12 lead at halftime.  “That pretty much is Hallie’s night,” said Coach Zimmerman.  “Whenever there was a play to be made, Hallie was there.  We had a great first half.  Stephen-Argyle is a great team and has a lot of good athletes, so it was a good half.”

SECOND HALF
Stephen-Argyle came out strong in the second half and outscored Crookston 7-3 to start the half after a Casey Osowski three-point play.  “We had a good run at the end of the first half and again early in the second half,” said Storm Coach Carlson. “Casey did some nice things for us tonight.”
Crookston picked up the defensive pressure and had a bunch of steals as they responded with an 18-0 run sparked by five straight points from Halle Winjum and Emma Borowicz added seven more points as they built a 43-19 lead with 11:33 left in the game.  “That was great basketball,” said Coach Zimmerman. “The collective team effort was great and we were locked-down everywhere on the defensive end.  Everything we did, we did well and with purpose and were fundamentally sound.” Crookston continued to build on their lead the rest of the way and won the game 58-31. “It was an excellent bounce-back game for us and we were able to do some things and we played great basketball,” said Coach Zimmerman. “Stephen-Argyle did some great things and they were rebounding the heck out of the ball tonight and to beat a team of that quality is a great win.”
Stephen-Argyle Coach Carlson said they saw some nice things from her team tonight, “We played hard and had some individuals play well.  It felt like there was a lid at the beginning of the game and that hurt us too.”

Crookston improves to 8-2 on the year and will host Barnesville on Saturday. Stephen-Argyle drops to 8-1 on the year and will travel to Fertile-Beltrami on Thursday.
J.V. – Stephen-Argyle won 54-27