The Crookston Pirate Girls Basketball team used suffocating defense and outstanding rebounding to beat the Hermantown Hawks 73-36 in a game played in Hermantown on Saturday afternoon.
FIRST HALF –
Crookston’s Hayden Winjum won the opening tip and got the ball back and drove into the lane for a layup to give the Pirates a quick 2-0 lead. Hermantown responded with a three-pointer before Crookston went on a 12-0 run behind suffocating defense and outstanding offense. “We talked about it before the game that we come out and set the tempo defensively and we were much better than we were yesterday,” said Pirate Coach Darin Zimmerman. “We played full-court defense and i was pleased with the way we set the tone on the defensive end.” The run was started by Abby Borowicz’s three-pointer, Emma Osborn had a basket, Ally Perreault rattled home a three-pointer for a 10-3 lead. Halle Winjum had an offensive rebound and a basket, and then Halle followed with a three-point play for a 15-3 lead with 12:36 left in the half. “We had great offensive execution and when we missed a shot we crashed the board,” said Coach Zimmerman. “We did a nice job of making the extra pass too.” Hermantown broke the run with a basket with 12 minutes left. The teams exchanged baskets for a few minutes and with Crookston leading 20-11, Hayden Winjum converted a three-point play, Halle Winjum had a steal for a layup, and Hayden added two free throws for a 27-11 lead. “That gave us a little bit of a cushion,” said Coach Zimmerman. “It was important to play as well as we did.” Crookston led 34-16 with three minutes left and didn’t score the rest of the half as Hermantown finished on a 7-0 run to get within a 34-23 deficit going into halftime.
SECOND HALF –
Hermantown scored the first point of the half with a free throw only to have Crookston respond with a 16-2 run over a four-minute span. In the run, Hayden Winjum had a three-point play, Osborn and Perreault had back-to-back baskets, Borowicz had five straight points, Osborn added a layup, and Perreault had a nice move in the paint for another basket to give the Pirates a 50-26 lead with 12:42 left in the game. Crookston led 60-33 with seven minutes left when they scored eight straight points with Amelia Overgaard making a free throw, Perreault added a basket, Halle Winjum buried a three-pointer, and Jenna Coauette had a basket for a 68-33 lead, and running time started in the final three minutes. Crookston won the game 73-36. “Defensively, in the second half we did much better in the second half,” said Coach Zimmerman. “I was pleased with how the girls came out and played hard on the second day in a row and we condition so we can have the energy for situations like this. We played a great game in most facets of the game today and I was proud of the way the girls played this weekend.”
Crookston improves to 9-2 on the year and will travel to Thief River Falls on Monday. Hermantown drops to 4-9 on the year.
J.V. – Hermantown won 48-19
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| CROOKSTON | 34 | 39 | 73 |
| Hermantown | 23 | 13 | 36 |
| For CROOKSTON | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Hayden Winjum | 17 | 5 | 4 steals/2 assists |
| Halle Winjum | 15 | 5 | 9 assists/6 steals |
| Ally Perreault | 14 | 8 | 4 assists |
| Abby Borowicz | 8 | 4 | 3 assists |
| Emma Osborn | 7 | 6 | 3 assist/3 steals |
| Jenna Coauette | 4 | ||
| Amelia Overgaard | 4 | ||
| Emma Gunderson | 3 |
| For Hermantown | Points |
| Avery Farrel | 12 |
| Liv Birkeland | 9 |
| Lauryn Biondi | 5 |
| Bailey Zagelmeyer | 5 |
| Jessica Kukowski | 3 |
| Ella Seboe | 2 |
