CROOKSTON GIRL’S BASKETBALL HOLDS ON TO BEAT PERHAM FOR 15TH WIN

The Crookston Pirate Girl’s Basketball team used two separate 12-0 runs, one early in each half, and held on for a 52-49 victory over the Perham Yellowjackets in a Section 8AA matchup at the Crookston High School gymnasium.  “It was a great game,” said Pirate Coach Darin Zimmerman. “Perham is a great team, they are well-coached, they did a lot of things well, but we made some big plays and got a big win.”

FIRST HALF –
Perham scored the first points of the game on a Katie Johnson three-pointer before Crookston answered with a 12-0 run over a four-minute span.  The Pirate run was led by six Emma Borowicz points on two three-pointers, four points from Hayden Winjum and a basket by Kasey Cwikla.  Perham chipped away at the deficit and tied the game at 16 with seven minutes left in the half.  Perham took an 18-16 lead on a Lily Deboer basket with 6:17 remaining in the half only to have Crookston respond with an 8-0 run. “We didn’t contest enough of their shots early on,” said Coach Zimmerman. “It was a nice answer, and it shows the maturity of our team.” In the Pirate run, Hayden Winjum had four points, and Emma Borowicz and Cwikla added two points apiece for a 24-18 lead with over two minutes remaining.  Perham scored the final point of the half when Willow Thiel made a free throw. Thiel, a 5’10 eighth-grader, is the daughter of Crookston Central High School grad Lacey (Abrams) Thiel.  Crookston took a 24-19 lead into halftime.  “We did a lot of things well,” said Coach Zimmerman. “It was a pretty good first half.”

SECOND HALF – 
Perham started the second half outscoring the Pirates 5-2 before Crookston went on a 12-0 run over a three-minute span to take a 38-24 lead.  “We came out with a lot of intensity early,” said Crookston’s Emma Borowicz, who led the Pirates with six points on two three-pointers in the run. “The difference of the game was the first eight or nine minutes of the second half,” said Coach Zimmerman. “We played some good basketball and built the lead.”  Perham slowly chipped away at the Crookston lead over the next nine minutes and got within a 48-47 deficit with 1:32 remaining in the game after a Sydney Anderson three-pointer.  Crookston answered with two Emma Borowicz free throws to take a 50-47 lead.  Perham’s Thiel answered with a big basket in the paint to cut the Pirate lead to one point with 45 seconds left.  On the ensuing Pirate possession, they got the ball to Emma Borowicz, who was fouled and she made one of two free throws for a 51-49 lead with 31.3 seconds to go in the game. Perham worked the ball around, and Crookston only had three team fouls, so they played aggressive defense and fouled twice before a Yellowjacket player drove the lane, and Emma Borowicz reached in and forced a jump ball with nine seconds left in the game.  “We were on the bench (during a time out) and were talking about it, and we were going for the ball,” said Emma Borowicz.  “I got my hands on the ball, and it gave us some momentum.  It was nice to know we played good enough defense during the game.”  The possession arrow was in favor of Crookston, and they got the ball back.  “We talked about that during the time out.  We said they could be aggressive, so Emma did exactly what we talked about, and she made a smart play and tied up the ball,” said Coach Zimmerman.  The inbound pass went to Gretchen Theis, who was fouled and made one of two free throws to give the Pirates a 52-49 lead with 7.1 seconds left in the game.  Perham brought the ball up the floor and tried to get a pass to the sideline, right in front of the Perham bench, and the pass went off the fingertips of a Yellowjacket and went out of bounds for a turnover with 1.7 seconds left in the game.  “Defensively, we were able to play good enough to get the turnover,” said Coach Zimmerman.  Crookston’s Hayden Winjum found a wide-open Dani Boyle down the court, and she held on to the ball, and time ran out, and Crookston won 52-49. “It was a fun game to coach, and I am proud of our girls,” said Coach Zimmerman. “Perham is an outstanding team, and our girls played hard and are showing they are a great team.”

Crookston improves to 15-2 on the year and will have a rematch with the Roseau Rams in a big Section 8AA game played in Crookston on Tuesday.  You can hear the game on KROX Radio with a pre-game show at 7:00 p.m. and an opening tip at 7:30.  Perham drops to 10-6 on the year. 

krox admin

See Full Bio