The Crookston Pirate Girls Basketball team struggled with the Hawley Nugget full-court press as the Nuggets cruised to a 90-50 victory in a Section 8AA matchup at the Crookston High School gymnasium.
FIRST HALF –
Crookston’s Grace Boll made the first basket of the game with a three-pointer before Hawley answered with 10 straight points off of four Pirate turnovers for a 10-3 lead. Crookston’s Chloe Boll stopped the run with a basket, and Joey Nesseth added a basket and two free throws to bring the Pirates within a 10-9 deficit. things were looking good for Crookston as the teams exchanged baskets, giving the Nuggets a 12-11 lead. Hawley squashed any thoughts of Crookston keeping it close with their full-court pressure, which forced a bunch of Pirate turnovers as the Nuggets went on a 15-0 run. The run started with an Emily Vettern free throw, followed by five points from Sella Fleming and seven points from Addi Sank, and the Nuggets added one more basket for a 27-11 lead. Hawley continued to dominate the half and led 39-20 when they went on an 8-1 run with a McKenna Walker three-pointer, a basket from Katie Vetter, and another three-pointer from Fleming for a 47-21 lead. Crookston’s Madi Bruggeman scored two points only to have Hawley respond with nine more points with a Rustad three-pointer, a basket from Izzy Johnson, and five straight points from Fleming for a 57-23 lead. Hawley took a 59-27 lead into halftime.
SECOND HALF –
Crookston started the second half with a Naomi Johnson basket before the Nuggets answered with eight straight points. Emily Vettern and Walker made baskets, and Rustad added four points for a 67-29 lead four minutes into the half. Crookston trailed 73-41 with 9:52 left in the game as they tried to keep the game going into running time, but Hawley went on a 9-0 run over the next minute with a basket from Greta Brager, a three-pointer from Vetter, and two points apiece from Rustad and Kandallynn Hill for an 82-41 lead with 7:31 left in the game and running time began. Both teams went deep into the bench in the final minutes and Hawley won the game 90-50.
Crookston drops to 4-7 on the year and will host Rock Ridge on Friday at 6:00 p.m. Hawley improves to 6-6 on the year.
J.V. – Hawley won 55-30
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| Hawley | 59 | 31 | 90 |
| Crookston | 27 | 23 | 50 |
| For Crookston | Points | Rebounds | Assists/steals |
| Chloe Boll | 13 | 7 | 3 assists |
| Naomi Johnson | 8 | 4 | 1 block |
| Brooklyn Waldal | 8 | 3 | |
| Madi Bruggeman | 6 | 4 | 3 assists |
| Joey Nesseth | 5 | 5 | |
| Grace Boll | 3 | 3 | 2 assists/2 steals |
| Aubrey Johnson | 3 | ||
| Halle Nicholas | 1 | 4 |
| For Hawley | Points |
| Ingrid Rustad | 17 |
| Addi Sanvik | 15 |
| Sella Fleming | 13 |
| McKenna Walker | 12 |
| Katie Vetter | 11 |
| Izzy Johnson | 8 |
| Emily Vettern | 5 |
| Greta Brager | 5 |
| Alex Guderjahn | 2 |
| Kendallynn Hill | 2 |
