PIRATE GIRL’S BASKETBALL USES LATE RUN TO BEAT BGMR

The Crookston Pirate Girls Basketball team finished the game on a 10-2 run to beat the short-handed Badger-Greenbush-Middle River (BGMR) Gators 63-58 in a game played at the Crookston High School gymnasium.  BGMR was without two of their starters because of knee injuries, one is out for the rest of the season and they hope to get the other player back by the end of the season.

Crookston had the start they wanted with a 10-4 start with six points from Emma Borowicz and two points apiece from Dani Boyle and Kylie Solheim. “It was a great start for us,” said Pirate Coach Darin Zimmerman.  “That is exactly how we wanted to come out, moving the ball well and scoring 10 points right away after last weekend was nice.”  The Pirates led 16-9 when they started fouling and Emma Borowicz had to sit with two fouls and the Gators took advantage by going on a 10-0 run over a three-minute span to tie the game at 19 with 7:48 left in the half.   Crookston’s Kylie Solheim made a three-pointer to tie the game and with Crookston trailing 28-25 Solheim made another three-pointer to tie the game at 28 with 2:52 left in the half. “Kylie Solheim played really well,” said Coach Zimmerman. “It seemed like every time we needed a big play she made one on the offensive and defensive end.”  The teams were tied at 30 and 31 and the Gators took a 33-32 lead into halftime.  “We had several players in foul trouble and we fouled way too much and that took away some of our momentum,” said Coach Zimmerman. “We needed to be better on the defensive end and we felt like we were fouling too much.”

BGMR scored the first four points of the second half for a 37-32 lead, but Crookston’s Solheim made another three-pointer to bring her team within a two-point deficit.  Crookston continued to battle and took a 42-41 lead on a Gretchen Theis basket with 14:25 left in the game.  The teams exchanged the lead three times and BGMR led 52-47 halfway through the second half.  Crookston picked up the defensive pressure the rest of the game and trailing 56-53 with 4:35 left in the game the Pirates went on a 10-2 run the rest of the game with five different players scoring in the run and won 63-58. “It was a hard-fought victory and we found a way to get the win tonight.  The girls were resilient, they played really hard, they found ways to get back into it and give credit to BGMR because they did some nice things,” said Coach Zimmerman. “We executed well on offense towards the end of the game and our defense was much better.  We finished the game playing well and that was nice to see.”  Crookston mad 20 of 35 free throw attempts in the game while BGMR made 12 of 16.
Crookston improves to 11-3 on the year and will travel to #6 ranked Ada-Borup on Friday.  Badger-Greenbush-Middle River drops to 7-7 on the year.
J.V. – BGMR won 42-34      C Squad – BGMR won 59-21

Pirate Girls Basketball vs BGMR

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