The Crookston Pirate Girls Basketball team trailed by nine points at halftime and used a 21-0 run to start the second half, and held on the rest of the way to beat the Perham Yellowjackets 60-43 in a Section 8AA matchup in Perham. The win was the 100th career victory for Crookston Head Coach Darin Zimmerman, who is in his ninth year as a head coach. “I feel fortunate and blessed to be the coach and coach these girls. I love the town, I love working at the school, and I need to thank my wife for being there and helping out,” said Coach Zimmerman. “I have had tremendous support from the community and Mr. (Greg) Garmen. But, the players get the wins. Coaches don’t win games, players do.”
FIRST HALF
Crookston scored the first points of the game on two Emma Borowicz free throws. Perham responded with a three-pointer before Emma Boll made one of two free throws to tie the game at 3. Perham bounced back seven straight points, with four of them coming from Willow Thiel (daughter of Crookston High School graduate Lacy (Abrams) Thiel) for a 10-3 lead with 11 minutes left in half.
Crookston battled back with a free throw by Hayden Winjum, and after a Halle Winjum steal, she found her sister (Hayden) cutting to the basket for a layup. Crookston’s Emma Osborn rattled home a three-pointer to bring the Pirates within a 12-11 deficit on the next possession. “Emma came off the bench and gave us a good spark and boost,” said Coach Zimmerman. Perham answered with a basket before Crookston’s Emma Borowicz made a three-pointer to tie the game at 14, with 5:14 remaining in the half. Perham picked up the defensive pressure in the final five minutes and shutout Crookston while scoring the final nine points of the half, with four points coming from Stella Raser and Katie Johnson made a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Yellowjackets a 23-14 lead going into halftime. “We were rushing the action a little bit and were a little passive on defense,” said Coach Zimmerman. “We didn’t play very well on the offensive end in the final five minutes and give credit to Perham, they made some plays. We were playing hard, but we weren’t competing.”
SECOND HALF
When asked what he told the girls at halftime, Coach Zimmerman said, “It is actually pretty simple. I told them we have been here before and we know what to do. I challenged the seniors and told them they only have so much time left.”
Crookston came out looking like a determined group of young ladies as they picked up the defensive pressure and became more aggressive on the offensive end, and started the half on a 21-0 run! 16 of the 21 points were scored by the two Pirate seniors, Emma Borowicz (10) and Emma Boll (6). “Emma Boll really stepped up and played outstanding defense and was solid offensively,” said Coach Zimmerman. “Emma Borowicz was awesome in the second half. She understood what needed to be done and was really, really good.”
Perham scored the first points of the second half when Sydney Anderson made a basket in the paint with 10:30 left in the game. Anderson added five more for a 7-0 run of her own to bring the Yellowjackets within a 35-30 deficit. Crookston responded with back-to-back Hayden Winjum baskets and assists from Emma Borowicz after a couple of steals for a 39-30 lead halfway through the half. “That was a big answer,” said Coach Zimmerman. “To have the veterans step up and make the plays was huge for us.” Crookston continued to force Perham to turn the ball over and slowly built a 55-43 lead with 1:28 left in the game. Crookston made five of six from the free-throw line in the final minutes for a 60-43 victory.
In the game, Crookston was 17-21 from the free-throw line after shooting around 30 percent in the Fergus Falls game. “To say we have been emphasizing free throws is an understatement. The way that we were shooting them before was like the London raids of World War II. It was just random. We were putting the ball up there hoping it goes in against Fergus Falls,” said Coach Zimmerman, who is a history teacher at Crookston High School. “We started focusing on free throws, and we have good shooters, so it is something we have emphasized and did a good job tonight. That was big for our team tonight.”
Crookston improves to 9-3 on the year and will host Hawley (who is #2 in Section 8AA-North, right behind Crookston) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Perham drops to 6-4 on the year.
J.V. – Perham won 44-17 C-Squad – Perham won 29-24 in OT
1st | 2nd | Final | |
CROOKSTON | 14 | 46 | 60 |
Perham | 23 | 20 | 43 |
For Crookston | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
Emma Borowicz | 23 | 5 | 4 steals/3 assists |
Halle Winjum | 11 | 4 | 3 assists/2 steals |
Hayden Winjum | 9 | 5 | 4 steals/2 assists |
Emma Boll | 7 | 5 | 2 steals |
Abby Borowicz | 5 | 3 blocks/2 assists | |
Emma Osborn | 5 |
For Perham | Points |
Sydney Anderson | 11 |
Katie Johnson | 10 |
Willow Thiel | 9 |
Stella Raser | 8 |
Mya Morris | 3 |
Grayce Mickelson | 2 |