The Crookston Pirate Girls Basketball team played solid defense but couldn’t find consistency on offense and lost to the Red Lake County Central Mustangs in a game played in Oklee.
FIRST HALF –
It was a slow start to the game before Red Lake County Central scored the first basket almost two minutes into the game. Crookston responded with a Madi Bruggeman basket and a Chloe Boll three-pointer for a 5-2 lead. After a Mustang three-pointer from eighth-grader Aubrey Halverson, Crookston’s Naomi Johnson answered with a nice up-and-under move for a basket and a 7-5 lead four minutes into the game.
RLCC made a free throw before Crookston’s Brooklyn Waldal scored for a 9-6 lead. RLCC added a free throw before Bruggeman made a basket for an 11-7 lead almost halfway through the half. RLCC scored before Crookston’s Chloe Boll made two free throws for a 13-9 lead with 7:23 left in the half. RLCC’s Halvorson converted a three-point play, and Alexa Chervestad made a basket for a 14-13 lead. Crookston’s Grace Boll made a three-pointer before RLCC answered with a basket to tie the game at 16. The teams exchanged baskets, and RLCC led 26-24 with one minute to go in the half. The Mustangs finished the half on a 5-0 run to take a 31-24 lead going into halftime.
SECOND HALF –
The first points of the second half were scored by Crookston’s Bruggeman before RLCC scored six straight points for a 37-26 lead two minutes into the half. The teams exchanged points the rest of the half and after two Chloe Boll free throws, Crookston trailed 55-47 with three minutes left in the game. The Mustangs answered with four points to regain a double-digit lead (59-47) with 68 seconds remaining. Crookston’s Naomi Johnson made a three-pointer, and after two RLCC free throws, Johnson made another three-pointer to bring the Pirates within a 61-55 deficit with 35 seconds to go. Crookston fouled and RLCC’s Paradis made both free throws to solidify the 63-55 Mustang victory.
Crookston drops to 0-2 on the year and will travel to Warroad on Friday for a double-header with the boys. KROX will have both games on the radio. The girls game at 6:00 p.m. (5:30 pre-game), and the boys to follow. Red Lake County Central improves to 3-0 on the year.
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| Crookston | 24 | 31 | 55 |
| Red Lake Co. Central | 31 | 32 | 63 |
| For Crookston | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Chloe Boll | 15 | 5 | 3 steals/2 assists |
| Naomi Johnson | 14 | 5 | 6 steals/1 block |
| Madi Bruggeman | 10 | 9 | |
| Brooklyn Waldal | 8 | 5 | 3 assists |
| Grace Boll | 6 | 7 | 5 assists/2 blocks |
| Joey Nesseth | 2 | 5 | 3 steals |
| For Red Lake Co. Central | Points |
| Aubrey Halvorson | 13 |
| Quinn Graves | 13 |
| Isabelle Paradis | 12 |
| McKaelyn Frizzle | 6 |
| Kathryn Srnsky | 4 |
| Emma Hendrickson | 3 |
| Keanna Landrus | 2 |
