sports

CROOKSTON GIRL’S BASKETBALL EDGE EGF IN A DEFENSIVE BATTLE

February 27, 2020

The Crookston Pirate Girls Basketball team jumped out to a 13-3 lead to start the game and held off a feisty East Grand Forks Green Wave comeback to win a defensive battle 32-28 in a Section 8AA first-round playoff game played in front of a big crowd at the Crookston High School gymnasium.

FIRST HALF –
The teams had a sluggish start to the game on the offensive end as they seemed to battle some playoff nerves. Crookston settled in offensively and went on a 7-0 run with Hayden Winjum and Halle Winjum scoring baskets and Abby Borowicz made a three-pointer for the lead with 11:20 left in the half. “It was a great start, especially defensively for us,” said Pirate Coach Darin Zimmerman. “We had to come out and set the tone defensively and by in large, we did that.” East Grand Forks finally scored their first points of the game when Ella Eggers made a three-pointer over seven minutes into the game, yet they only trailed 7-3. “It was an ice-breaker for sure,” said EGF coach Jay Frydenlund. “That was a big basket and we got a little boost.” Crookston responded with a 6-0 run behind a steal and layup from Halle Winjum, a Kasey Cwikla basket after a nice move in the paint and Hayden Winjum capped the run with a steal and a layup for a 13-3 lead 5:35 left in the half. “That was a good stretch and we had different players making plays for us.” East Grand Forks dominated the final five minutes of the game and finished on a 10-1 run. Chloe Torgerson had two beautiful moves in the paint for back-to-back baskets to spark the run and Crookston missed five of six free-throw attempts and the Pirates led 14-13 at halftime. “That was super,” said Green Wave Coach Frydenlund. “The girls played so hard and they played a tremendous game on the defensive end.”

SECOND HALF –
Crookston started the second half with a 6-2 run with baskets from Gretchen Theis and Hayden Winjum and two free throws from Halle Winjum for a 20-15 lead. East Grand Forks responded with three free throws to get within a two-point deficit and the teams battled back and forth for the next two or three minutes and the Pirates led 24-20 with 7:02 remaining. Crookston led 26-22 and went on a 6-1 run with four of the points scored by Kasey Cwikla and Crookston led 32-23 with 1:22 left in the game. “Kasey Cwikla had a great game tonight,” said Crookston Coach Zimmerman. “She played a great defensive game and a great all-around victory.” Crookston held on and made enough free throws in the final minute to win the game 34-28. “East Grand Forks played extremely hard and they are a good team,” said Pirate Coach Zimmerman. “I think both teams played very good defense. We were able to make enough plays and hit some free throws down the stretch.” East Grand Forks Coach Jay Frydenlund said he had to give credit to his girls and Crookston. “Give Crookston credit. To come out without Emma Borowicz to play with that kind of heart was impressive. I was happy with the way our girls played and how hard they played. They left everything out there and that is all we can ask for.”

Crookston improves to 21-6 on the year and will play Pelican Rapids in the second round of the playoffs at Concordia College in Moorhead on Saturday at 2:45 p.m. KROX will have the game with a 2:00 pre-game show. East Grand Forks ends the regular season with an 11-16 record. “I am very proud of all the girls from C-team on up. The future is bright and good things are going to happen as long as they keep working hard in the offseason,” said EGF Coach Frydenlund. “It is hard to say goodbye to the four seniors, but they played their hearts on tonight.”

	1st	2nd	Final
East Grand Forks	13	15	28
CROOKSTON	14	20	34

For Crookston	Points	Rebound	Steals/Assists
Hayden Winjum	11	6	6 steals/3 assists
Kasey Cwikla	8	4	2 steals
Halle Winjum	7	3	3 steals/2 assists
Abby Borowicz	3		2 assists
Dani Boyle	3	3
Gretchen Theis	2