The Crookston Pirate Girl’s Basketball team made their first two three-pointers and went on a 28-2 run and never looked back as they cruised to a 58-34 victory over the Thief River Falls Prowlers in a Section 8AA game played in Crookston.
FIRST HALF-
Crookston used stellar defense and hot shooting early on to build a 28-2 lead. Jenna Coauette got things started with a three-pointer, Hayden Winjum followed with five straight points and after a Thief River Falls basket, the Pirates had another three-pointer from Hayden Winjum, followed by points from Coauette, Emma Osborn, Halle Winjum, Ally Perreault, and Abby Borowicz for the 28-2 lead with 8:20 left in the half. “It was a complete team effort,” said Pirate Coach Darin Zimmerman. “The girls came out and forced a lot of turnovers and we were hitting shots early and that really got us going and it was good to see after a tough loss last night.” Crookston continued to build on the lead and took a 42-10 lead into halftime. “Obviously, we were happy with the first half. We played well and anytime you force a team into a bunch of turnovers like we did, you are going to be in good shape,” said Coach Zimmerman.
SECOND HALF –
Thief River Falls scored the first points of the second half after both teams had a drought for over two minutes, but Crookston responded with six straight points with some fantastic passing and Hayden Winjum scored four and Osborn added a basket for a 48-12 lead, the biggest lead of the game with 14:02 left. Crookston called off the dogs the rest of the way and Thief River Falls made a little bit of a run and got within a 50-26 deficit before Hannah Loraas made a free throw, Osborn had back-to-back three-pointers and Ellie Nesseth added a free throw for an 8-0 run and a 58-26 lead with 4:29 remaining. Crookston didn’t score in the final four minutes and held on for a 58-34 victory. “We played everybody that dressed in both halves and we have seven or eight players that can start,” said Coach Zimmerman. “It was a great first half and a nice way to bounce back after the game last night.”
Crookston improves to 1-1 on the year and will host Red Lake Falls on Tuesday. Thief River Falls drops to 1-2 on the year.
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| Thief River Falls | 10 | 24 | 34 |
| CROOKSTON | 42 | 16 | 58 |
| For CROOKSTON | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Emma Osborn | 19 | 3 steals | |
| Hayden Winjum | 11 | 4 | 4 steals |
| Halle Winjum | 10 | 4 | 5 assists/2 steals |
| Jenna Coauette | 5 | ||
| Abby Borowicz | 4 | 6 | 4 steals/3 assists |
| Ellie Nesseth | 3 | ||
| Libby Salentine | 3 | 3 | 2 steals |
| Ally Perreault | 2 | ||
| Hannah Loraas | 1 |
| For Thief River Falls | Points |
| Breanna Myers | 8 |
| Avery Skaar | 6 |
| Josie Peterson | 5 |
| Abigail Flaagan | 4 |
| Ali Yuska | 3 |
| Dru Harbott | 3 |
| Maren Espe | 2 |
| Avah Waldal | 2 |
| Jeanne Olson | 1 |
