The Crookston Pirate Girls Basketball team started the game on an 18-0 run and didn’t give up a first-half field goal on their way to a 50-17 victory over the Thief River Falls Prowlers in a Section 8AA matchup played at the Ralph Englestad Arena in Thief River Falls.
FIRST HALF –
Crookston scored the first 18 points of the game while scoring 15 of those points directly off steals for an 18-0 lead in the first four minutes of the game. In the run, Emma Borowicz had eight points, Hayden Winjum added five, Dani Boyle had a three-pointer, and Halle Winjum had a basket. “That was an exceptional start for us,” said Pirate Coach Darin Zimmerman. “We came out with a lot of intensity, and we executed well. We have a lot of unselfish girls, and it showed with great ball movement, and it was nice to see.” Emma Borowicz tweaked her ankle shortly after the run and had to sit the rest of the game, but it didn’t seem to slow the Pirates down. Thief River Falls finally scored their first point on a Camryn Schwab free throw with 13:36 left in the half. Crookston responded with back-to-back baskets from Hayden Winjum and Kasey Cwikla for a 22-1 lead. TRF added another free throw, this time from Annika Dalager, and a few minutes later, the Prowlers added their third free throw of the half when Olivia Hawkins made one of two shots to get within a 22-3 deficit with less than three minutes left in the half. Crookston finished the half strong with six straight points for a 28-3 lead at halftime. “I didn’t realize we didn’t give up a field goal in the half,” said Coach Zimmerman. “We came out with a little extra energy tonight. We actually barely ran an offense in the first half.”
SECOND HALF –
The teams exchanged baskets early, and Crookston led 36-10 less than six minutes into the half. Both sides went to the bench and played everybody, and Crookston cruised to a 50-17 victory. “It was a good game for us, and we executed well,” said Coach Zimmerman. “We missed a lot of layups tonight, and we could have been better at the foul line. We need to convert and finish when we are around the basket and struggled a little bit with that tonight.”
Hayden Winjum led the Pirates with 14 points and 10 steals. “Hayden was great tonight,” said Coach Zimmerman. “One of the most important things with Hayden is she doesn’t foul. She plays great defense and is rarely in foul trouble.”
Crookston improves to 6-0 on the year and will host Barnesville on Tuesday. Thief River Falls drops to 1-6 on the year.
J.V. – Crookston won 52-33 C Squad – TRF won 42-40 in OT
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| CROOKSTON | 28 | 22 | 50 |
| Thief River Falls | 3 | 14 | 17 |
| For Crookston | Points | Rebound | Steals/Assists |
| Hayden Winjum | 14 | 3 | 10 steals/4 assists |
| Emma Borowicz | 8 | ||
| Dani Boyle | 6 | ||
| Kasey Cwikla | 6 | 2 steals | |
| Halle Winjum | 4 | 2 steals | |
| Gretchen Theis | 3 | 3 steals | |
| Abby Borowicz | 3 | 5 steals | |
| Jenna Coauette | 3 | 2 steals | |
| Madison Hoiland | 2 | 3 | 2 assists |
| Ally Perreault | 1 |
| For Thief River Falls | Points |
| Annika Dalager | 3 |
| Maren Espe | 3 |
| Carley Johnson | 2 |
| Kendal Rantanen | 2 |
| Olivia Hawkins | 2 |
| Hannah Mauch | 2 |
| Gweneth Stengrin | 2 |
| Camryn Schwab | 1 |
