The Pelican Rapids Vikings used a full-court press and half-court trap to jump out to a 17-0 lead to start the game and never looked back the rest of the way as they cruised to a 59-32 victory over the Crookston Pirate Girls Basketball team in the first round of the Section 8AA Girls Basketball playoffs at the Pelican Rapids High School gymnasium.
FIRST HALF
Pelican Rapids came out playing suffocating defense, combining a full-court press and a half-court trap, and they jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first five minutes of the game. The Vikings’ Kamryn Kirkwood led the way with eight points, Arianna Hovland added six points, and Morgan Korf had a three-pointer.
Crookston only had one shot hit the rim in the first five minutes, but finally got on the board on a Halle Nicholas layup with 12:15 left in the half. Pelican Rapids took a 23-3 lead, and after the teams traded baskets, the Vikings led 25-5. Crookston scored four of the next six points with Brooklyn Waldal and Chloe Boll making baskets to get within a 28-9 deficit. Crookston didn’t score for almost six minutes, and Pelican Rapids built a 35-9 lead with 1:17 to go. Crookston broke the almost six-minute scoring drought with a Grace Boll basket, and Pelican Rapids took a 35-11 lead into halftime.
SECOND HALF
Pelican Rapids didn’t use the full-court press in the second half, and Crookston took advantage, starting the half on a 7-4 run with four points from Madi Bruggeman and a three-point play from Halle Nicholas to get within 39-18 three minutes into the half. Pelican Rapids answered with a 9-0 run to take a 48-18 lead. The teams exchanged baskets, and Pelican Rapids led 52-22 with eight minutes left in the game when they went on a 7-0 run for a 59-22 lead with 4:33 remaining, and that started running time. It was also the point Pelican Rapids took all their starters out of the game and let their bench finish the game while playing all the players on the roster. Crookston kept their starters in the game for the final four minutes, and they finished on a 10-0 run with Chloe Boll scoring five points, Grace Boll had a three-pointer, and Waldal added two free throws, but Pelican Rapids won the game 59-32.
Crookston ends the season at 8-19 and says goodbye to a pair of seniors, Chloe Boll and Halle Nicholas. Pelican Rapids improves to 16-9 on the year and will take on Menagha in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| Crookston | 11 | 21 | 32 |
| Pelican Rapids | 35 | 24 | 59 |
| For Crookston | Points | Rebounds | Misc. |
| Chloe Boll | 11 | 9 | 2 steals/1 assist |
| Grace Boll | 7 | 2 | 1 assist |
| Halle Nicholas | 6 | 2 | 1 assist |
| Brooklyn Waldal | 4 | 5 | 1 steal |
| Madi Bruggeman | 4 | 2 | 2 steals/1 assists |
| For Pelican Rapids | Points |
| Arianna Hovland | 20 |
| Kamryn Kirkwood | 10 |
| Carlie Hovland | 8 |
| Mogan Korf | 7 |
| Megan Guler | 6 |
| Ally Birger | 4 |
| Ellie Carlson | 2 |
| Malia Tweeton | 2 |
