The Crookston Pirate Girls Basketball team started the game on a 17-2 run and never looked back as they cruised to a 72-14 victory over the Warroad Warriors in a Section 8AA matchup played in Warroad.
FIRST HALF –
Crookston elected to not use their usual full-court press defense, but they used their outstanding half-court defense to get a bunch of steals and started the game on an 11-0 run with Dani Boyle getting things started with a three-pointer. Emma Borowicz followed with a long two-pointer and after Warroad missed two free throws Boyle made another three-pointer and Halle Winjum made a three-pointer for an 11-0 lead. Warroad stopped their scoring drought when Karen Khampanyavong scored six minutes into the game. Crookston responded with six straight points with Hayden Winjum scoring four and Gretchen Theis adding a basket for a 17-2 lead. “If we could start every game like that, we would take it,” said Pirate Coach Darin Zimmerman. “We executed well, played good defense and got after it.” Warroad got back on the board with an offensive rebound and putback fo Brianna Lalim before Crookston went on a 10-0 run with Theis chipping in six, Madison Hoiland and Jenna Coauette added a basket each for a 27-4 lead with seven minutes to go in the half. Warroad’s Lalim made a free throw before Crookston went on an 11-0 run with Hayden Winjum scoring the first four points, Emma Borowicz added a basket, Kasey Cwikla made a free throw, Abby Borowicz added a layup and Theis ended the run with a basket for a 38-5 lead with less than four minutes remaining in the half. Crookston took a 43-7 lead into halftime. “I thought all things considered we had to be happy with the effort,” said Coach Zimmerman. “We had some things to work on, like calling out screens and other little things.”
SECOND HALF –
Crookston started the second half on a 9-2 run with three different players (Emma Borowicz, Theis, and Boyle) for a 55-9 lead. The highlight of the second half had to be when Emma Boll had the ball in the paint and started to fall down. Right before her backside hit the ground she was able to get a shot off and hit nothing but net for a high difficulty shot for a 64-14 lead with 9:24 to go in the game. Running time kicked in with nine minutes left and the game cruised along as both teams played everybody and Crookston coasted to the 73-14 victory. “I thought we played a better half on the defensive end in the second half,” said Coach Zimmerman. “It was a great way to end a solid week with three road games. It was a nice way to end it.”
Crookston improves to 4-0 on the year and will travel to East Grand Forks on Tuesday. Warroad drops to 0-5 on the year.
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| CROOKSTON | 43 | 29 | 72 |
| Warroad | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| For Crookston | Points | Rebound | Steals/Assists |
| Gretchen Theis | 18 | 3 | 2 assists |
| Jenna Coauette | 13 | 4 | 2 assists/2 steals |
| Dani Boyle | 10 | ||
| Emma Borowicz | 8 | 3 | 4 steals/3 assists |
| Hayden Winjum | 7 | 4 assists/3 steals | |
| Emma Boll | 6 | 2 steals | |
| Halle Winjum | 3 | 4 | 3 assists/2 steals |
| Kasey Cwikla | 3 | ||
| Abby Borowicz | 2 | ||
| Madison Hoiland | 2 | 4 |
| For Warroad | Points |
| Catherine Thompson | 3 |
| Brianna Lalim | 3 |
| August Bushy | 2 |
| Karen Khampanyavong | 2 |
| Lydia Tessier | 2 |
| Elyza Lilly | 1 |
| Laci Kennedy | 1 |
