The Crookston Pirate Boy’s Basketball team was outscored 8-0 in the final minute of the first half and also gave up a 19-0 run in the second half as the East Grand Forks Green Wave pulled away for a 96-72 victory in a Section 8AA game played in Crookston.
FIRST HALF –
The first half was entertaining with both teams’ offenses clicking. Crookston started the game on a 5-0 run with a basket from Jacob Hesby and a three-pointer from Isaac Thomforde. East Grand Forks responded with five straight points from Thomas Loer to tie the game at 5-5 two minutes into the game. The teams were tied at 8, and 13 before Crookston’s Hesby made a three-pointer for a 16-13 lead. Hesby had 13 of the Pirate 16 points to start the game! “He had the hot hand, that is for sure,” said Pirate Coach Greg Garmen. “He banked a couple, and had one hit off the back of the rim and almost hit the rafters and the shot clock, but he really got us going early on.” The teams were tied at 18, 20, 22, and 25 after another Hesby three-pointer. The Pirates started a run with a basket from Tanner Giese and after the third charge taken in the game by Jack Garmen, Giese added another basket for a 29-25 lead with less than seven minutes left in the half. “Tanner played more minutes than he normally does and he played pretty well,” said Coach Garmen. “With Ryan Abeld going down with an injury he got more minutes and did a nice job for us.” The teams would exchange baskets for several minutes and with less than 90 seconds left, the Green Wave led 43-40. East Grand Forks finished the half on an 8-0 run while taking care of Pirate turnovers and took a 51-40 lead into halftime. “That hurt,” said Coach Garmen. “We had too many turnovers and East Grand Forks got some layups and that wasn’t a good finish after a solid first half by the guys.”
SECOND HALF –
The teams exchanged points for several minutes and after a Hesby three-pointer, Crookston trailed 61-53 five minutes into the half. It was at this point in the game, the East Grand Forks Green Wave took over. EGF went on a 19-0 run with six different players scoring in the run to take an 80-53 lead with seven minutes left in the game. “That hurt us obviously,” said Coach Garmen. “We couldn’t get anything going offensively and we turned the ball over too much in that stretch. East Grand Forks was shooting well and that run really hurt.” Crookston finally stopped the run with a three-pointer from Jack Garmen, but they weren’t able to recover as the Green Wave coasted to a 96-72 victory. “It was an entertaining game, especially in the first half,” said Coach Garmen. “We had four players in double-figure scoring and Haden Michaelson had a breakout game for us so that was nice to see. There were a lot of positives, especially on the offensive side of the ball and hopefully, we can continue to work hard and keep getting better.”
Crookston drops to 2-7 on the year and will travel to Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton on Monday. East Grand Forks improves to 4-3 on the year.
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| East Grand Forks | 51 | 25 | 96 |
| CROOKSTON | 40 | 32 | 72 |
| For CROOKSTON | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Jacob Hesby | 26 | 4 | 4 steals |
| Haden Michaelson | 13 | 3 | |
| Tanner Giese | 12 | 3 | 2 steals/2 assists |
| Isaac Thomforde | 12 | 5 | |
| Jack Garmen | 7 | 4 | 4 charges taken |
| Hunter Nicholas | 2 | 4 |
| For East Grand Forks | Points |
| Tanner Campos | 30 |
| Joey Votava | 15 |
| Clyde Anderson | 13 |
| Thomas Loer | 13 |
| Carter Vasek | 10 |
| Spencer Egeland | 6 |
| Cooper Smith | 3 |
| Caleb Zejdlik | 2 |
| Jacob Riddle | 2 |
| Dawson McDonald | 1 |
| Chaycen Ballard | 1 |
