CROOKSTON PIRATE BOY’S BASKETBALL FALLS TO WIN-E-MAC ON TUESDAY NIGHT

The Crookston Pirate’s Boy’s Basketball team traveled to Erskine on Tuesday night to battle the Win-E-Mac Patriots. While the Crookston offense was effective at times, Win-E-Mac’s was far better in an 81-60 victory. “We didn’t have our best game defensively tonight,” said Pirates Head Coach Greg Garmen. “They shot the ball really well and they deserve credit for the way they played tonight.”

FIRST HALF –

The Patriots had a nice performance offensively all night but were led by Justin Courneya who scored 29 first-half points to give Win-E-Mac a big cushion early. “We couldn’t stop him,” said Pirates Head Coach Greg Garmen. “There really isn’t much to be said other than that. He had a great game scoring.” Courneya would finish the game with 35 points leading all scorers. The Pirates had six different players score in the first half and were able to string together some possessions, but Win-E-Mac would take a 44-28 lead into the halftime break thanks to Courneya’s 29 first-half points. Crookston was not always able to play at full strength throughout the night, as a few different players ran into foul trouble. “We did have some kids get into foul trouble and that didn’t help,” said Pirates Head Coach Greg Garmen. “That’s something we’ve struggled with all season.”

SECOND HALF –

Crookston had a much better second half keeping the game close and were only outscored 37-32. Jacob Hesby notably was able to knock down 3 three-pointers after going scoreless in the first half. Crookston was never able to make the game interesting, however, and the Patriots would coast the rest of the way to an 81-60 victory over the Pirates. Crookston made seven threes in the losing effort and had a balanced attack offensively with six players scoring 7 or more points. Win-E-Mac did most of their work inside the three-point line and at the free-throw line. “It’s a tough loss, but we have an opportunity to bounce back on Thursday night now,” said Pirates Head Coach Greg Garmen. “Hopefully we have a good practice tomorrow and can put together a winning streak to end the season.”

Crookston falls to 3-18 on the season and will be back in action on Thursday night when they host the Roseau Rams inside the Crookston High School. The Pirates were able to defeat the Rams back in December 67-47. The tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and the game will be on the KROX Live Video Stream starting with the RiverView Health pregame show at 6:30 p.m. Win-E-Mac improves to 12-11 on the season with the win.