The Crookston Pirate Boys’ Basketball team gave up two runs, one in each half, and the Hawley Nuggets pulled away for a 74-53 victory in a Section 8AA matchup at the Crookston High School Gymnasium.
FIRST HALF –
Crookston started the game with a Rylan Lubarski basket for a 2-0 lead before Hawley answered with seven straight points. It started with a Coleman Hoff three-pointer, and Noah Nelson followed with four points for a 7-2 lead. Crookston’s Jack Everett stopped the run with a basket, only to have the Nuggets respond with four straight points for an 11-4 lead six minutes into the game. Crookston settled down and got a three-pointer from Everett, and Reggie Winjum added a basket to get within an 11-9 deficit. After a Hawley three-pointer, Crookston’s Michael Deng came off the bench and converted a three-point play. Hawley’s Noah Nelson responded with a two-handed dunk before Crookston’s Matthew Contreras buried a three-pointer. Hawley answered with a three-pointer before Crookston’s Hunter Nicholas made a three-pointer to get within a 20-18 deficit with 6:49 left in the game. Hawley took over the game while taking advantage of poor Crookston passing and went on a 10-0 run that was sparked by Jaxon Schenk’s six points and two points apiece from Nelson and Mark Schauer for a 30-18 lead. The teams played even the rest of the half, and Hawley took a 35-23 lead into halftime.
SECOND HALF –
The start of the second half was back and forth for the first couple of minutes, and Hawley had a 41-28 lead when they went on another 10-0 run with five different players scoring two points apiece for a 51-28 lead. Crookston’s Winjum stopped the run with a three-point play, only to have Hawley go on an 11-2 run for a 62-33 lead with 8:14 left in the game. Hawley went to the bench, and Crookston took advantage by going on a 9-0 run, with Winjum scoring seven points and Nicholas adding a basket to get within a 62-42 deficit. Hawley held off the Pirates the rest of the way to win the game 74-53.
Crookston drops to 2-6 on the year and will travel to Red Lake County (Oklee) on Thursday. Hawley improves to 3-9 on the year.
J.V. – Hawley won 68-32 C-Squad – Hawley won 49-16
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| Hawley | 35 | 39 | 74 |
| Crookston | 23 | 30 | 53 |
| For Crookston | Points | Rebounds | Steal/Assists |
| Reggie Winjum | 20 | 4 | 5 assists/4 steals |
| Hunter Nicholas | 9 | 3 | 1 assist |
| Jack Everett | 8 | 1 | 1 steal |
| Michael Deng | 6 | 4 | 1 steal/1 assist |
| Matthew Contreras | 3 | 4 | 4 steals/1 assist |
| Rylan Lubarski | 2 | 7 | 3 assists/1 block |
| Brayden Pederson | 2 | 1 |
| For Hawley | Points |
| Noah Nelson | 19 |
| Jaxon Schenck | 12 |
| Matthew Crompton | 11 |
| Elliot Lee | 7 |
| Coleman Hoff | 6 |
| Brody Hadley | 6 |
| Charles Steer | 5 |
| Mark Schauer | 5 |
| Evan Schenck | 2 |
| Levi Lelm | 1 |
