HUNTER NICHOLAS’ 32 POINTS, 23 REBOUNDS LEAD PIRATES PAST MENAGHA

The Crookston Pirate Boys Basketball team’s Hunter Nicholas scored 32 points, grabbed 23 rebounds, and took three charges in the game to lead his team to a 56-51 victory over the Menahga Braves in a Section 8AA matchup at the Crookston High School Gymnasium.

FIRST HALF-
The first half was a fast-paced 18 minutes of play as both teams were looking to get the ball up the floor as quickly as they could. Menagha scored the first basket of the game before Crookston’s Tyler Michaelson answered with a three-pointer, and Reggie Winjum added a basket for a 5-2 lead. The teams battled back and forth with a tie at 7-7 before Hunter Nicholas scored for a 9-7 lead. Menagha controlled the play for the next five minutes as they built a 21-13 lead with 8:06 left in the half. Crookston picked up their play on the defensive end with several steals, which turned into easy baskets, and after four straight Nicholas points and two Winjum free throws, Crookston led 25-23. Menagha scored the next three points before Crookston’s Nicholas buried a three-pointer with 22 seconds left in half for a 28-26 lead going into halftime.
Crookston’s Nicholas had a monster first half, scoring 17 points and adding nine rebounds.

SECOND HALF –
The second half saw more back-and-forth play as Menagha scored the first four points of the half before Crookston responded with three-pointers from Nicholas and Michaelson for a 34-30 lead two minutes into the half. Crookston led 35-32 when Menagha’s Bodie Berttunen made back-to-back baskets for a 36-35 lead. Crookston answered with an 8-0 run that started with a Winjum basket, then Winjum had a steal and a nifty assist to Nicholas. Winjum added another basket before Isaac Thomforde added a basket for a 43-36 lead with 10:45 remaining. Menagha slowly chipped away at the deficit over the next five minutes, and after a Bodie Berttunen three-pointer, they were within a 52-51 deficit.
Crookston answered with four straight points from Nicholas for a 56-51 lead before  Bodie Berttunen made a three-pointer, and Brayden Aho added a basket to tie the game at 56 with 2:34 remaining. 14 seconds later, Winjum scored for the Pirates, and Nicholas added another basket for a 60-56 lead. Menagha couldn’t score on the next two possessions, and Crookston worked the shot clock down and was fouled with eight seconds left in the game. A technical foul was also called so the Pirates shot one free throw in the bonus and missed. Michaelson followed with the two technical foul free throws and made one of two for a 61-56 lead. Crookston held on and won the game 61-56 behind the monster performance from Hunter Nicholas with 32 points and 23 rebounds in the game.

Crookston improves to 2-7 on the year and will travel to Glyndon to take on Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton on Monday. A game that can be heard on KROX.
Menagha drops to 3-7 on the year.
J.V. – Crookston won 69-35   C-Squad – Crookston won 39-33