CROOKSTON PIRATE BOY’S BASKETBALL COMES UP SHORT AT BAGLEY

The Crookston Pirate Boys Basketball team struggled to hit their outside shots and Bagley pulled away late in the game for a 66-50 victory in a Section 8AA matchup played in Bagley in the early afternoon.  The game was played at 4:00 p.m. because of Minnesota Township Elections around the State of Minnesota. Schools and other entities cannot hold athletic events from 6:00-8:00 PM.  

FIRST HALF
Bagley looked inside to their post, Zachary Anderson, who scored the first four points of the game for a 4-0 Flyer lead to start the game. Crookston got on the board with a Jacob Hesby three-pointer over three-minutes into the game.  Bagley led 10-9 after Crookston’s Jacob Miller made a three-pointer from the sideline, but the Flyers responded with a 7-0 run for a 17-9 lead halfway through the half.  “I thought we were a little sluggish and not going after loose balls,” said Pirate Coach Greg Garmen. “When you are struggling, you have to do all the little things right and we weren’t doing that.”
Crookston answered with a 5-0 run with an Easton Tangquist basket, followed by another Miller three-pointer to get within a 17-14 deficit with 7:52 left in the half.  Bagley stopped the run with a free throw, but Crookston’s Garmen followed with a three-pointer to bring the Pirates within an 18-17 deficit.  Bagley answered with a 10-2 run with four points scored by Anderson for a 29-18 lead and the Flyers took a 31-23 lead into halftime.  “We weren’t moving our feet as we needed to today,” said Coach Garmen. “We were within striking distance, so that was good.”

SECOND HALF
Bagley built a 39-28 lead four minutes into the half before Crookston went on a 9-2 run.  Tristan Luckow got the run going with a basket in the paint, which was followed by a Tangquist three-pointer.  After a Bagley basket, Crookston added Garmen and Bruggeman baskets to get within a 41-37 deficit with 11 minutes left in the game.  Bagley looked inside to get the ball in the post with various mismatches and slowly pulled away the rest of the game to win 66-50.  “It was a frustrating afternoon,” said Coach Garmen. “They took advantage of their mismatches and we were slow getting over to help.  We didn’t make plays when we needed to.  We have one game left before we start playoffs so we will have to figure it out quick.”

Crookston drops to 2-15 on the year and will host Warroad in the regular-season finale on Thursday.  Bagley improves to 8-8 on the year.