CROOKSTON PIRATE GIRL’S BASKETBALL FALLS TO #2 RANKED ROSEAU IN OVERTIME

The Crookston Pirate Girl’s Basketball team came back from a five-point deficit in the final seconds of regulation before falling in overtime to the second-ranked Roseau Rams 84-78 in overtime in a Section 8AA match-up played at the Crookston High School Gymnasium.

Roseau started the game with a lay-up from Katie Borowicz giving the Rams the early lead. Crookston’s Rachel Hefta responded with a finish inside at the other end off of an offensive rebound tying the game at 2-2. Katie Borowicz poured in a three-pointer giving Roseau the lead 5-2. Kacie Borowicz drove in for a Rams’ lay-up adding to their lead putting the visitors in front 7-2. A Katie Borowicz three-pointer pushed Roseau’s lead to 10-4 following a Crookston lay-up from Danielle Boyle. Gretchen Theis drove to the rim and scored at the rim on two straight possessions for the Pirates and brought Crookston within 14-11 before Roseau went on an 8-0 run to take a 22-11 lead. The Pirates’ Emma Borowicz scored inside the paint through contact to end the Roseau run, bringing the hosts within 22-13. Hayden Winjum made a three-pointer to trim the deficit down to 22-16 followed by a Danielle Boyle lay-up set up by an assist from Rachel Hefta pulling Crookston within 22-18. After back-to-back Roseau lay-ups, Boyle made a three-pointer bringing the Pirates within five. Roseau countered with an 11-0 run to take their largest lead of the first-half at 37-21. A pair of Danielle Boyle free-throws stopped the visitor’s run before Emma Borowicz scored a lay-up through a foul trimming the Rams’ lead down to 37-25. Kasey Cwikla scored the final four points of the first half for Crookston, trimming the Pirates deficit down to 37-29 at halftime. “We didn’t get a ton of practice time coming into this one with the weather,” explained Crookston head coach Darrin Zimmerman. “We got together a little bit and talked about the things we wanted to do. I thought we did a good job of starting to do those things in the final four minutes of the half and we started to have some success. We saw what we needed to do more consistently over the course of the game. It helped, and we came out and established ourselves to start the second half.”

Danielle Boyle opened the second half scoring with a corner three-pointer bringing Crookston within 37-32. After a 5-0 run from Roseau, Boyle made a lay-up which was answered by another Roseau run pushing the guests’ lead to 48-34. Trailing 50-36, Emma Boll made a jump shot from the right side of the paint followed by a Gretchen Theis three-pointer bring the Pirates back to within 50-41. After falling behind 54-46, Crookston’s Rachel Hefta scored two straight baskets after a Theis lay-up to cut the deficit down to 54-52. Kylie Solheim tied the game at 58-58 following a three-pointer set up by a pass from Rachel Hefta. After a Roseau lay-up from Shavonda Bender put the Rams back up by two, Crookston’s Hayden Winjum made a free-throw, and Kylie Solheim scored at the rim giving the Pirates a 61-60 lead with six minutes remaining. The teams traded baskets down the stretch before Roseau’s Kacie Borowicz made a pair of free throws to give the Rams a 65-64 lead. Off a steal, Katie Borowicz broke free in the frontcourt and scored pushing the Rams’ lead to 67-64 before a pair of free-throws by Julia Braaten gave Roseau a 69-64 lead with under one minute left to play. Gretchen Theis made a three-pointer off an offensive rebound to bring the Pirates within two, and Rachel Hefta stole the subsequent inbounds pass, following a Rams’ timeout, and found Kylie Solheim under the basket where Roseau fouled her while shooting a lay-up. With under fifteen seconds to play, Solheim calmly sank both free-throws erasing the five-point deficit and tying the game at 69-69. Roseau’s game-winning shot attempt fell off the right side of the rim sending the game to overtime. “We knew that if we simply came out and executed, we’d have every opportunity that we needed,” said Zimmerman. “I was seeing competitors. I’ve been seeing it for the last two weeks. We may not play perfectly in every game, but we need to come out and compete, and I thought our girls did a really nice job of that in the second half. Gretchen (Theis) made that big shot, and then Rachel (Hefta) made a heads up play. She got the steal and found Kylie (Solheim), and that’s all it takes. We just found a way to get it done.”

In the added four-minute period, Roseau scored the opening basket with a lay-up from Emma Waling, followed by a lay-up from Rachel Hefta tying the game at 71-71. Waling made a three-pointer for the Rams on their next possession to spark a 5-0 pushing Roseau ahead 76-71. The Rams used another 5-0 run to pull ahead 81-73 later in overtime before Hayden Winjum made a three-pointer for Crookston bringing the Pirates back within five. Kylie Solheim made a pair of free-throws on Crookston’s next possession to bring the host’s within three, but Crookston would never get a shot to tie with Roseau icing the game at the free-throw line to close out their eleventh straight win 84-78. “There were maybe just too many runs over the course of the game,” summarized Zimmerman. “We knew they were going to make some. They’re a great team, and quite frankly they have a couple of girls who can make shots from anywhere on the floor. They were going to make some shots, and we needed to be just a little bit more consistent. We still found ways to claw back in it and put ourselves in a position to win the game up until the very end. I’m really proud of the girls. We’re disappointed that we didn’t win the game because we were right there, but we know what we need to do.”

Crookston falls to 11-9 overall and will return to the court on Thursday when the Pirates host Thief River Falls at 7:30 p.m. on KROX. Roseau improves to 18-2.