PIRATE GIRL’S BASKETBALL HANDS ADA-BORUP THEIR SECOND LOSS OF THE YEAR IN A DOMINATING WIN 69-32

The Crookston Pirate Girl’s Basketball team came out firing in the second half behind three double-figure scorers and continued their defensive dominance in a 69-32 victory over the Ada-Borup/West Cougars in a non-Section game played at the Crookston High School Gymnasium.

First Half –
Crookston’s Kasey Cwikla opened the scoring with a lay-up before Ada-Borup/West’s Kora Kritzbeger scored tying the score at 2-2. Hayden Winjum made a three-pointer giving Crookston a 5-2 lead. Danielle Boyle scored a lay-up increasing the Pirates lead to 7-2. Jakia Thompson made a three-pointer trimming the Cougars’ deficit down to 7-5, but Hayden Winjum scored back-to-back baskets off of a steal, increasing Crookston’s lead to 11-5. Emma Borowicz sent a pass across the lane to Gretchen Theis for an uncontested lay-up putting the Pirates ahead 13-5. Later in the half, Gretchen Theis made a jump shot putting Crookston ahead 18-9. Emma Borowicz scored five straight points extending the Pirates lead to 25-9, but Ada-Borup/West responded with an 8-0 run to pull within 25-17. Both teams traded baskets to close the first-half as Crookston’s last-second lay-up from Kasey Cwikla was deemed slightly late with the Pirates settling for a 29-18 halftime lead. “Even though we only had 29 points in the first half, it was by no mean’s a bad half,” explained Crookston head coach Darin Zimmerman. “It was probably the last five or six minutes of the half that we were a little sluggish. We weren’t overly aggressive, and Ada made us pay for it.”

Second Half –
Ada-Borup/West scored the opening basket of the second half with a lay-up by Kora Kritzberger. Hayden Winjum countered with a three-pointer before Crookston went on an 8-0 run to take a 40-22 lead. “I think week by week, Hayden (Winjum) has become more assertive on offense,” added Zimmerman. “That’s definitely helped our team, but it’s not only Hayden. Everybody has started to find their groove a little bit. They’re all starting to attack more.” After another score from Kritzberger, the Pirates utilized a 15-0 run extending the lead to 57-24, including six straight points from Hayden Winjum, before Hayden fired a pass off of a steal to Emma Borowicz for an open lay-up. “We told (our team) to expect Ada to come out and play well because they’re a good team and aggressive, but we had to be the more aggressive team,” said Zimmerman. “We wanted to attack more. We used the word attack tonight. We looked for our offense and were aggressive in what we were trying to do. When we did that we got some lay-ups and open threes.” Emma then made a lay-up through a foul making the free-throw to start a running clock with 6:00 to play and the Pirates lead up to 60-24. Emma Borowicz added another three-pointer before Halle Winjum scored a tough lay-up through traffic, giving the Pirates a 67-29 lead. As the clock continued to run, Hannah Loraas added Crookston’s final basket as the Pirates closed out a 69-32 win. “This was a great win for us, probably one of our best of the year,” summarized Zimmerman. “Ada is a really nice team. They’re probably going to be there at the end of the year playing for a chance to go to the State Tournament again, so for us to play a complete game like that and just kind of be able to pull away was nice. I think we were able to just keep coming at them. Our overall quality depth was an advantage tonight and it has been all season. No matter who we bring in, I don’t think our level of play is dropping, it has remained consistently high.”

Crookston improves to 14-2. The Pirates return to the court on Thursday when the Pirates host Perham at 7:30 P.M. on KROX. Ada-Borup/West falls to 10-2.