PIRATE GIRLS BASKETBALL COASTS TO VICTORY OVER TRF

The Crookston Pirate Girls Basketball team used runs at the start of the game and the second half to beat the Thief River Falls Prowlers 59-48 in a Section 8AA game played at the Crookston High School gymnasium.

Crookston trailed 2-1 before they went on an 11-0 run behind four points from Rachel Hefta, a three-pointer from Dani Boyle, a basket from Kasey Cwikla and two free throws by Gretchen Theis for a 12-2 lead with 11:23 left in the half. “We played well offensively and defensively at the start of the game,” said Pirate Coach Darin Zimmerman.  “We made some shots and defensively we were aggressive and active.” A few minutes later, Thief River Falls went on a 10-2 run with a three-pointer from Brylee Lingen, another three-pointer from Alexa Rogalla, and baskets from Rebecca Leier and Olivia Hawkins to cut the Crookston lead to three points (20-17) forcing a Pirate timeout.  The timeout message was heard loud and clear as the Pirates went on a 10-1 run behind two Cwikla free throws, a basket apiece from Emma Borowicz and Hefta and the run was capped by four points from Hall Winjum for a 30-18 lead with 3:32 left in the half. “We kept the talk during the time out pretty simple,” said Coach Zimmerman. “We talked about what we had to do and the girls did it.  Halle such has a nose for the ball and she makes plays.” Crookston took a 34-26 lead into the locker room at halftime.  “It was nice to get our offense going a little bit,” said Coach Zimmerman. “We liked the position we were in at halftime.”

Crookston had a great start to the second half with a 10-2 run started by back-to-back three-pointers from Emma Borowicz and Kylie Solheim and baskets from Hefta and Borowicz for a 44-28 lead three minutes into the half.  “We played so well in the opening minutes of the half,” said Coach Zimmerman. “We shot well, moved the ball and were aggressive.”  Crookston seemed to take the foot off the gas and coasted the rest of the way for a 59-48 victory.  “We lost our aggressiveness for a while when we got the big lead.  We were still playing hard, just not as aggressive as we were earlier in the game,” said Coach Zimmerman. “We always had an answer today when they would go on a bit of a run and although we didn’t play as well on the defensive end as we have the previous two games, we were still happy with our effort.”

The win was the third in Section 8AA play this week and Crookston improves to 14-10 on the year and they will travel to Stephen to take on the #7 ranked and undefeated Stephen-Argyle Storm on Monday, a game you can hear on KROX Radio.  Thief River Falls drops to 4-16 on the year.
C Squad – Crookston won 28-18