CROOKSTSON BOY’S BASKETBALL LOSES A HEART BREAKER IN ADA

The Crookston Pirate Boys Basketball team built an 18 point lead with 11 minutes left in the game, but the Ada-Borup/West Cougars came back to win the game 74-69 in a game played in Ada.

FIRST HALF
Crookston jumped out to a 7-3 lead with four points from Jack Garmen and three points from Easton Tangquist.  After a Cougar three-pointer, Tangquist had back-to-back baskets for an 11-6 lead.  Ada-Borup/West answered with a run of their own to tie the game at 12 with 11:27 left in the half.  Tangquist stopped the run with a basket and Jacob Miller followed with a three-pointer to give the Pirates a 17-12 lead.  A few minutes later, Crookston led 24-22 when Jacob Hesby made back-to-back three-pointers to give the Pirates a 30-22 lead with less than four minutes to go and they took a 38-27 lead into halftime.  “Jacob was shooting well for us and those were some big shots to expand the lead. Jacob was shooting well before he had to quarantine for a week and a half and is starting to get the shot back so that is good to see,” said Pirate Coach Greg Garmen. “We had a pretty good first half and we were making some shots.  We had Easton, Jack, Miller, and Hesby all make threes in the half so that was good.”

SECOND HALF
Ada-Borup/West scored the first basket of the half before Crookston’s Tangquist had a steal and a layup and was fouled and he converted the three-point play.  He followed it up with an offensive rebound and putback for five straight points to give the Pirates a 43-39 lead.  Crookston led 44-32 when Jack Garmen rattled home a three-pointer and Carter Bruggeman scored for a 49-32 lead.  The teams exchanged baskets before Garmen buried another three-pointer, his fifth of the game, for the biggest lead of the game 54-36 with 10:11 remaining.  Crookston had a 57-39 lead before the Cougars went on a 13-3 run over a three-minute span to get within a 60-52 deficit.  Crookston’s Bruggeman made two free throws to stop the run, but Ada-Borup/West answered with eight straight points, including six points off of Pirate turnovers to get within a 62-60 deficit with less than five minutes to play.  Crookston’s Garmen stopped the run with a three-pointer, but the Cougars scored six straight points after two more Pirate turnovers and they led 66-65 with 2:46 left in the game.  The lead was the first Cougar lead since they led 2-1.  Crookston regained the lead with a Tristan Luckow basket on a short jump shot, but the Cougars’ Weston Winfrey made a three-pointer to take a 69-67 lead.  Ada-Borup/West hit their free throws the rest of the way and Crookston wasn’t able to get the offense going and the Cougars won the game 74-59. “This is a tough one,” said Coach Garmen. “We played well for maybe 32 of the 36 minutes and had some turnover problems and maybe panicked a bit.  We forced up a couple of shots, but you can’t blame the kids for trying to make a play.  We played hard, played well for most of the game and that is why this one stings.”

Crookston drops to 1-12 on the year and will host Hawley on Monday.  Ada-Borup/West improves to 6-6 on the year.