TRF pulls away in the second half to beat Crookston Boys Basketball

The Thief River Falls Prowlers used two 11-0 runs in the second half to beat the Crookston Pirate Boys Basketball team 84-68 in a Section 8AA game played at the Crookston High School gymnasium.

FIRST HALF –
Thief River Falls jumped out to a 5-2 lead before Crookston countered with a 6-0 run. Tyler Michaelson made a basket and Hunter Nicholas had back-to-back offensive rebounds and baskets for an 8-5 Crookston lead. TRF’s Everett Nelson made a three-pointer and Caden Rose added a basket for a 10-8 lead. Crookston’s Michael Deng answered with a basket before the Prowler’s Bridger Wilcox scored. Crookston’s Michaelson buried a three-pointer for a 13-12 lead with 11:35 left in the half. TRF led 17-16 when they went on an 8-0 run behind four Everett Nelson points and two points each from Lucas Rantanen and Wilcox for a 25-16 lead. Crookston’s Matthew Contreras stopped the run with his second three-pointer of the game. The teams exchanged points the rest of the way and Thief River Falls led 40-35 at halftime.

SECOND HALF –
Crookston’s Nicholas made the first basket of the half and after a Prowler basket, Michaelson made a three-pointer to get the Pirates within a 42-40 deficit. Thief River Falls answered with an 11-0 run that started with a Rose basket. Wilcox followed with two free throws, Landon Wikert and Rose added baskets, forcing Crookston to call a timeout. After the break, Wilcoc made a three-pointer to cap the 11-0 run for a 53-40 lead with 11 minutes remaining. Crookston’s Nicholas grabbed an offensive rebound and converted an old-fashioned three-point play and the Pirates trailed 57-42. Thief River Falls went on another 11-0 run with the first nine points scored by Wilcox and the run was capped by two Everett Nelson free throws for a 68-45 lead. Crookston’s Nicholas converted a three-point play and after a Prowler three-pointer, the Pirates went on a 9-0 run led by four points from Nicholas to get Crookston within a 71-57 deficit with 5:14 to go. That is as close Crookston would get as Thief River Falls held on for an 84-68 victory.

Crookston drops to 5-16 on the year and will host Win-E-Mac on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. Thief River Falls improves to 10-7 on the year.
J.V. – TRF won 55-47 C-Squad – TRF won 48-38

Hunter Nicholas

Jack Everett

Matthew Contreras

Zachariah Ali

Tyler Michaelson

Hunter Nicholas

Jack Everett

Matthew Contreras

Zachariah Ali

Tyler Michaelson

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