EGF’S DEFENSE TOO MUCH AS THEY BEAT CROOKSTON GIRLS BASKETBALL

The Crookston Pirate Girls Basketball team struggled against the East Grand Forks Green Wave full-court press as the Wave pulled away for a 64-35 victory in a Section 8AA game played in Crookston.

FIRST HALF-
Crookston scored the first points of the game on a Naomi Johnson basket, but that was about it offensively for the Pirates as East Grand Forks applied full-court pressure, and they dominated the rest of the half.
The Green Wave responded with a 33-2 run over the next 11 minutes. They used the full-court press to force a lot of Crookston turnovers and converted a lot of the turnovers into easy points. EGF’s Tatem Votava got the Green Wave going with seven of the first nine points. Also scoring in the run were Ella Thorvilson, Camryn Adams, and Taylor Bergh for a 33-4 Green Wave lead.
The teams played even in the final six minutes of the half as East Grand Forks took a 40-14 lead into halftime.

SECOND HALF –
Crookston started the second half the same way they started the game, with a Johnson basket. The teams exchanged baskets, and Crookston trailed 42-18 before EGF’s Mya Langerud made a basket, and Taylor Bergh buried a three-pointer for a 47-18 lead over four minutes into the half.  Crookston responded with baskets from Joey Nesseth and Johnson to get within a 47-22 deficit.
EGF’s Kylee Mattison answered with five straight points before Crookston’s Boll sisters responded with six straight points, with Chloe scoring four points and Grace adding a basket to get within a 52-28 deficit with eight minutes left in the game.
EGF had already played all 12 players who were dressed with 10 minutes left in the game and continued to force Crookston into turnovers as they pulled away for a 64-35 victory.

Crookston drops to 2-3 on the year and will host Roseau on Tuesday, December 19. EGF improves to 3-2 on the year.

CLICK HERE to listen to Coach Darin Zimmerman’s post-game comments.