The Hawley Nuggets used their size, length, and a 1-3-1 full-court press and turned defense into offense while scoring 58 first-half points on their way to an 85-41 victory over the Crookston Pirate Boys Basketball team in a Section 8AA game played in Hawley. “Hawley is good and they have all the pieces in place,” said Pirate Coach Greg Garmen. “They were a tough matchup for us.”
FIRST HALF –
Hawley came out and put their stamp on the game early and jumped out to an 11-0 lead behind seven points from Sam Senske (son of Steele and Sheri (Larson) Senske and grandson of Gary Senske). “They are long and lean and they used the 1-3-1 and we didn’t handle it,” said Coach. Greg Garmen. “We didn’t handle the pressure and they were hitting all their shots.” Crookston finally got on the board when Jack Garmen made a three-pointer five minutes into the game. Hawley responded with a 9-0 run before Garmen made another three-pointer and the Pirates trailed 20-6. Hawley went on another run, this time a 13-0 run with back-to-back three-pointers from Bailey Thompson, and was followed by a three-point play from Hayden Grani, and a three-pointer from Bryant Carlisle. The run was capped by a free throw from Hayden Grani and the Nuggets led 33-6 halfway through the half. Crookston trailed 47-16 after a Garmen free throw and an Isaac Thomforde basket with four minutes left, but the Pirates didn’t score the rest of the half and Hawley took a 58-16 lead into halftime. “It was a tough half,” said Coach Garmen. “We told them we wanted them to battle and play hard in the second half.”
SECOND HALF –
Crookston came out strong in the second half with a three-pointer from Jacob Hesby and a three-point play from Hesby. After a Hawley basket, Hesby made another three-pointer to get within a 60-25 deficit. Hawley responded with a 13-0 run for a 73-25 lead. The run was stopped by five straight points from Isaac Thomforde. “Isaac did some good things for us today,” said Coach Garmen. “He is still young and learning, but he had a good game.” Both teams went to the bench as running time started with nine minutes left in the game and a highlight for the Pirates was Michael Deng, a freshman, scored his first varsity points. “He has been playing a lot of J.V. and that was nice to see,” said Coach Garmen. Hawley held on to win the game 85-41. “It was a tough one,” said Coach Garmen. “We have to keep working hard in practice and keep getting better, especially the young guys.”
Crookston drops to 1-4 on the year and will host Fosston on Tuesday. Hawley improves to 5-0.
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| CROOKSTON | 16 | 25 | 41 |
| Hawley | 58 | 27 | 85 |
| For CROOKSTON | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Jack Garmen | 19 | 5 | 3 steals |
| Isaac Thomforde | 9 | 3 | |
| Jacob Hesby | 6 | ||
| Tanner Giese | 3 | 3 | |
| Ryan Abeld | 2 | 3 | |
| Michael Deng | 2 |
| For Hawley | Points |
| Sam Senske | 22 |
| Mason Gratton | 16 |
| Carson Brew | 8 |
| Brady Gratton | 7 |
| Hayden Grani | 6 |
| Brevin Stoa | 6 |
| Bailey Thomsen | 6 |
| Bryant Carlisle | 4 |
| Derek Tibbets | 4 |
| Landon Bakke | 2 |
