HAWLEY TURNS OVER PIRATE BOYS BASKETBALL FOR A BIG WIN

The Crookston Pirate Boys Basketball team struggled to take care of the ball as the Hawley Nuggets turn the Pirate turnovers into easy points and cruised to an 86-49 victory in a Section 8AA matchup at the Crookston High School gym.  

FIRST HALF – 
Hawley won the opening tip and scored the first basket of the game.  They came out with full-court pressure and forced back-to-back Crookston turnovers, and converted them into easy points for a 6-0 lead.  Crookston’s first points of the game came on an offensive rebound and putback from Hunter Nicholas just over two minutes into the game.  After a Hawley basket, Crookston’s Isaac Thomforde converted a three-point play to bring his team within an 8-5 deficit.
Hawley responded with an 8-0 run with six straight points from Mason Gratton and two free throws by Noah Nelson for a 16-5 lead five minutes into the game.
Crookston’s Tanner Giese stopped the run with a three-pointer, only to have Hawley respond with a 15-3 run to take a 31-11 lead halfway through the first half.  A couple of minutes later, Crookston’s Ryan Abeld made back-to-back three-pointers to bring the Pirates within a 36-22 deficit, but it was all Hawley the rest of the way as they took a 55-30 lead into halftime.   About half the Hawley points came off Crookston turnovers.

SECOND HALF – 
Hawley stomped out any thoughts of a Crookston comeback in the first five minutes of the second half when they started on a 13-0 run for a 68-30 lead.  Crookston’s first points of the second half came on a foul as Tanner Giese made a free throw.  There was also a technical foul called on the play, and Abeld made two free throws.  Crookston had the ball after the free throws, and Giese made a basket for a five-point possession, and the Pirates trailed 68-35.  Hawley built a 35-point lead (78-43) with 7:38 left in the game, forcing running time for the rest of the game.  The teams went to the bench, and everybody played in the game, and Hawley won 86-49.
Crookston was 10-14 from the free throw line, and Hawley was 16 of 24.

Crookston drops to 1-2 on the year and will host Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal on Thursday and Bagley on Friday.   Hawley improves to 2-1 on the year. 
J.V. – Crookston won 42-35

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