PIRATE BOY’S BASKETBALL BEATS WARROAD IN OT

FIRST HALF –
Crookston would start the game ice cold on the offensive side of the ball, while Warroad would jump out to a 12-0 lead. The Pirates would finally get on the board at the 12:41 mark of the half thanks to a Reggie Winjum three-pointer. The Pirates would rely on their long-range shooting to score their next nine points all from behind the arc, while the Warriors’ Gage Thompson would net nine points off three-pointers to keep the Pirates from cutting the lead. At the 8:00 minute mark, Warroad was sitting with a comfortable twelve-point lead, up 24-12. Crookston would slowly chip away at the lead, shutting down Thompson. Hunter Nicholas would get his game going by cleaning up rebounds and adding six points in the first half.  Back-to-back three-pointers from Tanner Giese with five minutes left would bring the Pirates within ten points, still trailing 25-33. Warroad would go on a 6-2 run with two minutes left in the half before the Pirates wound end the first half on a 7-0 run to end the half down 34-39. Crookston was led by Tanner Giese with 16 points at the half, while Warroad’s Gage Thompson led the Warriors with 11 points.

SECOND HALF –
The first four minutes of the second half would see both teams trying to hit shots from long range. Each team would hit a shot from long range in between some bad shot selections. The score would remain close, with Warroad holding 45-41 before Crookston would go on a 6-1 run to get their first lead of the game from a Nicholas shot down low to put up the Pirates 47-46 at the 10:00 mark of the second half. The rest of the half would see a back-and-forth game, with both teams exchanging the lead eight more times. The Pirates had an opportunity with less than thirty seconds left in regulation to get the win, but they couldn’t execute, resulting in a 62-62 tie at the end of regulation.

OVERTIME –
The first 1:25 of the four-minute overtime period would see no scoring. It wasn’t until Isaac Thomforde’s three-pointer gave the Pirates the lead 65-62. Tanner Geise would follow that with a three-pointer of his own to extend the lead to 68-62 with just over a minute left. The Warriors didn’t give up, as Kason Pietruszewski would drive the lane for a layup off the glass to bring Warroad within four. Ryan Abeld was fouled and hit two clutch free throws to keep the Pirates up 70-64. Logan Kvarnlov would make it interesting by hitting his first basket of the game, a three-pointer to make it 70-67 Crookston with seventeen seconds left. Hunter Nicholas would get fouled on the inbound pass and go to the line and seal it with a free throw to make it 71-67, which would be the final score.

Crookston improves to 7-11 on the year and will have another Section 8AA matchup when they travel to Park Rapids on Tuesday. Warroad drops to 7-11. 

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