PIRATE BOYS BASKETBALL OUTLAST WARROAD IN WIN

The Crookston Pirate Boys Basketball team made nine three-pointers and scored 50 points in the first half and cruised the rest of the way for a 78-64 victory over the Warroad Warriors in a Section 8AA matchup at the Crookston High School gymnasium.
The teams were tied at two in the first minutes when Nick Garmen made back-to-back three-pointers within a 30-second span for an 8-2 lead.  Warroad answered with five straight points before Nick Garmen buried another three-pointer, Josh Bernia scored, and Nick made another three-pointer for a 16-7 lead four minutes into the game.  Warroad stopped the Pirate run with a basket, but Crookston responded with a 12-0 run when Brady Butt made a free throw, Caden Osborn had a three-pointer followed by steal and an old fashion three-point play, Bernia added a basket and Walker Winjum made a three-pointer and Crookston led 28-9 with 10:37 left in the first half.   Crookston continued their hot shooting with nine first-half three-pointers (6 by Nick Garmen, 2 by Walker Winjum and Caden Osborn added one.) and pulled away for a 50-26 lead at halftime.  “I liked how we were aggressive and came out and hit some shots,” said Pirate Coach Greg Garmen. “It always helps when you make some shots and we did that tonight and I thought we ran the floor better tonight, which was nice to see.”
The second half wasn’t as strong offensively for Crookston as Warroad picked up their play.  Crookston had a lead around 20 points for most of the second half and Osborn started the second half scoring with a three-pointer only to have Warroad’s Isaac Falk-Stoskopf take over the game for a few minutes with six straight points to bring Warroad within a 53-32 deficit, but a Jaden Lubarski three-pointer stopped the run.  Warroad continued to chip away at the deficit, taking advantage of Pirate turnovers and missed shots and trailed 58-40 with 12:20 left in the game.  The teams exchanged baskets the rest of the game and Crookston held on for a 78-64 victory.  “We haven’t shot well at all this year yet, but maybe tonight was our breakout night and they got some rhythm going and we really shot it well early and that helped get the lead at halftime and the kids hung on,” said Coach Garmen. “We have to learn to be a little more disciplined and we really haven’t worked on a stall yet, but we worked the ball around late and took some time off the clock.”  Crookston came into the game shooting 44 percent (12 of 27) from the free throw line and improved on that tonight by making 21 of 27 free throw attempts. “We shoot them every day in practice,” said Coach Garmen. “It was good to see them starting to go in.”  Warroad struggled from the line making 8 of 23 shots.
Crookston improves to 2-1 on the year and 2-0 against North Subsection teams and will travel to Thief River Falls on Saturday, December 15.  Warroad drops to 1-2 on the year.

Jaden Lubarski drives by a Warroad defender   Chris Kazmiericzak with a first-half layup

Nick Garmen tracks down the loose ball in the second half