SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.co— — —
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We are done to the final two teams for the Section 8A Girls Basketball championship game and it will be a rematch of last years championship with two ranked teams. #2 ranked Northome/Kelliher vs #9 ranked Sacred Heart. It should be a great game as Sacred Heart looks to make a return trip to the state tourney.
Sacred Heart has a great team with Lexi Lawrence, Lydia Riskey, Finley Horken, Leah Sundby, Izzy Cwikla, Ella Arntson, Brynn Stevens and the rest of the crew. Northome-Kelliher is a little bit of a different team. They don’t have height, but they have outstanding speed, and the best scorer in the section with Kate Thayer who scored 44 points in the semi-finals game.
My prediction….Sacred Heart wins by 10, but it all comes down to who can play their style. If it is a half-court game, Sacred Heart wins. If it is a fast-faced game, NK has the advantage. It should be a great game and will be on KROX Radio and KROX TV on Friday at 7:00 p.m. from the Ralph Englestad Arena.
The 2026 Section 8A Boys Basketball tournament has begun and it is going to be a dandy! First to recap the seeds –
WEST SUBSECTION
1. Fertile-Beltami
2. Red Lake County
3. Stephen-Argyle
4. Sacred Heart
5. Northern Freeze
6. Kittson County Central
7. Goodridge/Grygla
8. Warren-Alvarado-Oslo
9. Badger/Greenbush-Middle River
10. Climax-Fisher
EAST SUB-SECTION
1. Mahnomen/Waubun
2. Red Lake
3. Win-E-Mac
4. Bagley
5. Northome/Kelliher
6. Fosston
7. Clearbrook-Gonvick
8. Lake of the Woods
9. Blackduck
FIRST ROUND – Thursday, March 5 at UMC
6:00 PM – WAO vs #1 Fertile-Beltrami
7:30 PM – #4 Sacred Heart vs #5 Northern Freeze
FIRST ROUND – Thursday, March 5 at NCTC
6:00 PM – #3 Red Lake County vs Goodridge/Grygla
7:30 PM – #3 Stephen-Argyle vs #6 Kittson County Central (ON KROX RADIO)
EAST (at high seeds at 7:00 p.m.)
Blackduck at #1 Mahnomen/Waubun (at Waubun)
#5 Northome/Kelliher at #4 Bagley
#6 Fosston at #3 Win-E-Mac at 6:00 PM
#7 Clearbrook-Gonvick at #2 Red Lake
QUARTERFINALS – Saturday, March 7 at Ralph Englestad Arena in TRF
Games will be cross-bracketed with games at NOON, 1:45 PM, 3:30 PM, and 5:15 PM. (All 4 on KROX Radio)
SEMIFINALS – Wednesday, March 11 at Ralph Englestad Arena in TRF
6:00 and 7:45 PM (Both on KROX Radio and KROX TV)
CHAMPIONSHIP – Friday, March 13 at Ralph Englestad Arena in TRF
7:00 PM – on KROX RADIO and KROX TV
Here are my predictions.
The final four will be Fertile-Beltrami, Red Lake County, Stephen-Argyle, and Sacred Heart!
Who is going to be in the Championship? This might be the best final four we have seen in a long time. It has the makings to be great games. It is too early to make a prediction. But any of those four teams could win a section championship
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he Warroad Warriors Boys Hockey team beat Detroit Lakes 3-0 in the Section 8A Boys Hockey championship game on Thursday evening. After the game, the All-Section 8A Boys Hockey teams were announced. The list is below.
FIRST TEAM ALL-SECTION 8A
Forwards:
Gavin Anderson – Warroad
Spencer Anderson – Thief River Falls
Garrett Fischer – Crookston
Defense:
Broden Hontvet – Warroad
Max Bies – East Grand Forks
Goalie:
Finn Hanson – Warroad
SECOND TEAM ALL-SECTION 8A
Forwards:
Easton Kennedy – Detroit Lakes
Tucker Lovejoy – East Grand Forks
James Palmer – Bagley/Fosston/CG
Defense:
Hudson Petit – Detroit Lakes
Ayven Hontvet – Warroad
Goalie:
Griffin Lindberg – Detroit Lakes
THIRD TEAM ALL-SECTION 8A
Forwards: (Tie in voting)
Ryan Shaugabay – Warroad
Will Cymbaluk – Detroit Lakes
Jace Panzer – East Grand Forks
Finn Henry – Park Rapids
Defense:
Sam Hard – Warroad
Tate Hamre – Crookston
Goalie: (Tie in voting)
Cooper Roff – Thief River Falls
Noah Schindele – East Grand Forks
SECTION 8A COACHES AWARDS
Section 8A Head Coach of the Year – Jay Hardwick: Warroad
Section 8A Michael Tveit Memorial Assistant Coach of the Year – Connor Morgan: Crookston
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Several youth hockey regionals were held around the state this past weekend – We have how the area teams did.
12UA GIRLS NORTH REGIONAL-
Warroad beat Cloquet 3-2
Duluth beat Bemidji 2-1
East Grand Forks beat Hibbing 3-1
Warroad beat Proctor/Hermantown 4-1
East Grand Forks beat Duluth 4-0
CHAMPIONSHIP – Warroad beat East Grand Forks 4-2
True Second – East Grang Forks beat Proctor/Hermantown 4-2
12UB GIRLS NORTH REGIONAL-
Warroad beat Proctor/Hermantown 5-0
Thief River Falls beat North Shore 3-2
Grand Rapids/Greenway beat Crookston 4-3
North Shore beat Crookston 2-1
Warroad beat International Falls 4-0
Grand Rapids beat Thief River Falls 3-1
CHAMPIONSHIP – Grand Rapids beat Warroad 5-2
True Second – Thief River Falls beat Warroad 4-2
BANTAM AA REGIONAL –
East Grand Forks beat Cottage Grove 7-3
Moorhead beat Rochester 5-0
East Grand Forks beat Duluth East 5-2
Moorhead beat Blaine 8-1
CHAMPIONSHIP – Moorhead beat East Grand Forks 7-0
True Secong – East Grand Forks beat Cottage Grove 10-2
BANTAM A REGIONAL –
Warroad beat Proctor 6-1
Cloquet beat Roseau – 4-3
Thief River Falls beat International Falls 4-2
Warroad beat Duluth East 8-2
Thief River Falls beat Cloquet 6-5 OT
CHAMPIONSHIP – Warroad beat TRF 5-4 OT
True Second – Thief River Falls beat Cloquet 5-2
BANTAM B REGIONAL –
East Grand Forks beat Hermantown 4-0
North Shore beat Red Lake Falls 4-3
East Grand Forks beat Grand Rapids 3-1
CHAMPIONSHIP – Bemidji beat East Grand Forks 5-1
True Second – Hermantown beat EGF 4-3
PEEWEE AA REGIONAL –
East Grand Forks beat Prior Lake/Savage 5-4 OT
Moorhead beat Lakeville North 3-2
East Grand Forks beat Duluth East 3-0
Moorhead beat Bloomington Jefferson 8-3
CHAMPIONSHIP – East Grand Forks beat Moorhead 2-1
True Sectond – Duluth East beat Moorhead 4-3
PEEWEE A REGIONAL –
Thief River Falls beat Duluth East 7-4
Cloquet beat Roseau 8-1
Warroad beat Hibbing 8-6
International Falls beat Thief River Falls 4-3
Warroad beat Cloquet 6-3
CHAMPIONSHIP – International Falls beat Warroad 5-1
True Second – Cloquet beat Warroad 6-3
PEEWEE B REGIONAL –
Red Lake Falls beat Hermantown 3-0
Cloquet beat Lake of the Woods 6-2
Hallock beat Ely 5-2
Red Lake Falls beat Grand Rapids 5-2
Cloquet beat Hallock 4-2
CHAMPIONSHIP – Cloquet beat Red Lake Falls 4-3
True Second – Hermantown beat Red Lake Falls 7-1
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15 student-athletes have been selected as Finalists for the 2026 McDonald Award to be presented by the Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association. The McDonald Award is presented annually to the outstanding Senior Player of the Year. The award recipient will be announced and presented with the McDonald Award at the MBCA All Star Series; April 11 at Anoka Ramsey Community College. Each of the Finalists will be recognized and presented with a McDonald Award medal.
The award is named in honor of Bob McDonald, a legend and icon in Chisholm, the state of Minnesota, and the nation for his accomplishments as a coach and his commitment to educating students. Coach McDonald, served 59 years as a high school basketball coach and is only one of 35 in the nation, to have led his teams to over 1,000 (1.012) victories. Coach McDonald was also known for instilling the values of hard work, teamwork, a strong moral code, and high academic expectations for the students he served on the court and in the classroom. Bob is a member of the MBCA Hall of Fame, the MSHSL Hall of Fame, and the NFHS National Hall of Fame.
The Award, patterned after the Wooden Award, will include, but not be limited to, qualifications such as exhibiting strength of character, both on and off the court; contributing to team effort ; excelling on both offense and defense; and performance over the course of the entire season.
In addition to selecting the Player of the Year; the establishment of the award is also designed to focus attention on the positive aspects of basketball and the role coaches play in the lives of all the student- athletes they represent and serve.
The 15 finalists are –
Nolen Anderson (Wayzata, Jaxon Boschee (Bemidji), Lucas Gustafson (Mankato East), Dothan Ijadimbola (Totino Grace), Max Iversen (Maple Grove), Will Kirsch (Waconia), Ryan Kreager (Faribault), Kale Misegades (Henning), Joseph Mitchell III (Cretin-Derham Hall), Jayden Moore (Hopkins), Deron Russell (Waseca), Cedric Tomes (East Ridge), Christian Wiggins (Wayzata), Mason Witt (Alexandria), Hamze Yusef (Eden Prairie).
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JOKES
This young couple invited their parson for Sunday dinner. While they were in the kitchen preparing the meal, the minister asked their young son what they were having.
“Goat,” the little boy replied.
“Goat?” replied the startled man of the cloth. “Are you sure about that?”
“Yep,” said the youngster. “I heard Pa say to Ma, ‘Might as well have the old goat for dinner today as any other day.'”– — —
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At one point during a game, the coach called one of his 9-year-old baseball players aside and asked, ‘Do you understand what co-operation is?
What a team is?’
‘Yes, coach’, replied the little boy.
‘Do you understand that what matters is whether we win or lose together as a team?’
The little boy nodded in the affirmative.
‘So,’ the coach continued, ‘I’m sure you know, when an out is called, you shouldn’t argue, curse, attack the umpire, or call him a pecker-head, dickhead or asshole. Do you understand all that?’
Again, the little boy nodded in the affirmative.
The coach continued, ‘And when I take you out of the game so that another boy gets a chance to play, it’s not good sportsmanship to call your coach a dumb ass or shithead is it?’
‘No, coach.’
‘Good’, said the coach. ‘Now go over there and explain all that to your grandmother!’
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Two cannibals meet one day. The first cannibal says, “You know, I just can’t seem to get a tender Missionary. I’ve baked them, I’ve roasted them, I’ve stewed them, I’ve tried every sort of marinade. I just can’t seem to get them tender.”
The second cannibal asks, “What kind of Missionary do you use?”
The other replied, “You know, the ones that hang out at that place at the bend of the river. They have those brown cloaks with a rope around the waist and they’re sort of bald on top with a funny ring of hair on their heads.”
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How are former Crookston Pirates athletes doing in college or elsewhere?
****LET ME KNOW OF OTHERS TO ADD TO THE LIST. Email me at chrisjfee@yahoo.com
Teagen Lubinski is a freshman playing football at St. Scholastica
Addie Fee is a freshman playing tennis and hockey at Wisconsin-Superior.
Kambelle Freije is a freshman playing hockey at Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Riley Helgeson is a freshman playing football at Northern State.
Emily Bowman is a freshman playing Softball at North Dakota State College of Science.
Halle Winjum is a sophomore playing basketball at Minnesota Crookston.
Blake Melsa is a sophomore playing soccer and baseball at Alexandria Tech
Jackson Reese is a sophomore playing soccer at Alexandria Tech
Matt Contreras is a freshman playing baseball at Concordia College.
Naomi Johnson is a freshman playing soccer at Alexandria Tech
Paul Bittner is an assistant coach on the University of Wisconsin-Superior Men’s Hockey team.
Reese Swanson is a sophomore playing hockey at St. Olaf.
Carter Coauette is a sophomore playing football at Minot State.
Isaac Thomforde is a sophomore playing Tennis at Northwestern College in St. Paul.
Halle Bruggeman is a Junior on the University of Wisconsin-Stout Women’s Rugby team.
Ethan Boll is a Sophomore on the University of North Dakota Football team.
Breanna Kressin is a Junior on the Hockey Cheer Team for THE University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Hockey team.
Jacey Larson is a Junior playing hockey at Dakota College at Bottineau.
Aleah Bienek is a Senior playing hockey at Trine University in Indiana.
Ty Hamre is Senior playing football at Bemidji State University.
Seth Heppner – Head Coach of Men’s and Women’s Golf at Jessup University
Brady Heppner – Head Coach of Women’s Golf at UMC and Assistant Hockey Coach
Crookston School District Coaches
Blake Bergeron is the head Pirate Wrestling Coach.
Jason Cassavant is a Jr. High Baseball Coach and Head American Legion Baseball coach
Amy Boll is the head Pirate Girls Track head coach
Sarah Reese is the Pirate Head Girls Soccer coach
Marley Melbye is an assistant girls golf coach
Connor Morgan is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach
Ben Trostad is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach
Ethan Magsam is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach
Chris Dufault is a youth wrestling Coach
Non-Crookston High School coaching/Admin/etc
Elise Tangquist is the Head Girls Golf Coach at Horace High School in Fargo, ND.
Carmen (Kreibich) Johnson is the head Little Falls Volleyball coach.
Tim Desrosier is an Assistant Coach for Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Pony Boys Basketball
Pat Wolfe is the head wrestling coach for Fosston/Bagley.
Austin Sommerfeld is an Assistant Athletic Director for Strategic Communication at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth.
Collin Reynolds is the head baseball coach for the University of Colorado Buffalo Club Baseball team.
Trent Stahlecker is a School Security Specialist & he works for the Brevard Public Schools, Florida.
Cody Weiland is an assistant wrestling coach at Proctor/Hermantown.
Josh Edlund is the head football coach and phy ed teacher at Flandreau, South Dakota.
Allison Lindsey Axness is Assistant Varsity Volleyball Coach at Champlin Park
Jeff Olson is the Head Wrestling Coach and Head Baseball coach at Delano.
Jake Olson is an Assistant Football Coach and Head Boys Tennis coach at Delano.
Matt Harris is an Assistant Principal/Athletic Director at Saguaro High School in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Marty Bratrud is the Superintendent and High School Principal at Westhope High School.
Gordie Haug is an assistant football coach at the University of North Dakota.
Mike Hastings is the Wisconsin Badgers Men’s head Hockey coach.
Mike Biermaier is the Athletic Director at Grand Forks Schools.
Stephanie (Lindsay) Perreault works with the North Dakota State stats crew for Bison football, volleyball, and basketball in the winter. Stephanie’s husband, Ryan, is the assistant director for Bison media relations.
Jason Bushie is the hockey athletic trainer at Colorado College.
Chris Myrold is the Director and Fitness at Mission Ranch and Fitness in Camel, California.
Kyle Buchmeier is a Tennis Pro at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis
Jaren Bailey is serving our country and is currently in the Marines’ Boot Camp.
Ben Andringa is serving our country in the Army and is now a Ranger.
Philip Kujawa class of 2004, from Crookston High School. He is an Army recruiter in Rochester.
Rob Sobolik is the General Manager of the Fargodome
That’s it for this week. Thanks for the comments, and if you have anything to add or share, please e-mail chrisjfee@yahoo.com or call. Thanks for reading and listening to KROX RADIO and kroxam.com..
