The roller coaster season for the Pirates finally started to go upward again Friday with a 71-42 win over Fisher-Climax in Crookston. The Pirates created a number of turnovers and took care of the ball nicely themselves as they snapped a five-game losing streak. Crookston improved to 8-9 on the season, while the Knights are 2-13.
“We played better than we have been,” said Pirate head coach Greg Garmen about his squad’s performance. “January was a tough month. Hopefully we’re coming out of the funk we’ve been in so we can gear up for the end.”
Garmen noted that his team was excited for this game against the Knights.
“The kids know each other with the neighboring towns it makes for a special game,” he said. “We came out with some energy and spunk.”
Garmen also went on to discuss his team’s ability to take care of the ball.
“I think we only had two turnovers at the half,” he said. “When [the Knights] turned the ball over, we converted, attacked the basket and made things happen.”
The night started with Tim Desrosier setting the tone for the squad and himself. On Fisher-Climax’s first possession of the night, Desrosier raced down the court on a fast break and swatted the ball away while a Knight was attempting an open lay up.
Knight Evan Carlson scored the first points of the game to put his team up but the Pirates answered with an 11-2 run, which was capped by a bucket down low by Papou Maiga with about 14 minutes left in the half.
Fisher-Climax replied by scoring the next six points to cut the deficit to 13-10, but the Pirates answered right back with a 9-2 run to go up 22-12 with about nine minutes left.
Desrosier scored Crookston’s next six points in a two-minute span to hold on to the ten-point lead and the Pirates scored six of the final seven points to take a 34-19 lead into the locker room at halftime.
About four minutes into the second half with the score at 38-25, the Pirates went on an 8-2 run, which was capped on a long two-point jumper by Brandon Lyczewski with about ten minutes remaining.
Minutes later with the lead at 48-33, Crookston pulled away with a 16-2 run, which was capped by a three pointer by Zach Cymbaluk with make it 64-35.
Desrosier led the Pirates with 12 points on the night. Josh Baldock recorded 11 points, while Carter Denison, Maiga, Lyczewski and Dan Mykleseth each added six. Ben Curran, William Pankow, Cymbaluk and Alex DeBoer each finished with five points.
Carlson recorded a game high 17 points, while Jacob Slyvester added nine. Blake Pester added six points to the mix.
“We had a big enough gap and we wanted to see what others could do,” Garmen said about resting his top players in the second half. “It was nice to get them out and keep them healthy.”
Crookston will try to make it two in a row today when it travels to Frazee.
