EAST GRAND FORKS 53, CROOKSTON 48

For the first three games this week I had to endure running time. That wasn’t the case tonight. It was a roller coaster game. Host EGF had to rally from an eight point second half deficit to beat pesky Crookston. At first neither team was in the mood to score. There was only one field goal in the first four minutes. When the scoring did start to roll in it was EGF seizing advantage at 14-6.  That eight point lead melted like the snowbanks in EGF today. It was gone before half. Crookston called time at the nine minute mark and the Pirates gained momentum going on a 20-7 scoring spree the last nine minutes. Leading the charge was freshman Emma Borowicz who had a game high 16. The visitors led 26-21 at the break.

Crookston added to their lead and stretched it to 33-25 after three minutes of action in the second half. EGF can score in a hurry. They had a big win over defending AA champ Roseau right before sections, and they shot 57% from 2 point range tonight. The Green Wave grabbed the lead for good on an &1 by Brooke Filipi with 5:39 left in the game. The 5-9 senior had half of her game high 16 points during that stretch including two &1s. Then the EGF crowd held their collective breath as she went down at 3:33 with what looked like a knee injury. Fortunately for the Green Wave she was able to return to action at the 1:04 mark. And that was just in time as the Pirates were about to mount a ferocious last minute comeback. EGF had stretched the lead to eight points. In the last minute Crookston ratcheted  up the full court defensive intensity. A fortunate time out from the EGF bench halted a potential Crookston steal. The Pirates scored five unanswered points to slice that lead down to 51-48 with 14.5 seconds left. Crookston had a steal off the press, but failed to convert the lay up. Filipi grabbed the miss and was fouled. She converted one free throw and Crookston needed two possessions to have a chance. Filipi thwarted that chance with a steal off the inbound pass and again was fouled and again added a free throw to her totals.

EGF had a +7 margin in turnover differential. They enjoyed a +12 free throw attempt margin, but definitely need to hone their shots there as they only converted 47%.

EGF (22-5) now moves on to face South #2 seed Perham in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Crookston ends the year at 13-14. This was the second time I charted the Pirates. The first time came on the first Saturday in February in the Heart O’Lakes event in Fargo.

I traveled four and a half hours to catch this game, my longest distance trip this year. Compared to last Thursday night this was a snap (it was a nightmarish five hours on snow covered roads from Worthington a week ago). The challenge tonight was the fog that settled into the Red River Valley. There were no incidents, but I did have to drop to 55 mph in a 75 zone. Earlier in the day I made a stop in Moorhead. It was the first day that the Dairy Queen was open and there was a line that went around the block waiting for their ice cream.

It has been a while since I have been to EGF. I was greeted with a new gym. This is the first year the Green Wave have played in their new facility. EGF was just a shade outside of the top 100 at 101 today. That means I need one more team to complete the set. Stay tuned.

Team	PP100	scorer	Distributor	D stops
East Grand Forks	86.9	Brooke Filipi 16	Julia Warmack 5	Macy Skyberg 8
Crookston	80.0	Emma Borowicz 16	Emma Borowicz 8	Rachel Hefta 9

TRENCH PLAYER: 5-9 senior forward Brooke Filipi of EGF