Laurie Swenson, Sports Editor

Roseau scored the first four points of the game and held an 11-6 first-quarter lead before the Crookston boys’ basketball team shifted into a higher gear and scored the next 16 points to take a 22-11 lead 1:10 into the second quarter en route to an 89-53 victory Friday night at Roseau.

Nick Pankow started the rally when he stuck back a rebound midway through the first quarter. Carl Hunt followed with a bucket and Elliot Erdmann sank a 3-pointer to give the Pirates their first lead at 13-11 with 40 seconds left. The lead was 14-11 at the quarter break after Tim Lindgren hit a free throw.

Kyle Buchmeier provided the spark to start the second quarter as he canned back-to-back 3-pointers. Travis Sanderson scored on an Erdmann steal 1:10 into the quarter to put Crookston up 22-11.

Roseau’s Nathan Anderson stopped the run when he hit a 3-pointer. Anderson scored all of the Rams’ points in the second quarter as Crookston took a 25-8 scoring advantage. Rob Graham scored seven of the Pirates’ last nine points, including a 3-pointer, with Matt Parnow sticking back a rebound as well as Crooston’s lead swelled to 39-19 at halftime.

Crookston outscored Roseau 20-18 in the third quarter to take a 59-37 lead, and the Pirates had a blistering 30 points in the fourth to the Rams’ 14.

Everyone scored for the Pirates, who move to 12-1 on the season. Crookston had five players in double figures: Hunt with 15, Buchmeier and Matt Parnow with 12 apiece, Erdmann with 11 and Graham with 10.

Anderson had 18 points to lead the Rams. Olafson added 14 points.

"After the first couple minutes, we got the cobwebs out and started to play some ball," Crookston head coach Greg Garmen said. "We got the boards and ran really well. We played team ball and did a good job of hitting the open man. There were many nice passes down the court that led to easy baskets for us."

Everyone played some solid minutes for the Pirates, Garmen noted.

Crookston shot 59 percent from the field, but struggled at the free-throw line with a percentage of only 38.

The Pirates had strong balance on the boards, he said, with five players with five or more rebounds.

"It is really hard to single out any one player out, as everyone on the entire squad did a good job when they took the floor. We have everyone healthy and ready to go, and at this point of the season we are fortunate to have that. I feel we have been able to develop some depth and can really play about nine or 10 kids without noticing much of a drop in our quality of play. That is a luxury that many teams do not have."

The victory put the hot Pirates at 5-0 in section play. Crookston travels to Mahnomen Tuesday and plays at Warren Friday.