SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.com
We wrap up the Winter sports season this weekend with the State Boys Basketball tournament. There is a lot of excitement for the Red Lake Warriors team. Spring Sports are all underway, except for Boys Tennis, which starts on Monday.
Enjoy the column!
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The Red Lake County Rebel Boys Basketball team won the Section 8A Boys Basketball championship on Friday with an outstanding second half to beat the Kittson County Central Bearcats 68-40.
Red Lake County used a 21-0 run in the second half to win the game. Rebel coach Steve Philion, in his 51st year as head coach and 18th year at RLF and Red Lake County will be making his third appearance at a state tourney. He also made it with Clearbook-Gonvick in 1992 and 1993.
Red Lake County is making its first state boys basketball state tournament appearance. Needless to say, Red Lake Falls, Oklee and Plummer and the surrounding area fans are excited for the Rebels.
Red Lake County will take on the Goodhue Wildcats today (Thursday) at 5:00 p.m. KROX Radio will have the game and all Red Lake County games at state on 1260AM, on the KROX app, your smart speaker by saying “listen to K-R-O-X in Crookston”, or listen online by clicking listen live.
Red Lake County is 29-2 on the year and earned the #3 seed. Goodhue is Goodhue is 22-8 on the year and the Section 1 champion.
#2 seed Dawson-Boyd (Section 3A) is 27-3 on the year and takes on #7 seed Heritage Christian Academy (Section 4A), who is 24-5 on the year.
#1 seed Cherry is 29-1 on the year. They are the defending state champion and their only loss in the last 70-plus games was to the Red Lake County Rebels. Cherry will take on #8 seed BOLD (Section 2A).
#4 seed Nevis (Section 5A) is 26-4 on the year and will take on #5 seed Henning (Section 6A) with a 27-3 record.
11:00 AM – Cherry vs BOLD
1:00 PM – Nevis vs Henning
3:00 PM – Dawson-Boyd vs Heritage Christian on KROX RADIO 2:50 PM
5:00 PM – RED LAKE COUNTY vs Goodhue on KROX RADIO
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State Boys Basketball officials from the area include – Mason Askegaard of Barnesville, Zachary Benson of Red Lake Falls, Cole Boehmer of Thief River Falls, Wayne Folkers of Crookston, Noah Glad of Hawley, Eric Guler of Pelican Rapids, Mike Gullingsrud of Red Lake Falls, Mark Gulseth of Frazee, Rich Kehoe of Bemidji, Aaron Lenes of Fosston, Chris Nelson of Red Lake Falls, Darrell Olson of Perham, Jonathan Pearson of Karlstad, Logan Riedel of Detroit Lakes, Brady Solum of Barnesville, Brady Sylliaasen of Dilworth.
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The Northwest Conference named the 2024-25 Boys and Girls Basketball All-Conference Awards. All the award winners are listed below.
GIRLS AWARDS –
Team champions – East Grand Forks and Thief River Falls
All-Conference
Crookston – Chloe Boll, Grace Boll
East Grand Forks – Tatem Votava, Taylor Bergh, Emma Marcott
Thief River Falls – Ava Waldal, Josie Peterson, Piper Greene
Roseau – Brooklyn Hulst, Audrey Hayden
Warroad – Atlee Larson, Natalie Homme
Honorable Mention –
Crookston – Joey Nesseth, Madi Bruggeman
East Grand Forks – Camryn Adams, Ellie Marcott, Skyla Rustad
Thief River Falls – Jerlyn Lunsetter
Roseau – Casey Kendrick
Warroad – Danika Gustafson
Conference MVP – Tatem Votava (EGF)
BOYS AWARDS –
Team champion – East Grand Forks
All-Conference
Bagley – Jackson Kaier
Crookston – Reggie Winjum, Hunter Nicholas
East Grand Forks – Austin Rusling, Carson McDonald, Chase Lindgren, Jezrael Jones
Thief River Falls – Bridger Wilcox, Everett Nelson
Roseau – Jordan Borowicz, Jake Borowicz
Warroad – Liam Grover, Kason Pietruszewski
Honorable Mention –
Bagley – Drayden Thompson
Crookston – Matt Contreras
Thief River Falls –Gannon Zutz, Wyatt Nelson
Warroad –Zach Rose
Conference MVP – Liam Grover (Warroad)
Offensive player of the year – Chase Lindgren (EGF)
Defensive player of the year – Jezrael Jones (EGF)
Coach of the Year – Josh Perkerewicz (EGF)
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The 2024-25 North Star Basketball All-Conference awards have been handed out. Conference members are Clearbrook-Gonvick, Kittson County Central, Northern Freeze, Red Lake County, Roseau, Sacred Heart, Stephen-Argyle, and Warren-Alvarado-Oslo. The award winners are below –
All-Conference award winners:
Clearbrook-Gonvick – Hassan Brouton
Kittson County Central – Ty Vig, Kellen Johnson
Northern Freeze – Alex Bray
Red Lake County – Owen Chervestad, Connor Duden, Will Gieseke
Roseau – Jordan Borowicz, Jake Borowicz
Sacred Heart – Greg Downs
Stephen-Argyle – Caden Pagnac
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo – Kaden Pierce, Kyden Kotrba
Honorable Mention All-Conference –
Sacred Heart – Isaac Ortiz
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo – Derek Moehrle
North Star Most Outstanding player – Ty Vig – KCC
Jay Sorenson Scholarship winner : Greg Downs, Sacred Heart
Team Champions – Kittson County Central Bearcats
Coach of the year – Trent Jerome – Kittson County Central and Steve Philion – Red Lake County Rebels
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The North Border Boys Basketball conference has announced the all-conference award winners. They are listed below-
All Conference:
Masen Swenson – Badger/Greenbush-Middle River
Shay Jacobson – Goodridge/Grygla
Alex Bray – Northern Freeze
Jordan Borowicz – Roseau
Jake Borowicz – Roseau
Liam Grover – Warroad
Kason Pietruszewski – Warroad
Honorable Mention:
Taylor Davy – BGMR
John Forrest – Lake of the Woods
Nick Lund – Northern Freeze
Straet Spilde – Northern Freeze
Aiden Evitts – Roseau
Zach Rose – Warroad
Conference awards –
Conference Champs: Warroad
Senior of the Year: Liam Grover – Warroad
Coach of the Year: Vichita Ounchith – Warroad
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University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Women’s Basketball junior Emma Miller (G, Albertville, Minn.) was named to the 2024-25 D2CCA All-Central Region Second Team as announced Thursday afternoon. She is just the second player during Minnesota Crookston’s NCAA Division II era, and the fifth overall in all eras, to be named to the all-region squad. Miller is the first since Katrina (Moenkedick) Nordick, who was named D2CCA All-Central Region Second Team following the 2015-16 season.
Miller was named to the All-NSIC First Team following her junior season. She is fourth in the nation averaging 22.7 points per game. Miller set a NSIC single-season scoring record with 501 points during the 2024-25 campaign. She notched Minnesota Crookston’s single-season record with 658 total points, and is closing in on Jamie Zelinsky’s all-time mark as a Golden Eagle. Miller has been named twice to the All-NSIC First Team, and once to the All-NSIC Second Team. She joins Zelinsky, and Nordick as the most decorated players in program history. Miller shot 41.1 percent from the field, 33.2 percent from beyond the arc, and 79.5 percent from the stripe. She averaged 5.1 points per game, and 2.8 assists per tilt.
Bri Stoltzmann of Southwest Minnesota State was named the D2CCA Central Region Player of the Year. Miller joins Stoltzmann, Lindsey Becher of Concordia-St. Paul, and Natalie Bremer of Minnesota State as NSIC players to earn all-region honors.
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The Perham Yellowjacket Activities Department has named Nick Stokke as the new boys tennis head coach, pending ISD 549 Board approval.
Tennis has played a significant role in Stokke’s life. He began playing the game in fourth grade and was part of the highly competitive Grand Forks Red River Tennis Program throughout high school. Stokke competed for four years on the junior varsity team and two years on the varsity.
After his high school playing career ended, he transitioned into coaching. He served as an assistant coach while leading the Junior Varsity team at Grand Forks Red River, his alma mater.
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The Minnesota Mr. Basketball final five candidates have been announced.
CJ Armstrong – Richfield (34.1 ppg, 6 rebounds per game)
Nolan Groves – Orono (34.1 ppg, 8.6 rebounds, and 6 assists per game)
Brogan Madson – Mankato East (22.8 ppg, 5 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game)
Chase Thompson – Alexandria (25.3 ppg, 13 rebounds and 4 assists per game)
Chace Watley – Totino-Grace (21.5 ppg)
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The 34 Miss Minnesota Basketball candidates has been cut down to the final six. The full list is below –
Abby Hoselton St. Michael-Albertville/SDSU Commit
Addison Hoof Lester Prairie/MSU-Mankato Commit
Addison Mack Minnehaha Academy/Maryland Commit
Aneisha Scott DeLaSalle / Richmond Commit
Anna Westby Rock Ridge / UM-Crookston Commit
Annika Southworth St. Peter / Trine Commit
Aubrey Morrison Walker-Hackensack-Akeley / MSU-Moorhead Commit
Autumn McCall Centennial / St. Thomas Commit
Brandi Washington Fridley
Chloe Nuss Totino-Grace / UMary Commit
Dakota Rich New London-Spicer
Elise Groppoli Hill-Murray / St. Cloud State Commit
Gabrielle Fineday Cass Lake-Bena / Bemidji State Commit
Hadley Thul Alexandria / SDSU Commit
Hope Counts Providence Academy Lipscomb Commit
Jordan Ode Maple Grove / Michigan State Commit
Kaitlyn Rohloff Hancock / Concordia – Moorhead Commit
Kallyn Grove Underwood / Jamestown Commit (Volleyball)
Kendall McGee Benilde-St. Margaret’s / Creighton Commit
Kendyl Lodermeier Goodhue / Upper Iowa Commit
Kendra Harvey Byron / North Dakota Commit
Lainey Braulick BOLD
Lauren Hillesheim Hopkins / North Dakota Commit
Mylea Monahan Glencoe-Silver Lake / Drake Commit
Morgan Turn Kittson County Central
Rae Ehrman Eden Prairie / Montana Commit
Regan Juenemann Crosby-Ironton
Rylie Cother Jackson County Central / Winona State Commit
Samantha Wills Visitation / Harvard Commit
Cierra Kortan Sauk Centre / Concordia – St. Paul Commit
Sophie Hawkinson Wayzata / NDSU Commit
Tatum Woodson Hopkins / Belmont Commit
Tori Schlagel Eden Prairie / South Dakota Commit
Zahara Bishop Benilde-St. Margaret’s / Seton Hall Commit
The Six Miss Basketball finalists are –
Hope Counts – Providence Academy
Addison Mack – Minnehaha Academy
Kendall McGee – Benilde-St. Margaret’s
Jordan Ode – Maple Grove
Aneisha Scott – DeLaSalle
Hadley Thul – Alexandria
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JOKES
Q: What do you get if you cross the atlantic with the titanic?
A: About halfway.
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A girl invites her boyfriend over for dinner with her parents. Since this is such a big event, the girl tells him that after dinner she wants to have sex with him for the first time.
The boy is ecstatic, but nervous because hes a virgin. He goes to the pharmacy to get some condoms. He tells the pharmacist his situation and asks for advice. The pharmacist tells him everything there is to know about sex. At the register, the pharmacist asks how many condoms hed like to buy: a 3-pack or a 10-pack. The boy says he feels lucky and insists on the 10-pack.
That night, the boy shows up for dinner a little late. His girlfriend meets him at the door leads him straight to the dinner table where her parents are already seated. The boy sits down, quickly offers to say grace and bows his head. A minute passes, and the boy is still silent with his head down. Five minutes pass, and still no movement from the boy. Finally, after 10 minutes, the girlfriend leans over and whispers to the boy, I had no idea you were this religious.
The boy turns and whispers back, I had no idea your father was a pharmacist.
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There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation.
The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.
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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
Paul Bittner is an assistant coach on the University of Wisconsin-Superior Men’s Hockey team.
Reese Swanson is a freshman playing hockey at St. Olaf.
Carter Coauette is a freshman playing football at Minot State.
Isabelle Smith is a freshman playing Tennis at Concordia College.
Isaac Thomforde is a freshman playing Tennis at Northwestern College in St. Paul.
Emilee Tate is a Sophomore playing Softball at Northland Community and Technical College.
Halle Bruggeman is a Sophomore on the University of Wisconsin-Stout Women’s Rugby team.
Ethan Boll is a Red-shirt Freshman 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 Sophomore playing hockey at Dakota College at Bottineau.
Aleah Bienek is a Junior playing hockey at Trine University in Indiana.
Joslynn Leach is a Senior playing golf at Concordia College in Moorhead. The Cobbers wrapped up the Fall season.
Brooks Butt is a Junior playing football at the University of Jamestown.
Ty Hamre is redshirt Junior playing football at Bemidji State University.
Elizabeth Erdman is a coach for the Moorhead Red Dragon swim team.
Crookston School District Coaches
Blake Bergeron is the head Pirate Wrestling Coach.
Ben Parkin is the head Pirate 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
Ben Andringa is serving our country in the Army and is now a Ranger.
Jarrett Butenhoff is serving our country with the U.S. Navy.
Joshua Butenhoff is serving our country on a Submarine with the Pacific Fleet with the US Navy.
Peter Cournia is a 2002 Crookston High School Graduate and a grad of West Point and currently serving in the U.S. Army.
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.
The post SPORTS FEEVER – March 20, 2025 first appeared on KROX.