By Thomas Reiss / Sports Reporter / St. Cloud, Minn.

-The Brainerd Warriors took down the St. Cloud Crush in a Tuesday evening matchup at St. Cloud Tech High School in St. Cloud, MN. The game started off sloppy as each team missed its first 3 shots to begin the game. Finally, St. Cloud Senior Guard Weslie Schuck pulled up from long range and hit to start the game off 3-0 Crush. Each team would trade blows for the next few minutes, with the game eventually being tied 8-8. Brainerd Coach Troy Nelson called time-out and swapped Brainerd’s defense from Man to Zone. What a move that was, as Brainerd would go on to pummel the Crush on the defensive side, creating turnover after turnover. 

At the half, the score was 47-13 in favor of Brainerd. Warriors Sophomore Guard Macy Castle and Senior Guard Cora Clough each finished the half with 10 points apiece. Castle found her buckets on cuts and drives at the rim. On the other hand, Clough sank 2 3-Pointers and made 4 free throws in the first half. Schuck led the way for the Crush at halftime with 5 points. 

The 2^nd Half began with another Weslie Schuck 3-Pointer to start things off on the right foot for the Crush. It would be more of the same hounding defensive performance from the Warriors. By the time the clock hit 10:00 remaining in the 2^nd half, Brainerd Senior Guard Sophia Sinclair had 4 steals, herself, in the half, with the score 60-19. Both teams realized the spot they were in and started emptying the bench with 7 minutes to play. St. Cloud Sophomore Forward Jackie Tap got her first Varsity points as the clock hit 0:00, where she made a layup, was fouled, and proceeded to shoot a free throw with zeroes on the clock. Tap would miss the free throw however and the Crush would drop this game by a score of 80-29. Brainerd’s top performers were 19 points from Macy Castle, 16 points from Univ. Of North Dakota commit Addison Bjorklund, 16 points from Cora Clough and 12 points from 8^th grader Ellie Berg off the bench. On the other side for the Crush, Weslie Schuck led the way with 8 points, while Senior forward Eleanor Pieper had 6 points. The Crush fall to 4-18 on the season while the Warriors jump to 14-6 on the season. St. Cloud will be on the road on Thursday taking on the Moorhead Spuds. Tip-off is slated for 6:00 PM.