By Mark HaugenThe Luverne boys basketball team started its season in fine fashion by posting two non-conference victories last week.The Cardinals edged Adrian 60-52 on Tuesday night in Adrian, and thumped Fulda 59-35 to open the season Saturday on their home court.Coach Tom Rops’ team will be tested with three games in five days this coming week: Friday at Pipestone, Saturday at Southwest Christian and Tuesday hosting Worthington.Adrian opens its conference season Friday at home against Fulda, then plays at R-T-R on Tuesday.Luverne 60, Adrian 52Ahead 13-12 after the first quarter and tied 27-27 at halftime, the Cardinals used a third-quarter spurt to carry them to victory."We got down a little to start the third but we didn’t panic," Rops said. "We stayed with the game plan and it worked out. There was a spurt where they had five bad possessions in a row and we made a run. It was a matter of our defense creating a turnover or bad shot."Senior guard Brandon Deragisch netted 23 points to lead LHS. Junior Nick Heronimus had nine points and led the team with six rebounds."Brandon did a good job shooting but everybody on the team contributed," Rops said.Luverne forced 19 Dragon turnovers and committed only eight of their own. The Cardinals shot only 5-16 from the free-throw line in the first half, but turned it around to hit 12-14 in the second."I knew it would be a tougher game and hopefully we can improve as we get into the conference, because that’s who we have to compare ourselves with. We still haven’t shot the ball that well and hopefully we’ll improve on that."Brett Block led Adrian with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Casey Knips pulled down 10 rebounds and blocked five shots."They controlled the ball down the stretch," Dragons coach Chris Rozell said. "We couldn’t handle the pressure all night. Turnovers were the key for us. They kept up the pressure all night on us."I think it was a good contest for us to start the year. We see our weaknesses and can concentrate on controlling the ball. Our halfcourt set was good. It’s just a matter of getting there."Luverne Box ScorePick 1 4-10 6, Herman 1 2-3 4, Deragisch 5 3 4-4 23, Hendricks 1 4-6 6, Antoine 2 1 0-0 7, Tofteland 1 3-6 5, Heronimus 3 1 0-2 9. Team 19 17-30 60.Adrian Box ScoreBlock 6 1 4-7 19, Brake 6 0-1 12, Stover 1 1 0-0 5, Knips 1 1-2 3, Lonneman 0 3-4 3, Haken 0 1 0-0 3, Claassen 0 2-2 2, Weidert 0 2-2 2, Engelkes 1 0-0 2, Tjepkes 0 1-2 1.Team Totals:Rebounds: L 28 (Heronimus 6), A 32 (Block 11, Knips 10, Brake 8). Steals L (Deragisch 3, Hendricks 3. Turnovers: L 8, A 19. Shooting: L 19-54, A 18-47.Luverne 59, Fulda 35The Cardinals forced 21 Fulda turnovers and limited their own to eight as Luverne won its season opener on the home court.Tied 10-10 after the first quarter, Luverne turned up the defensive heat and held Fulda to two points in the second quarter and 5 points in the third."That’s where we got way ahead," coach Tom Rops said. "We started a little slow, but then we increased the pressure and got some easy buckets out of it."The team also shot free throws well, hitting 18-26.Jon Tofteland scored a dozen points and Brandon Deragisch and Jared Pick had 11 points each to lead 13 Cardinals who scored. Deragisch led with seven rebounds.Tom Sandhurst and Sam Woitalewicz netted nine apiece for Fulda.Luverne Box ScorePick 4 3-5 11, Haakenson 2 0-1 4, Herman 1 0-1 2, Deragisch 2 7-8 11, Tofteland 2 1 5-6 12, Boeve 1 0-1 2, Boelman 1 0-0 2, Heronimus 3 0-0 6, Miller 0 2-2 2, Hendricks 0 1 0-0 3, Antoine 0 1 0-0 3, Ward 0 1-2 1. Team Totals:Rebounds: L 25 (Deragisch 7), F 18. Turnovers: L 8, F 21.