By John RittenhouseOpinions vary about the the shot that helped lift the Luverne Cardinals to their first state-tournament berth since 1983.According to Brandon Deragisch, luck was simply on his side. Deragisch is the LHS senior who cast the key stone in a 59-50 victory over Benson in Thursday’s Section 3AA Championship game.Cardinal coach Tom Rops had a different take on the decisive shot, a four-point play that gave LHS a 50-47 lead with 2:49 left to play.Rops watched Deragisch deliver a similar shot to thwart a rally by Pipestone in the South Section 3AA title game five days earlier. The coach said he believes Deragisch’s ability to come through in the clutch is a reflection of his greatness."We’re down one, and Brandon hits the shot at a crucial time of the game," Rops said, sighing in relief. "It probably was one of the biggest shots in Luverne High School history, and we rode it out until the end. Now we’re going to state."To say Deragisch’s late-game conversion was the biggest play in LHS history is arguable. There is, however, no question it was the turning point in the nine-point win over the Braves.It appeared Luverne’s quest for a trip to state might be derailed when Benson led 45-39 with 5:48 left to play. At that point, Deragisch took over the game.The senior guard, who scored 13 of his game-high 24 points in the second half, drew the Cardinals within one point (47-46) of the Braves with a pair of free throws with 3:29 remaining.Then came the decisive blow.With the ball in his possession outside the three-point line, Deragisch drained a shot while drawing a foul in the process. Keeping his emotions under control, a task in itself considering the loud eruption of noise coming from the Luverne faithful after the three-pointer dropped, Deragisch calmly completed his free throw to give the Cards a 50-47 lead they wouldn’t relinquish."It was more of a throw-up and hope-to-get fouled shot," Deragisch said, describing his game-turning play. "It really got our crowd into it, and it fired up our team."Although the Cards seized momentum with the four-point play, the issue wasn’t settled with 2:49 left to play. Luverne sealed the deal by making six of 10 free throws in the final 1:37, which helped the Cards outscore the Braves 18-1 at the charity stripe in the game.Rops was quick to point out the fact that his team kept the right frame of mind after taking the lead late in the fourth quarter and throughout the game."One of the things we talked about was that this would be a game with a lot of highs and lows," he said. "It’s always that way at this time of year when you’re playing against high-level, competitive teams. Staying mentally focused through all of the highs and lows is the most important characteristic in winning games like these, and we hung in there mentally."Luverne’s character was tested by a Benson squad that turned in an impressive defensive effort throughout the game. Badgering the Cardinals with constant pressure in full- and half-court sets, the Braves forced LHS to turn the ball over 16 times in the game. As a result of the turnovers, Benson gained enough extra possessions to sport leads at the first three quarter breaks.The game was tied at four when Luverne’s Brad Herman turned an offensive rebound into a field goal 1:40 into the game, but the Braves countered with a 7-0 spurt to take an 11-4 advantage.Deragisch trimmed the difference to one point (11-10) at the 2:03 mark of the first quarter. Benson, however, scored the final four points of the first period to lead 15-10 before scoring the first two points of the second quarter.Luverne countered with an 8-0 run capped by a three from Deragisch at 4:53 in the second quarter, giving the Cards their first lead at 18-17. Luverne led 20-19 when junior Jake Hendricks scored with 2:06 remaining in the first half, but Benson recorded a pair of field goals in the final 1:30 to gain a 23-20 advantage at halftime.The Cards trimmed the difference to one point at four different occasions in the third quarter, the last time being when Deragisch converted a layup at the 3:33 mark of the stanza to make it a 31-30 game. Benson scored the next six points to lead 37-30, but Luverne outscored the Braves 5-2 in the final two minutes and trailed 39-35 when senior John Tofteland tapped in a missed shot with nine seconds remaining.Tofteland, who scored eight of his 15 points (including four consecutive free throws) in the fourth quarter, scored from close range at the 6:36 mark of the fourth quarter to bring the Cardinals within two points (41-39) of the Braves. Benson scored the next four points to lead 45-39 before being outscored 20-5 in the final six minutes."I knew we had to step it up in the fourth quarter," Deragisch said. "We knew they were capable of scoring a lot of points, so we had to score, too. Coach Rops just told us to be consistent and stay calm (during the break between the third and fourth quarters). He said if we did that, we’d have a chance to win."They Cardinals followed Rops’ late-game instructions, and now they’ll live the dream of playing in the state tournament."I think we were in last place (in the section seedings) two years ago, and we got the fourth seed and won a game last year," Deragisch said. "It took a lot of hard work throughout the year to get where we’re going now. It’s going to be fun to play in the state tournament instead of going up to watch it."Herman added 10 points to the winning cause. Jared Pick and Deragisch led the 19-8 Cards with nine and seven rebounds respectively.Box scorePick 3 0 2-5 8, Herman 3 0 4-6 10, Deragisch 1 5 7-9 24, Hendricks 1 0 0-0 2, Antoine 0 0 0-0 0, Tofteland 5 0 5-5 10, Heronimus 0 0 0-2 0.Team statisticsLuverne: 18 of 31 field goals (58 percent), 18 of 27 free throws (66 percent), 31 rebounds, 16 turnovers.Benson: 24 of 38 field goals (63 percent), one of three free throws (33 percent), 13 rebounds, six turnovers.