By John RittenhouseLuverne’s bid to reach the championship game of the Minnesota State Class AA Boys Basketball Tournament championship game was derailed by the Crookston Pirates Friday at the Target Center in Minneapolis.The Cardinals, who were playing for a berth in a state title game for the first time since 1983, were unable to overcome a slow start and inconsistent shooting in what ended as a 46-35 loss to eventual state runner-up Crookston.The Cards shot a cool 24 percent (six of 25) from the floor while falling behind 32-17 in the first half.Luverne put together a spirited rally in the fourth quarter to trim Crookston’s lead to seven points (40-33) with 2:50 left to play, but the Pirates fought off the late challenge to prevail by 11 points."We were flat," said LHS senior John Tofteland, after Friday’s game."We just didn’t come out and play with the energy we should have. We dug a hole we couldn’t climb out of."Crookston took a 4-0 lead with a pair of field goals in the game’s first minute, but the Cardinals received a boost when junior Nick Heronimus was fouled while converting a three-point shot. Heronimus canned the ensuing free throw, knotting the score at four with 4:48 remaining in the first quarter.The Cardinals were unable to sustain the momentum they appeared to gain when Heronimus tied the game at four. Crookston closed the quarter with a 14-4 run and led 18-8 when Andy Hughes converted a reverse layup with 43 seconds left in the stanza.The Pirates outscored the Cards 7-2 in the first three minutes of the second quarter to lead 25-10, and Crookston led by 17 points (30-13) when Grant Willhite drained a three-point shot with 2:25 left to play in the first half. The quarter ended with the Pirates sporting a 32-17 lead.According to LHS coach Tom Rops, a number of factors plagued the Cardinals in the first half.Playing a game one day after posting a big win over Moose Lake-Willow River stole some of team’s energy, and taking on the Pirates in a big venue like the Target Center proved a bit overwhelming for the players.The biggest difference was the way each team shot the ball. While the Cards struggled in the first half, Crookston cashed in on 59 percent (13 of 22) of its fields."I think it was a combination of (tired) legs and nerves that hurt us in the first half," Rops said. "We missed some easy baskets. We’ve had slow starts before and were able to come back. But, when you get down by 15 points at halftime, you’re going to have trouble in state tournament games."The Cardinals continued to struggle in the third quarter as they were unable to cut into Crookston’s 15-point halftime advantage. The Pirates led by as many as 19 points (38-19) before settling with a 40-22 advantage at period’s end.In an attempt to get back into the game, Luverne implemented full-court defensive pressure to test the Pirates in the final eight minutes of play.The change in strategy paid off as the Cards outscored Crookston 11-0 in the first 5:10 of the period, trailing 40-33 when Jake Hendricks sank a pair of free throws with 2:50 left to play.Crookston, however, scored the next four points to extend its lead to 11 (44-33) with 1:06 left to play before winning by 11 at game’s end."It really got us going," Tofteland said about the Cardinals’ full-court pressure in the fourth quarter."We just dug ourselves too deep of a hole early in the game. The plan was to play them straight up defensively and try to get some turnovers. We just missed a lot of bunnies in the first half."Rops agreed that the Cardinals’ defense got them back in the game."We went with pressure in the fourth quarter, because we knew we needed to get a few more possessions to get back into the game," Rops said. "Give our kids credit for not hanging their heads and giving up on the game."Brandon Deragisch led the Cards with 10 points and charted three steals along with Heronimus. Brad Herman led LHS with six rebounds.Box scorePick 1 0 4-4 6, Herman 2 0 0-2 4, Deragisch 2 2 0-0 10, Tofteland 1 0 2-2 4, Heronimus 1 1 1-1 6, Haakenson 0 0 0-0 0, Hendricks 0 1 2-2 5, Antoine 0 0 0-0 0, Boelman 0 0 0-0 0.Team statisticsLuverne: 11 of 53 fieldgoals (21 percent), nine of 11 free throws (82 percent), 23 rebounds, 10 turnovers.Crookston: 18 of 33 field goals (55 percent), seven of 11 free throws (57 percent), 33 rebounds, 20 turnovers.