The Luverne boys’ basketball team recorded their most successful week of the season so far with wins over Adrian and St. James and a close three-point loss to Belle Plaine.
The Cardinals, now 3-9 on the season, earned a solid 68-39 win in Adrian Jan. 20 before coming up just short to the Belle Plaine Tigers at Williams Arena Jan. 21.
LHS then recorded its first Big South Conference victory with a 66-60 win over the St. James Saints at home Monday night.
The Cardinals will play at Redwood Valley Friday night before hosting the Hills-Beaver Creek Patriots on Tuesday in the Luverne Classic Gym.
Luverne 68, Adrian 39
The Cardinals earned their second victory – and largest to date of the 2021-22 campaign – in Adrian Thursday, Jan. 20.
The game was close for the first six minutes with the Dragons leading 6-3 and 8-6 in the early minutes before Luverne’s Connor Overgaard scored a layup and a foul shot to give the Cardinals a 9-8 lead.
Luverne continued to build its first-half advantage and took a 39-18 lead into the locker room at halftime.
In the second half, the Cardinals were able to extend their lead while 14 total players saw playing time, with 11 players scoring.
After outscoring the Dragons 29-21 in the second half, Luverne won the game 68-39.
Gannon Ahrendt led all scorers with 20 points for the Cardinals. Connor Overgaard added 12 points.
Ahrendt pulled in eight rebounds for Luverne, while Nathaniel Cole-Kraty tallied seven boards.
Box score:
Cole-Kraty 3 0 0-0 6, Schoeneman 1 1 0-0 5, Frahm 0 0 0-0 0, Sneller 0 0 2-2 2, Cowell 0 0 0-0 0, Sehr 1 1 1-2 6, Feit 0 0 0-0 0, Radtke 3 0 1-3 7, Friedrichsen 1 0 1-2 3, DeBeer 1 0 0-0 2, Ahrendt 9 0 2-2 20, Overgaard 5 0 2-3 12, Mounce 1 0 0-0 2, Arp 0 1 0-0 3
Team stats:
Luverne: 28 of 65 (43 percent), 9 of 14 free throws (64 percent), 41 rebounds, 14 turnovers
Adrian: 16 of 56 (29 percent), 6 of 11 free throws (55 percent), 41 rebounds, 25 turnovers
Belle Plaine 52, Luverne 49
The Cardinals took advantage of the opportunity to play on the raised court at Williams Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis Friday night by putting forth a solid effort in a close three-point loss.
Each season the team schedules one non-conference game at a large venue in the Twin Cities, and the players and coaches often take in a Timberwolves or Gophers game the same weekend.
This year LHS faced the Belle Plaine Tigers at “The Barn” Friday and lost 52-49. The next day the Cardinals saw the Gophers men’s basketball team defeat Rutgers on the same raised floor.
The Tigers started hot and jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first six minutes.
Luverne worked its way back into the game in the first half, tying the contest at 27-27 with about four minutes left in the first half. Belle Plaine led 31-29 at the half.
The Cardinals took their first lead (35-33) with about 12 minutes remaining in the game and led by as much as 37-33 a minute later.
The teams traded leads until the final four minutes, when Belle Plaine took a 50-49 lead they would retain until the end.
Gannon Ahrendt led the scoring for the Cardinals with 22 points. Eli Radtke totaled 13 points.
Box score:
Cole-Kraty 1 0 0-0 2, Schoeneman 0 0 0-0 0, Sehr 1 0 0-0 2, Radtke 5 1 0-0 13, Ahrendt 9 0 4-6 22, Overgaard 5 0 0-0 10
Team stats:
Luverne: 22 of 41 (54 percent), 4 of 8 free throws (50 percent), 24 rebounds, 17 turnovers
Belle Plaine: 19 of 53 (36 percent), 10 of 10 free throws (100 percent), 28 rebounds, 12 turnovers
Luverne 66, St. James 60
The Luverne boys’ basketball team won its first conference game of the season with a 66-60 victory over the St. James Saints at home Monday night.
The Cardinals had a very balanced effort with five players in double digits.
Luverne was led by senior Eli Radtke, who had an outstanding night including two three-pointers and going six-for-six at the free throw line for a total of 16 points.
Colin Schoeneman, another Cardinal senior, drained three three-pointers and tallied 13 points.
Casey Sehr, Gavin DeBeer and Connor Overgaard scored ten points each.
Luverne never trailed in the game. The Cardinals led 31-24 at half.
Box score:
Cole-Kraty 1 0 3-4 5, Schoeneman 1 3 2-4 13, Cowell 1 0 0-0 2, Sehr 4 0 2-4 10, Radtke 2 2 6-6 16, DeBeer 3 1 1-2 10, Overgaard 4 0 2-2 10
Team stats:
Luverne: 22 of 42 (52 percent), 16 of 22 free throws (73 percent), 12 rebounds, 4 turnovers.
St. James: 23 of 46 (50 percent), 7 of 12 free throws (58 percent), 12 rebounds, 4 turnovers.