The Luverne Cardinals girls’ basketball team has been itching to get back out on the court since suffering a heartbreaking loss during last season’s section tournament.
The wait was much longer than anticipated for the Cardinals due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Then the Cardinals had to wait one more day due to the blizzard that hit the area on Thursday and Friday.
The long wait finally ended for the Cardinals Saturday morning when they opened the season at home with a 78-67 victory over Jackson County Central.
“As expected, the first game had its ups and downs,” said Luverne coach TJ Newgard.
“Anytime we can score 78 points, we are going to have a good chance to win. Having six players score eight or more points shows the balance that we have.”
It was a slow start for the Cardinals as they trailed for the first 10 minutes of the game. At one point they were behind 13-5.
“Defensively I think we struggled to move our feet and communicate,” Newgard said. “That led to some easy points for JCC around the rim and at the free-throw line.”
A Christina Wagner bucket gave the Cardinals their first lead of the game at 25-24.
The two teams swapped leads before the Cardinals went on an 8-0 run to pull ahead 35-27, a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
At the half the Cardinals led JCC 45-38.
Elizabeth Wagner opened the second half by knocking down a three-pointer to put Luverne up 48-39.
With the Cardinals clinging to a 63-60 lead, Brooklynn Ver Steeg scored seven straight points for the Cardinals to build a 70-62 lead.
Ver Steeg finished the game with a team-leading 22 points. The junior guard dished out 10 assists, grabbed five rebounds, and recorded two steals.
Averill Sehr scored 14 points and recorded five steals.
Emma Beyer and Christina Wagner both had 13 points.
Elizabeth Wagner scored eight points, grabbed 10 rebounds and recorded five blocks.
The Cardinals will play their second game of the season on Tuesday, Jan. 19, at home against Worthington.
“I’m really proud of our effort and how we played,” Newgard said. “We look forward to getting back out there against another quality opponent on Tuesday.”