The Luverne Cardinals boys’ basketball team finished the regular season with a 14-3 record, with two of their three losses coming to Marshall, a Top 10 team.
It’s a veteran group for the Cardinals. With eight seniors on the roster, this team has been through it all on the court together. That veteran leadership has helped them win eight games by five points or less.
“They work hard and set the tone for the rest of the players,” Luverne head coach, John Sichmeller said. “They are a really fun group to be around.”
Point guard, Bailey Cowell is one of those seniors. He’s the one that stirs the drink for the Cardinals.
“He gets our team going,” Sichmeller said. “When he is playing well, our team generally plays well.”
Jayson Rops joins Cowell in the starting lineup. He’s a glue guy that scored 22 points in the season finale.
Ethan Beyer is the third senior that’s in the starting lineup. The other five seniors on the roster include, Arekel McLaughlin, LaShad Smith, Kaden Lampron-DeSollar, Ben Jarchow and Justin Dholmann.
Junior, Nathanial Cole-Kraty is one of the five starters for Sichmeller. Cole-Kraty provides a strong defensive presence, while being a strong rebounder.
The large group of seniors will begin postseason play on Saturday, March 20 in Luverne against Windom Area or Tracy-Milroy-Balaton.
When they take the court on Saturday they’ll be three wins away from reaching the state tournament. A player that could help them reach the finish line is sophomore, Gannon Ahrendt.
As a freshman Ahrendt was one of the team’s leading scorers.
Fast forward a year and Ahrednt is up to the same tricks, leading the Cardinals in scoring averaging over 20 points per game.
“Our goal is the state tournament, Ahrendt said.
“We had a lot of success because everyone was in shape and prepared for the season. We are a tight knit group and everybody gets along very well.”
Ahrendt can jump out of the gym. That freakish athleticism gives him an advantage each time he steps on the court.
“I mean the thing with him is his athleticism is huge for him,” Sichmeller said. “There are a lot of times where there is nothing there for him and he’ll just jump over somebody and get his shot over them. We can kind of get him his shot whenever we need to.”
Athleticism is something you can’t coach. Ahrendt has that in spades.
The thing that separates Ahrendt from other athletic prep athletes is his willingness to hone his craft. He’s a gym rat that’s been playing basketball since he could remember.
“His athleticism is huge,” Sichmeller said. “But he has a lot of skill. He’s got good touch around the basket to go along with that athleticism.”
As a freshman, Sichmeller said that Ahrendt was just a player for the Cardinals. Now as a sophomore, Ahrendt has grown more confident and is becoming a leader.
“A lot of it he’s more confident,” Sichmeller said. “There are even times where there are certain plays that we run for him and he’ll ask if we can run a play for him to get a three-point shot. He would have never done that before. He’s growing and maturing into a leader of the team.”
The Cardinals enter the section tournament as one of the hottest teams in Section 3AA. The Cardinals are currently on a four-game winning streak and are 9-1 in their past 10 games.
With a perfect blend of senior leadership and talented youth, the Cardinals are on the doorsteps of accomplishing their goal of reaching the state tournament.