The No. 1-seeded Luverne High School girls’ basketball team hosted the No. 8 seed Minnesota Valley Lutheran Saturday, Feb. 25, in the second round of the Section 3A tournament.
The Cardinals handily beat the Chargers 87-19 to move on to a scheduled quarterfinal game against St. James Tuesday, Feb. 28, to be played in Windom at 6 p.m.
“We came out firing on all cylinders and really took control of the game early on,” said head coach TJ Newgard. “We never allowed them to get comfortable on the offensive end.
“We knew going in that we had some mismatches and we did a very nice job of exploiting them.”
At the half, LHS led the Chargers 46-8 and was able to sub in their entire bench in the second half for valuable playoff experience.
“Kira John played like we all know she can and that is something we need to see every night we step on the court from here on out,” Newgard said.
John, a junior, posted a team-leading double-double in the game. She had 21 points and 10 rebounds with one assist and three steals.
“Christina Wagner did a great job attacking and looking to score more,” Newgard said.
Wagner, a senior, posted 14 points with six rebounds, two assists and one steal.
Senior Elizabeth Wagner netted 12 points, two rebounds, two assists and one blocked shot.
Serie, a junior, made eight points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal
“Tori was excellent while filling in for Elizabeth in the starting lineup,” Newgard said.
Senior Lauren Hansen and junior Sarah Stegenga added six points each.
Hansen also had one assist and one steal, and Stegenga grabbed five rebounds and one steal.
Seniors Emma Beyer, Averill Sehr and junior Kiesli Smith added four points each to the win.
Beyer also had three assists, Sehr had two rebounds, four assists and one steal, while Smith grabbed four rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Senior Jocelyn Hart and junior Josie Voorhees added three points each.
Hart had five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Voorhees had one rebound and two assists.
Junior Dennie Sandbulte added two points and two rebounds in the game.
“We are happy with the way we played, but as soon as the game ended, our focus moved to Saint James,” Newgard said.
“We know they present some challenges for us so we are going to need to be at our best.”