Luverne girls claim big wins in basketball

It was two more lopsided victories and another near upset for the Luverne girls’ basketball team this week. 
The Cardinals, now 13-4 on the season, defeated St. James by 40 points (74-34) Jan. 25 and Redwood Valley by 55 points (69-14) Jan. 28.
LHS then faced Wagner, South Dakota, Saturday at Augustana University in Sioux Falls. Wagner is 13-0 and ranked No.1 in their class in South Dakota girls’ basketball. The Cardinals lost to Wagner 45-40.
The Luverne girls have a busy week ahead. The Cardinals host the Worthington Trojans tonight (Feb. 3) in a key Big South Conference rematch in the Luverne classic gym.
Friday night, Luverne travels to Southwest Christian in Edgerton before playing conference games in Pipestone Tuesday and in Windom next Thursday, Feb. 10. 
 
Luverne 74, St. James 34
Luverne made the trip to St. James to face the Saints Jan. 28.The Cardinals scored early and often in the contest. St. James held a brief 4-3 lead about five minutes into the game, but otherwise LHS dominated the game.
Luverne led 44-17 after the first half and outpaced the Saints 30-17 in the second half to earn the 74-34 road victory.
Elizabeth Wagner led the Cardinal offense with 36 points, including a three-pointer and seven of eleven free throws she attempted.
She also pulled in a team-leading ten rebounds in the contest.
Averill Sehr drained three shots from behind the arc for a total of nine points and Kira John had eight points.
John, Lauren Hansen and Christina Wagner tallied six rebounds each. 
 
Box score:
C. Wagner 0 1 0-0 3, Beyer 1 0 0-0 2, Ver Steeg 2 0 1-2 5, Sehr 0 3 0-0 9, E. Wagner 13 1 7-11 36, Stegenga 0 0 0-0 0, Sandbulte 0 0 0-0 0, John 3 0 2-5 8, Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Huiskes 1 0 0-0 2, Serie 0 0 0-0 0, Voorhees 2 1 0-0 7, Bloemendaal 0 0 0-0 0, Hansen 0 0 0-0 0, Schmuck 1 0 0-0 2, Jadyn Hart 0 0 0-0 0
 
Team Stats:
Luverne: 29 of 52 (56 percent), 10 of 18 free throws (56 percent), 40 rebounds, 19 turnovers
St James: 12 of 46 (26 percent), 6 of 14 free throws (43 percent), 25 rebounds, 27 turnovers
 
Luverne 69, Redwood Valley 14
It was a very one-sided affair when the Luverne Cardinals traveled to Redwood Falls to take on the Redwood Valley Cardinals Jan. 28.
Luverne's defense held Redwood Valley (which shot just 14 percent) to only seven points in each half. LHS led 40-7 at the half and won the game 69-14.
The Cardinals out-rebounded Redwood 42-26 and gave up half the turnovers, 36 to 18.
Luverne had a balanced offensive attack with Brooklynn Ver Steeg scoring 15 points, Elizabeth Wagner totaling 14 and Christina Wagner adding 13 points. In total, 11 Luverne players scored in the game. 
 
Box Score:
C. Wagner 4 1 2-4 13, Beyer 2 0 0-0 4, Ver Steeg 5 1 2-2 15, Sehr 1 0 0-0 2, E. Wagner 7 0 0-2 14, Stegenga 1 0 0-0 2, Sandbulte 0 0 1-2 1, John 3 0 2-2 8, Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Serie 1 0 1-2 3, Voorhees 0 0 1-2 1, Hansen 1 1 1-2 6, Schmuck 0 0 0-0 0, Jadyn Hart 0 0 0-0 0
 
Team stats:
Luverne: 28 of 63 (44 percent), 10 of 18 free throws (56 percent), 42 rebounds, 18 turnovers
Redwood Valley: 5 of 36 (14 percent), 4 of 9 free throws (44 percent), 26 rebounds, 36 turnovers
 
Wagner 45, Luverne 40
It was a unique location and opponent when the Luverne girls traveled to the Elmen Center on the campus of Augustana University in Sioux Falls Saturday night to face the Red Raiders from Wagner, South Dakota.
Wagner, with an undefeated 13-0 record, is ranked No. 1 in South Dakota Class A girls’ basketball.
While the location and opponent were different, the Cardinals coming back to nearly defeat another high-quality team was not. Luverne nearly upset the Marshall Tigers in the same fashion a week before.
The Red Raiders led 25-15 at the half. Luverne outscored Wagner 25-20 in the second half and the game ended with a 45-40 Wagner victory.
The Cardinals were down by as much as 16 points (33-17) after halftime before slowly working their way back into the game, getting to within one point (41-40) with about two minutes remaining.
“Wagner did their homework and took away some of our strengths,” said Luverne senior Brooklynn Ver Steeg. “By the time we adjusted, we ran out of time.”
Overall, Ver Steeg and her teammates were pleased with the opportunity to play against some of the best competition South Dakota has to offer.
“We managed to come back from being down double digits and having foul trouble,” Ver Steeg said.
“We are glad to get some experience from strong competition that will help us in the future.”
The Cardinals were led by Elizabeth Wagner with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Ver Steeg tallied seven points, including two shots from behind the three-point line.
Christina Wagner and Kira John pulled in six rebounds each in the game. 
 
Box Score:
C. Wagner 1 0 2-2 4, Beyer 0 0 0-0 0, Ver Steeg 0 2 1-2 7, Sehr 1 1 0-0 5, E. Wagner 5 2 3-5 19, Stegenga 0 0 0-0 0, Jocelyn Hart 0 0 1-2 1, John 2 0 0-2 4
 
Team Stats:
Luverne: 14 of 48 (29 percent), 7 of 13 free throws (54 percent), 31 rebounds, 13 turnovers
Wagner: 14 of 39 (36 percent), 10 of 19 free throws (53 percent), 31 rebounds, 16 turnovers