It was a battle of “whatever you can do I can do better” on Tuesday, Feb. 16, inside the Luverne gymnasium between Hills-Beaver Creek’s Cole Baker and Luverne’s Gannon Ahrendt.
Ahrendt scored 34 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for the Cardinals, while Baker scored 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
In the end it was the Cardinals outscoring the Patriots down the stretch 14-4 to pick up the 69-60 victory.
Baker opened up the scoring to give the Patriots a 2-0 lead. Ahrendt got the Cardinals on the board to tie the game at 2-2.
Bakers’ second basket of the game put the Cardinals up 4-3. An Ahrendt basket put Luverne up 5-4.
With the Patriots trailing 7-4, Zander Wysong hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 7-7.
An Ahrendt basket put the Cardinals up 9-7.
A Baker three-pointer with 9:45 left in the first half put the Patriots up 10-9.
Another Baker basket extended the Patriots lead to 12-9.
A Bailey Cowell three-pointer with 7:30 left in the first half tied the game at 12-12.
With the Cardinals trailing 15-12, Ahrendt knocked down a three-pointer to tie the game at 15-15. Another Ahrendt three-pointer put the Cardinals up 18-17.
Wysong answered Ahrendt’s three-pointer, with a three-pointer of his own to put the Patriots back up 20-18.
A Ty Bundesen three-pointer put the Patriots up 25-22.
With the Patriots holding a 30-25 lead, Cowell knocked down a three-pointer to trim H-BC’s lead to 30-28 at the half.
Nathaniel Cole-Kraty opened the scoring in the second half for the Cardinals to tie the game at 30-30.
An Ethan Beyer three-pointer gave the Cardinals a 33-30 lead.
On the next possession, Baker knocked down a three-pointer to tie the game back up at 33-33.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Drew Leenderts put the Patriots up 39-35.
With the Cardinals trailing 43-39, Ahrendt knocked down a three-pointer to cut H-BC’s lead to 43-42.
Cowell followed Ahrendt’s three-pointer with a three-pointer of his own to put the Cardinals up 45-43.
With the two teams tied at 45-45, Ahrendt knocked down a three-pointer to put the Cardinals up 48-45.
A Baker three-pointer put the Patriots up 56-55 with 3:20 left in the game.
A pair of Ahrendt free-throws put the Cardinals up for good, 57-56.
With the Cardinals holding a 59-56 lead, Cowell hit a three-pointer to put them up 62-56.
Cowell finished the game with 14 points and dished out 11 assists.
Cole-Kraty scored seven points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Jayson Rops scored seven points and grabbed six rebounds for the Cardinals.
Wysong scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Patriots.
Leenderts and Bundesen both finished the game with eight points.
LHS 48, Worthington 46
The Cardinals improved to 8-2 on Friday, Feb. 19, with a 48-46 victory over the Worthington Trojans.
The Cardinals outscored the Trojans in the first half 24-20. In the second half the Trojans outscored Luverne 26-24, as the Cardinals held on to win 48-46.
Ahrendt scored 17 points to lead the Cardinals.
With the win over the Trojans, the Cardinals completed the season sweep against Worthington after defeating them 54-49 earlier this season.
LHS 88, JCC 47
Luverne scored the first 24 points of the game on Monday, Feb. 23, en route to a 88-47 victory over Jackson County Central.
JCC scored their first points of the game at the 11:11 mark of the first half.
At the half the Cardinals led JCC 56-28.
In the second half Luverne outscored JCC 32-19.
Ahrendt led the Cardinals with 27 points.
Cowell scored 19 points. Rops chipped in with 15 points.
With the win the Cardinals improved to 9-2 and completed the season sweep of JCC.
The Cardinals will be back in action on Thursday, Feb. 25, when they play host to Windom.
H-BC 63, RRC 56
The Patriots picked up their fourth win of the season on Friday, Feb. 19, when they bested Red Rock Central 63-56 in Lamberton.
The Patriots used a strong first half, in which they outscored the Falcons 31-23 to help them secure the road victory.
Baker led the Patriots with 19 points. Baker also grabbed six rebounds.
Bundesen scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds.
Wysong scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds.
Leenderts reached double figures with 11 points.
MCC 67, H-BC 38
The Patriots were unable to complete the season sweep over the Murray County Central Rebels on Monday, Feb. 22. The Patriots defeated the Rebels earlier this season 63-35, but they were unable to replicate that success as the Rebels knocked off the Patriots 67-38.
The Patriots fell behind by double digits early and were unable to mount a comeback.
H-BC trailed at one point in the first half 23-7. The two teams went into the locker room with the Rebels holding a 30-17 lead.
The second half was all MCC, as they outscored H-BC 37-21.
The Patriots currently own a 4-6 record. They’ll be back in action on Tuesday, Feb. 23, when they welcome R-T-R to Hills.