Cardinal boys suffer first loss of season to Marshall Tigers

The Luverne Cardinals boys’ basketball team opened the season with a 3-0 start. That early success was halted, however, by a 59-42 loss to the sixth-ranked Marshall Tigers on Thursday, Jan. 28.
Marshall scored the first five points of the game and appeared ready to run the Cardinals out of the gym.
The Cardinals responded by going on a 10-2 run to take a 10-7 lead.
Marshall outscored the Cardinals 14-6 to close out the first half to take a 21-16 lead into the locker room.
“We held them to 21 points in the first half and we were really frustrating them with our defense,” Luverne head coach John Sichmeller said.
“Our defense stayed strong in the second half, but we didn’t make enough shots and had too many turnovers to get the win.”
In the second half, Marshall outscored the visiting Cardinals 38-26 to pick up the win.
“I was really happy with our effort,” Sichmeller said.
“Sometimes you play a team like Marshall and make a couple of turnovers and heads go down and kids give up. Our guys kept fighting the whole game and kept it within striking distance until about seven minutes to go.”
Sichmeller said that the matchup against the Tigers was a good litmus test for his team to see where they stack up.
“This was a good game for our kids,” Sichmeller said. “To have to play against a very good team will make us better in the long run.”
Bailey Cowell led the Cardinals with 14 points. The senior guard also dished out five assists.
Gannon Ahrendt scored 12 points, grabbed five rebounds, and blocked four shots.
The Cardinals will play their first home game of the season on Tuesday, Feb. 2, when they host Redwood Valley.
Luverne will wrap up the week by hosting Pipestone Area on Friday, Feb. 5.