Luverne boys off to strong start behind stingy defensive effort

Since opening the season with a 65-31 victory, the Luverne boys’ basketball team has rattled off three straight wins by a combined six points.
The 4-0 start to the season marks the first time since 2006-2007 that the Cardinals have opened the season with a 4-0 record.
 
LHS 57, Martin County West 56
After defeating the Worthington Trojans by one point on Monday, Jan. 18, the Cardinals picked up another one-point road win on Friday, Jan. 22, by defeating Martin County West 57-56.
The Cardinals outscored Martin County 34-31 in the first half. That three-point lead proved to be the difference as MCW outscored Luverne 25-23 in the second half.
“This Cardinals team has a lot of resilience,” Luverne head coach John Sichmeller said. “They’ve faced adversity in both the one-point victories, but have fought back to pick up the narrow road wins.”
He said his team’s tenacity on the court is translating to wins.
“I think the biggest thing is they aren’t quitting,” Sichmeller said,“We’ve been down eight or nine points in some games. They didn’t get their heads down. They just kept fighting. That’s what helped us win those games.”
A big reason for Luverne’s 4-0 start is the players’ effort on the defensive end of the court. Through four games the Cardinals are giving up just 43.25 points per game.
“It starts with our defense,” Sichmeller said. “We held Worthington to 49 points. I don’t think they’re a team that’s going to be held to under 50 points very often. This game was in the fifties. If we can keep it under 60 and closer to 50, we’re going to give ourselves a good chance to win a lot of games.”
Gannon Ahrendt led the LHS team with 16 points. Ahrendt also grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked three shots
Ethan Beyer reached double figures with 13 points and also dished out three assists.
Bailey Cowell finished with six points, eight assists and six rebounds.
 
LHS 41, St. James 37
The Cardinals improved to 4-0 on Monday, Jan. 25, with another road victory, this time handing St. James a 41-37 home loss.
Luverne continued its strong defensive performance to start the season by holding St. James to 15 first-half points.
With St. James’ offense stymied, the Cardinals did just enough offensively to remain undefeated.
Ahrendt led the Cardinals with 22 points.
“He’s really grown in his confidence. Last year he was kind of just out there and learning. Now he’s starting to become our go-to player,” Sichmeller said.
“He’s confident doing that. That’s the biggest thing for him. Last year he kind of started off the year with ankle issues. He seems healthy right now. Hopefully that continues. Right now it’s just his confidence, though. He’s willing to take the big shots. Last year he might not have been willing to take those shots for us.”
Luverne will look to remain undefeated when they hit the road on Thursday, Jan. 28, to take on the Marshall Tigers.