Luverne senior post Scott Boelman (34) wrestles for a loose ball with a pair of Pipestone players during Friday’s boys’ basketball game in Luverne. Pipestone toppled the Cardinals 59-42.By John RittenhouseThe Luverne boys’ basketball team opened Southwest Conference play by dropping a pair of games since last Friday.The Cardinals dropped a 17-point home decision to Pipestone Friday before falling by 21 points in Worthington Tuesday.Luverne, 0-3 overall, hosts Edgerton Thursday and Murray County Central Monday.Worthington 71,Luverne 50The Cardinals were unable to upset a physical Trojan team when the teams squared off in Worthington Tuesday.The Trojans dominated the boards (34-21) and made 54 percent of their field goals while outscoring the Cards in every quarter."We went over there with the game plan of trying to pressure them," said Cardinal coach Tom Rops. "We did create some turnovers, but we didn’t run our offense effective enough in the game. Worthington is a big, physical team, and that worked against us."The Trojans led 21-14 after eight minutes of play before increasing the difference to 10 points (38-28) at the intermission.Worthington doubled Luverne’s scoring output (14-7) in the third quarter to lead 52-35 before outscoring the Cards 19-15 in the fourth quarter to prevail by 21 points.Nick Heronimus led Luverne with eight points. Brandon Deragisch pulled down five rebounds.Box scorePick 1 0 4-6 6, Herman 3 0 0-0 6, Deragisch 1 0 4-6 6, Stegemann 2 1 0-2 7, Willers 1 0 0-0 2, S.Boelman 1 0 0-0 2, M.Boelman 1 0 1-4 3, Heronimus 2 0 4-4 8, Lange 3 0 0-0 6, Antoine 0 1 1-2 4.Team statisticsLuverne: 17 of 42 field goals (40 percent), 14 of 25 free throws (56 percent), 21 rebounds, 14 turnovers.Worthington: 26 of 48 field goals (54 percent), 15 of 19 free throws (79 percent), 34 rebounds, 22 turnovers.Pipestone 59,Luverne 42A sour second half by the Cardinals turned a close game into a 17-point loss when they hosted Pipestone for the conference opener for both teams Friday in Luverne.Luverne played with the defending Section 3AA champions for two quarters, but Pipestone dictated the flow of play in the second half while outscoring the hosts 30-17."We did some good things tonight, but not enough to get out of here with a win," said Cardinal coach Rops. "With the athletes we have, I think our team will get a lot better. We just got to get to work and execute for four quarters."The Cardinals displayed their potential early when they exchanged blows with the Arrows before taking an 8-7 lead when Jared Pick converted a three-point play at the 3:59 mark of the first quarter.The score was tied at 11 when guard Deragisch drained a three-point shot with 49 seconds remaining in the opening quarter, but Pipestone drained a free throw moments later to take a 12-11 edge into the second period.Deragisch’s second three-point shot of the game trimmed a four-point deficit down to one point (16-15) during the second quarter, but the Arrows countered with a 9-1 run to open a 25-16 lead.Luverne battled back to put together a 9-4 run capped by a field goal by Brad Herman with 34 seconds remaining to trail 29-25 at the intermission.Pipestone scored the first seven points of the third quarter to open a 36-25 lead. The Cards trailed by seven (38-31) when Pick connected for a field goal as the period progressed, but the Arrows ended the quarter with a 10-2 spurt to make it a 48-33 game heading into the final eight minutes of play.Luverne trimmed the difference to 13 points twice in the fourth quarter before falling by 17 in the end.Herman led LHS with 10 points. Andy Stegemann grabbed five rebounds and Pick charted five assists for the hosts.Box scorePick 3 0 3-7 9, Tofteland 0 0 0-0 0, Graphenteen 0 1 0-0 3, Herman 5 0 0-3 10, Deragisch 0 2 0-0 6, Hendricks 0 0 0-0 0, Antoine 0 0 0-0 0, Stegemann 2 0 1-2 5, Willers 0 0 0-0 0, S.Boelman 0 0 0-0 0, M.Boelman 0 0 0-0 0, Heronimus 2 1 0-0 7, Lange 1 0 0-0 2.Team statisticsLuverne: 17 of 40 field goals (42 percent), four of 12 free throws (33 percent), 21 rebounds, 12 turnovers.Pipestone: 25 of 39 field goals (64 percent), seven of 12 free throws (58 percent), 25 rebounds, five turnovers.
