Luverne junior post Brad Herman drives past a Lake Benton defender during the championship game of the Cardinal Boys’ Basketball Holiday Classic Dec. 30. Herman scored six points to help the Cardinals defeat the Bobcats 62-33 and win the tournament title.By John RittenhouseA red hot Luverne boys’ basketball team extended its longest winning streak in recent years to six straight games.The Cardinals beat Lake Benton by 29 points in the championship game of the Cardinal Boys’ Basketball Holiday Classic Tuesday, Dec. 30, before posting 20- and seven-point home wins over Jackson County Central and Blue Earth Area Saturday and Tuesday respectively.Luverne, 6-3 overall, will try to keep the run going when it plays road games against Redwood Valley Friday and Windom Tuesday.Luverne 40, BEA 33An outstanding defensive effort by the Cardinals set the stage for a seven-point home win over the Bucs Tuesday.Luverne limited BEA to 36 percent shooting and 11 first-half points to keep the game close when the Cards were struggling offensively.The Cards battled back to outscore the Bucs 30-22 in the second half to win their sixth straight game by seven points."I was really happy with our defensive effort," said Cardinal coach Tom Rops. "Our defense was solid all night, and we were lucky in the second half to be able to pick it up offensively and score a couple more points than they did."Luverne led 8-6 after eight minutes of play before being limited to two points in the second quarter, which led to a one-point (11-10) deficit at halftime.Brad Herman scored five of his team-high eight points and Scott Boelman added five of his eight points to a 14-8 surge in the third quarter that gave LHS a 24-19 lead. The Cards padded their lead to seven points by outscoring the Bucs 16-14 in the final eight minutes of play."This was a good test for us," Rops stated. "We thought this game would determine which way we are headed as a team. By winning it, I think we’re heading in the right direction."Box scoreTofteland 3 0 0-2 6, Herman 4 0 1-2 9, Deragisch 1 1 1-2 6, Stegemann 1 0 0-0 2, S.Boelman 2 0 4-5 8, Heronimus 1 1 1-2 6, Lange 1 0 0-1 2, Graphenteen 0 0 1-2 1.Team statisticsLuverne: 15 of 52 field goals (29 percent), eight of 15 free throws (53 percent), 21 rebounds, 14 turnovers.BEA: 13 of 36 field goals (36 percent), five of 11 free throws (45 percent), 16 rebounds, 15 turnovers.Luverne 58, JCC 38The Cardinals registered their fifth consecutive win and posted their first victory in conference play when they bested the Huskies by 20 points in Luverne Saturday.Luverne cashed in on 56 percent of its field goals in the game and limited JCC to 33 percent shooting to win the game handily."Our defense really caused them a lot of problems," said Cardinal coach Rops. "We got some steals and they didn’t get a lot of good looks at the basket."Luverne sported 16-12 and 32-24 leads at the first two quarter breaks before putting the game away with a 16-5 scoring push in the third quarter that gave it a 19-point (48-29) advantage.Nick Heronimus, who led the Cards with 14 points and five steals and tied Jared Pick with a team-high five assists, scored six points to lead the charge in the third quarter. Herman contributed 12 points and seven rebounds to the winning cause.Box scorePick 1 0 5-6 7, Tofteland 3 0 0-0 6, Herman 6 0 0-3 12, Deragisch 1 0 0-0 2. Stegemann 3 0 0-0 6, S.Boelman 3 0 1-1 7, M.Boelman 1 0 0-0 2, Heronimus 4 2 0-0 14, Lange 1 0 0-0 2.Team statisticsLuverne: 25 of 45 field goals (56 percent), six of 10 free throws (60 percent), 32 rebounds, 14 turnovers.JCC: 14 of 42 field goals (33 percent), six of 12 free throws (50 percent), 23 rebounds, 12 turnovers.Luverne 62, LB 33The Cardinal boys had little trouble disposing of the Bobcats during the championship game of the Cardinal Classic Tuesday, Dec. 30.Luverne outscored Lake Benton in every quarter and captured the tournament title with a 39-point victory.The Cardinals got off to a great start by opening the game with an 11-0 run that ended with Josh Lange recording a field goal at the 2:02 mark of the first quarter.LB trimmed the difference to nine points (11-2) by the end of the first quarter and trailed by seven in the early stages of the second quarter when Luverne scored six straight points with Scott Boelman hitting a field goal to cap the run and give the Cards a 19-6 lead.Dusty Antoine, who came off the bench to lead Luverne in scoring with 10 points, gave Luverne its biggest lead of the first half (23-9) with a field goal at the 1:43 mark of the second quarter. LB, however, sliced Luverne’s lead to 13 points (26-13) by period’s end.The Bobcats outscored Luverne 6-2 in the early stages of the third quarter to trail by nine (28-19) before Luverne went on a 7-0 run capped by a three-point shot by John Tofteland to open a 35-19 lead. Herman increased Luverne’s lead to 18 points with a field goal with five seconds remaining to give the Cards a 42-24 lead heading into the fourth quarter.LB was unable to seriously challenge the Cards in the fourth quarter as the hosts outscored the Bobcats 20-9 to win by 29 points.Tofteland led the Cards with seven rebounds in the game. Jared Pick set the pace with five steals. Brandon Deragisch, Jake Hendricks and Antoine charted three assists each.Box scorePick 3 0 0-0 6, Tofteland 1 2 0-0 8, Graphenteen 0 1 0-0 3, Herman 3 0 0-0 6, Hendricks 1 1 0-0 5, Antoine 2 2 0-2 10, Deragisch 1 0 2-2 4, Willers 2 0 0-2 4, S.Boelman 3 0 0-2 6, M.Boelman 1 0 0-0 2, Heronimus 1 0 0-0 2, Lange 3 0 0-2 6.Team statisticsLuverne: 27 of 74 field goals (36 percent), two of 10 free throws (20 percent), 50 rebounds, seven turnovers.LB: 12 of 36 field goals (33 percent), six of 10 free throws (60 percent), 18 rebounds, 18 turnovers.
