By John RittenhouseGirls’ basketball teams from Luverne and Adrian wrapped up the regular season in Adrian Monday.Both the AHS and LHS girls were looking to gain some momentum heading into the postseason, which begins for both teams this weekend.The home-standing Dragons received a boost of confidence by rolling to a 60-31 victory over the Cardinals.Adrian will take an 18-5 record and a two-game winning streak in the South Section 3A Tournament, where it will play either Ellsworth or Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in Worthington.Luverne, which ends a 4-19 regular season with an eight-game losing streak, plays Windom in the quarterfinals of the South Section 3AA Tournament at 7 p.m. Saturday in Windom.The Dragons scored the first six points of Monday’s game and never lost control of the contest after limiting the Cardinals to a pair of field goals in the first half.Sarah Henning sank a free throw with 20.9 seconds left in the first quarter to give the Dragons a 14-4 lead they would take into the second period.AHS scored the first six points of the second quarter to open a 20-4 advantage that swelled to 22 points (28-6) when Maria Gengler converted a field goal with 1:12 left.Luverne trimmed the difference to 21 points (30-9) by the end of the first half and trailed by 16 (33-17) when Maggie Kuhlman delivered a field goal at the 3:00 mark of the third quarter.Adrian outscored LHS 6-3 the rest of the third period to take a 39-20 lead into the fourth quarter. The hosts opened the fourth period with a 12-0 run in the first 4:10 that settled the issue by giving the Dragons a 51-20 lead.Senior Kylie Heronimus tied the AHS school record for career assists (459) by distributing 12 in the contest. Heronimus also pulled down 10 rebounds.Andrea Lonneman led the Dragons in scoring with 19 points. Gengler scored 15 points, collected 11 rebounds and blocked five shots.Kuhlman led the Cards with 11 points and four steals. Mindy Nieuwboer and Danielle Loosbrock snared six and four rebounds respectively.Box scoreLuverneWilliams 1 1 2-2 7, Heitkamp 1 0 0-0 2, Boomgaarden 0 0 2-2 2, Nieuwboer 1 0 0-1 2, Snyder 1 0 1-1 3, Peterson 0 0 0-0 0, Kuhlman 3 1 2-2 11, Stewart 0 0 0-0 0, Gacke 0 0 0-0 0, Evans 1 0 0-0 2, Loosbrock 1 0 0-0 2, VanDeBerg 0 0 0-0 0.AdrianS.Henning 1 0 1-2 3, Heronimus 2 0 0-1 4, Honermann 0 0 1-2 1, Thier 0 0 0-0 0, Banck 2 0 1-2 5, Kruger 2 0 0-1 4, Cox 2 0 1-2 5, Lonneman 5 0 9-10 19, Gengler 7 0 1-2 15, Strand 0 0 1-2 1, Bullerman 0 0 0-0 0, Loosbrock 1 0 1-2 3.Team statisticsLuverne: 11 of 55 field goals (20 percent), seven of eight free throws (88 percent), 23 rebounds, 14 turnovers.Adrian: 22 of 45 field goals (49 percent), 16 of 29 free throws (55 percent), 43 rebounds, 13 turnovers.
