Luverne freshman guard Maggie Kuhlman delivers a bounce pass during Thursday’s home basketball game against Marshall. Kuhlman netted seven points in a 58-37 loss.
By John Rittenhouse
Marshall spoiled the home debut for the Luverne girls’ basketball team by handing the Cardinals a 58-37 setback in Luverne Thursday.
Luverne got off to a good start in the first quarter and led by six points early, but the rest of the game belonged to the Tigers as they outscored the Cards 56-29 after the first four minutes to prevail by 21 points.
The loss was Luverne’s fifth straight to open the season. The Cards will attempt to snap the skid when they host Jackson County Central Friday.
After dropping four road games to open the year, the Cards hoped to change their fortunes by playing in familiar surroundings.
The situation looked good for LHS when Tera Boomgaarden, Serena Franken and Maggie Kuhlman contributed field goals to a 6-0 run that gave the Cards an 8-2 advantage early.
Marshall, however, scored the next 10 points to lead 12-8 before Luverne’s Abby Klosterbuer drained a shot at the buzzer to make it a 12-10 game after eight minutes of play.
The Tigers scored the first seven points of the second quarter and led by as many as 15 (29-14), but another buzzer-beater by Luverne’s Krista Wynia made the score 29-16 at the intermission.
The Cards scored the first four points in the third quarter to trail 29-20 before Marshall closed the period with a 12-4 run to lead 41-24 heading into the final period of play.
Luverne trimmed the difference to 14 points (44-30) in the fourth quarter before falling by 21 at game’s end.
Rachel Tofteland scored 11 points, grabbed four rebounds and charted three assists for LHS. She netted seven points in the second half. Franken also collected four rebounds.
Box score
Williams 0 0 0-0 0, Kuhlman 2 1 0-0 7, Boomgaarden 3 0 0-0 6, Tofteland 4 0 3-3 11, Klosterbuer 1 0 0-0 2, Franken 1 0 0-4 2, Stewart 0 0 0-0 0, Wynia 2 0 0-0 4, Loosbrock 1 0 0-0 2.
Team statistics
Luverne: 16 of 49 field goals (33 percent), three of seven free throws (43 percent), 16 rebounds, 16 turnovers.
Marshall: 17 of 55 field goals (31 percent), 11 of 39 free throws (28 percent), 37 rebounds, eight turnovers.