The Luverne girls’ basketball team won two big post-season games in the past week to advance to the Section 3AA Championship.
Luverne beat St. James 70-45 in Windom Feb. 28 and took care of Fairmont 54-33 March 2 in Marshall.
Luverne is scheduled to play New London-Spicer for the section championship Friday, March 10, at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall.
Game time is 5 p.m.
Head coach TJ Newgard said he’s optimistic about his players’ post-season success.
“They have earned everything they have gotten, and they are excited for a chance to play in the section championship next week,” he said.
LHS 70, St. James 45
The Luverne girls’ basketball team traveled to Windom to take on St. James in sub-section play Tuesday, Feb. 28.
The Cardinals beat the Saints 70-45 in commending fashion, leading at half and never looking back.
“We did a really good job of never letting their perimeter players get comfortable,” Newgard said.
The Saints had 21 turnovers while shooting only 37 percent inside and 36 percent past the line.
Luverne had a team total of 14 steals, 33 rebounds, 19 points on turnovers and 23 team assists.
“They are deadly from three if you let them get going,” Newgard said. “I was proud of our defensive execution.”
Luverne was able to spread the ball around, and many players contributed to the win.
Junior Kira John led Luverne with 14 points. She also grabbed eight rebounds, had two assists and three steals.
“I thought Lauren and Tori were exceptional off the bench,” Newgard said.
“Getting 20 points from them is a huge boost and makes us that much more difficult to defend.”
Senior Lauren Hansen posted nine points and had two assists.
Junior Tori Serie added 11 points, one rebound and two assists off the bench.
Senior Averill Sehr made 12 points and contributed three rebounds, six assists and three steals in the game.
Senior Christina Wagner added 11 points, four rebounds, two assists and three steals to the Cardinals’ win.
Elizabeth Wagner charted nine points, five rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
Senior Emma Beyer and junior Kiesli Smith added two points each. Beyer also had four rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Senior Jocelyn Hart grabbed two rebounds and had one blocked shot.
Junior Sarah Stegenga helped with two rebounds, one steal and one blocked shot.
Juniors Dennie Sandbulte and Kayla Bloemendaal each nabbed a rebound, and junior Josie Voorhees added one rebound, one assist and one steal for Luverne.
Senior Jayden Hart was scoreless Tuesday, but she’s credited for team spirit this season, and she came off the bench to hassle the Eagles in the final minutes.
LHS 54, Fairmont 33
The Luverne girls’ basketball team traveled to Marshall to take on Fairmont for the Sub-section 3AA Championship at Southwest Minnesota State University Thursday, March 2.
The Cardinals beat Fairmont 54-33 to advance to the Section 3AA Championship Friday, March 10, at SMSU against New London-Spicer at 5 p.m.
“I thought we did a tremendous job of knowing where their best players were and never letting them get going,” Newgard said.
“Holding a team to 33 points in a subsection championship game gives you a really good chance to win.”
Luverne caused 27 Fairmont turnovers in the game, netting 23 points.
As a team the Cardinals had 16 steals, 37 rebounds, three blocked shots and 17 team assists.
Christina Wagner led Luverne with 17 points. She also had four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
“Christina really had a great game,” Newgard said. “You could definitely tell things didn’t run as smoothly when she was out with a little bit of foul trouble.”
John posted nine points inside, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
Elizabeth Wagner added eight points, three rebounds, one assist and four blocked shots in the game. She was also on the floor at least three times fighting for the ball.
Hansen came off the bench to sink two 3-point shots for six points and grab two rebounds and blocked one shot.
Sandbulte contributed four points.
Beyer and Serie both added three points each.
Beyer posted two rebounds, two assists and five big steals for Luverne.
Serie helped with two rebounds and one assist.
Sehr and Jocelyn Hart added two points each.
Sehr contributed two rebounds, six assists and one steal.
Hart grabbed four rebounds and one steal.
“I’m really proud of this team and their businesslike approach to the game,” Newgard said.
“They have had some major goals since they were young, and winning this game was one of them.”
Luverne’s win at SMSU was special to Cardinals twin sisters Christina and Elizabeth Wagner, who have committed to play for the SMSU Mustangs girls’ basketball team next year.