The Luverne girls’ basketball team won two more games this week to advance their record to 15-4 on the season.
The Cardinals avenged one of their four losses when they defeated the Worthington Trojans 64-51 Feb. 3 in Luverne.
The Cards then bested Southwest Minnesota Christian one night later 51-41 in Edgerton.
Luverne was scheduled to play in Pipestone Tuesday (Feb. 8) and will travel to Windom tonight (Thursday).
On Saturday, the Cardinals will face Montevideo in a 5 p.m. game at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall.
The Windom and Montevideo games are part of girl-boy doubleheader games.
LHS 64, Worthington 51
Luverne’s first loss of the season was to the Worthington Trojans (50-45) in Worthington on Dec. 21.
Six weeks later the Cardinals avenged that loss with a 64-51 victory at home in the Luverne classic gym Feb. 3.
Luverne never trailed in the game and led 33-16 at halftime. The Cardinals led by as much as 22 points (54-32 and 56-34) late in the second half before the Trojans narrowed the lead to 15 points at the end of the game.
Sophomore Kira John led the Cardinals in both points (22) and rebounds (eight).
“It was a good win. It was exciting to play well, and it’s always good to win against a tough team like Worthington,” she said.
“My shots didn’t seem to want to fall in some previous games, but in this game, once the first one fell, the others seemed to come easier.”
Elizabeth Wagner added 17 points and seven rebounds in the game. Christina Wagner totaled 12 points.
Box score:
C. Wagner 3 1 3-4 12, Beyer 0 0 0-0 0, Ver Steeg 2 0 2-2 6, Sehr 0 0 1-2 1, E. Wagner 6 0 5-5 17, Jocelyn Hart 2 0 0-1 4, John 10 0 2-2 22, Schmuck 1 0 0-0 2
Team stats:
Luverne: 25 of 53 (47 percent), 13 of 17 free throws (77 percent), 36 rebounds, 19 turnovers
Worthington: 18 of 48 (38 percent), 13 of 22 free throws (59 percent), 27 rebounds, 25 turnovers
Luverne 51, SWC 41
The Cardinals picked up their second win in 24 hours when they traveled to Edgerton to play Southwest Minnesota Christian Friday, Feb. 4.
Luverne won its 15th contest of the 2021-22 campaign 51-41 over the Eagles.
Southwest Christian jumped out to an early lead before Luverne took a 10-9 lead with about 10 minutes remaining in the first half. The Cardinals led 25-22 at halftime.
The Cards outscored the Eagles 26-19 in the second half to earn the 10-point victory on the road.
Elizabeth Wagner led all scorers with 21 points. Christina Wagner added 12 points along with six rebounds.
Kira John totaled nine rebounds in the game.
Box score:
C. Wagner 2 2 2-2 12, Beyer 0 0 0-0 0, Ver Steeg 1 0 2-3 4, Sehr 0 0 2-2 2, E. Wagner 10 0 1-3 21, Jocelyn Hart 0 0 1-3 1, John 5 0 1-2 11
Team stats:
Luverne: 20 of 39 (51 percent), 9 of 15 free throws (60 percent), 31 rebounds, 27 turnovers
SWC: 16 of 49 (33 percent), 7 of 13 free throws (54 percent), 26 rebounds, 26 turnovers