Luverne girls defeat TMB Panthers

The Luverne girls’ basketball team advanced its season record to 11-2 with a 47-39 victory over Tracy-Milroy-Balaton in Tracy on Tuesday, Jan. 11.
The victory avenged the 56-51 loss the Cardinals suffered to the Panthers in the opening round of the section playoffs last March.
“It was a good win for us,” said Luverne head coach TJ Newgard, “They (TMB) are a good team, a real physical team.”
The close, physical contest included 28 turnovers and 13 steals for Luverne and 26 turnovers and 16 steals for TMB. 
The Panthers led for the first six minutes of the game before Luverne took a 6-5 lead and maintained the lead for the remainder of the game. 
LHS held a trim 25-24 lead at halftime before outscoring TMB 22-15 in the second half. 
The Cardinals had a balanced offensive attack with Elizabeth Wagner leading the way with 10 points and 12 rebounds. 
Christina Wagner, Sarah Stegenga and Kira John scored eight points each. 
Averill Sehr tallied nine rebounds in the game. 
Luverne is scheduled to host the Marshall Tigers Friday night before traveling to St. James Tuesday night. 
 
Box score:
C. Wagner 1 1 3-4 8, Beyer 2 0 3-4 7, Sehr 2 0 2-6 6, E. Wagner 5 0 0-3 10, Stegenga 3 0 2-2 8, Hart 0 0 0-0 0, John 4 0 0-2 8
 
Team stats:
Luverne: 18 of 47 (38 percent), 10 of 25 free throws (40 percent), 42 rebounds, 28 turnovers
TMB: 13 of 59 (22 percent), 11 of 20 free throws (55 percent), 40 rebounds, 26 turnovers