By John RittenhouseA five-game winning streak came to an end for the Luverne girls’ basketball team Friday in Redwood Falls.After securing a 10-point victory in Lennox, S.D., Thursday, the Cardinals slipped to 1-4 in Southwest Conference play with a five-point loss to Redwood Valley Friday.The 6-5 Cards play in Windom Friday before hosting Fulda Tuesday.RWV 70, Luverne 65Redwood Valley gained the lead late in the first half and never relinquished it in the final 18 minutes of play to snap Luverne’s winning streak Friday in Redwood Falls.Luverne, which led by as many as six points in the first half, fell behind 35-34 when RWV canned its final of five three-point shots in the first half right before the buzzer sounded.Luverne never regained the lead in the second half, when RWV outscored the Cards 35-31 to win by six."The difference was they shot the ball quite a bit better than we did," said LHS coach Jason Phelps. "They shot the ball well, and we couldn’t get ourselves any defensive stops."Samantha Gacke turned in a sold effort for the Cards by scoring 24 points and collecting 17 rebounds. Alyssa Klein chipped in 16 points and charted four steals. Mindy Nieuwboer added 18 points to the cause.Box scoreKlein 5 2 0-0 16, Nieuwboer 6 0 6-10 18, Snyder 1 1 0-0 5, Kuhlman 0 0 0-0 0, Hoiland 1 0 0-3 2, Gacke 10 0 4-8 24.Team statisticsLuverne: 26 of 77 field goals (34 percent), 10 of 21 free throws (48 percent), 30 rebounds, 15 turnovers.RWV: 27 of 59 field goals (46 percent), 10 of 13 free throws (77 percent), 35 rebounds, 21 turnovers.Luverne 47, Lennox 37The Cardinals proved they can bounce back from adversity when they posted a 10-point win in Lennox Thursday.LHS trailed 29-26 heading into the fourth quarter, and they lost standout guard Maggie Kuhlman due to a wrist injury for the final eight minutes of play.The Cards, however, circled the wagons and outscored the hosts 21-8 in the fourth quarter to win by 10."We played a great fourth quarter," said LHS coach Phelps. "When Maggie went down with an injury, it was nice to see some of the other kids step up and play well."Luverne’s Erin Hoiland answered the challenge in the final period. With the score tied at 29, Hoiland netted eight consecutive points to put the Cards in front to stay.Luverne, which led 11-9 and 20-17 at the first two quarter breaks, received a 17-point, 10-rebound performance from Gacke. Nieuwboer contributed four assists and three steals to the cause.Box scoreKlein 1 0 3-4 5, Niewuboer 2 1 1-2 8, Snyder 1 0 0-0 2, Kuhlman 2 1 0-0 7, Hoiland 1 2 0-0 8, Gacke 8 0 1-4 17.Team statisticsLuverne 19 of 50 field goals (38 percent), five of 10 free throws (50 percent), 12 turnovers.Lennox: 16 of 40 field goals (40 percent), four of 13 free throws (31 percent), 20 turnovers.
