Well, we lucked out one more time! The forecast for the latter part of last week was very scary. Predictions were for freezing drizzle, snow and strong winds. What more could there be?Fortunately we received very little snow, some freezing drizzle and high winds. I think it was about 9 p.m. Friday when the strong winds began blowing at top speed and soon Steen and the surrounding area were without electricity. Believe me, I didn’t envy whoever had to go out into the storm to repair whatever had happened!I am not sure just what time the electricity came back on, but when I woke up in the night for the first time, my lights were on in the kitchen and also my dining room. We can be thankful the outage didn’t last too long. When one thought about all of the severe storms that raged across our nation that night, we have a lot to be thankful for. We’ve been so fortunate all winter to escape lots of snow. Here it is January that has only one more week to be with us. February is a short month, so when I think about it I think we need to "think Spring!"Gilbert and Henrietta Elbers, Luverne, Larry and Joan Moeller, Letcher, S.D., and Arvin and Cena Mae Tilstra enjoyed a potluck dinner supplied by them with Elizabeth Elbers at the Tuff Home in Hills.The Steen Opportunity Extension Club met Tuesday afternoon at the home of Lucille Schouwenburg. The lesson on crafts was presented by Henrietta Boeve and Lucille Schouwenburg. Lunch was served by Winnie Scholten. Henrietta Huenink was a Sunday afternoon visitor at the home of her son and daughter-in-law. Kenneth and Gwen Bodewitz, at Valley Springs, S.D.A film, "A Purpose Driven Life," was shown at Steen Reformed Church Sunday evening. They will have a study on this during the Lenten season. JoAnn Paulsen, who underwent knee replacement surgery at Sioux Valley Hospital in Sioux Falls on Tuesday, has been transferred to the Luverne Community Hospital swing bed unit on Friday. Word was received recently of the death of Doug Hall, whose family lived in Steen when he was growing up. His father was Ernie Hall, who had a feed grinder which he drove to the farmers to grind their feed. Many in the Steen area will remember the Hall family and were surprised to hear of Doug Hall’s death. His obituary is published elsewhere in the Crescent. Ever since that fateful day in September when the Twin Towers were destroyed in New York, I have had many different feelings. Most of them are positive. I am so grateful that our president closed all of the airports that day or I think our entire nation would have been destroyed in one way or another. I am very disappointed in our nation’s citizens who are condemning the war and have said many other derogatory statements about the entire situation. I think it is time for the citizens of our great nation to think back to this nation’s beginning and what it cost those who fought for our freedom giving us all of the freedom we have today. I just hope we can continue to protect this freedom and be good examples for those who wish to be freed. When I read this article, "America On Its Knees," which was written prior to this present time, I felt we should share these thoughts coming from times very similar to what we are going through as a nation today. I hope you agree with me.America On Its KneesOur Father in heaven:We pray that you save us from ourselves.The world that you have made for us, to live in peace, we have made into an armed camp. We live in fear of war to come. We are afraid of ‘the terror that flies by night, the arrow that flies by day, the pestilence that walks in darkness, the destruction that wastes at noonday.’We have turned from you to go our selfish way. We have broken your commandments and denied your truth. We have left your altars to serve the false gods of money and pleasure and power. Forgive us and help us.Now darkness gathers around us and we are confused in all our counsels. Losing faith in you, we lose faith in ourselves.Inspire us with wisdom, all of us of every color, race, and creed, to use our wealth, our strength, to help our brother, instead of destroying him. Help us to do your will as it is done in heaven, and to be worthy of your promise of peace on earth.Fill us with new faith, new strength, and new courage, that we may win the Battle for Peace. Be swift to save us, dear God, before the darkness falls.Amen.From "The Battle for Peace."An address by Conrad N. Hilton

Feel like something is missing from your life? Perhaps your parents should have preserved your umbilical cord in a block of clear acrylic resin. It could have been used as a paperweight or a personal seal. As a matter of fact, you could be admiring it right now. No leftover parts from early childhood go wasted in South Korea, according to a recent Reuters story. Keeping babies’ umbilical cords for posterity and making calligraphy brushes from their babies’ hair have both been long traditions in that country. Quite interestingly, the Reuters story failed to mention possible uses for baby teeth, the babyhood leftovers to which we do pay the most attention. In the Confucian society of South Korea, where family values are highly prized, other proud parents think nothing about paying 80,000 or 100,000 won ($76 or $96) to have umbilical cords gold-plated. Presumably the fancier gold-plated cords make great conversation pieces when entertaining guests and other topics appear to be winding down. The preservation of umbilical cords is a difficult concept for many of us to grasp in our throwaway culture. We’re not all that emotionally attached to no-longer-needed body parts. When we bake holiday turkeys, for example, it’s easy to discard the less desirable necks, gizzards and other vital organs with little or no remorse. We share a common mantra — if you’re not going to use it, lose it. Personally, saving and classifying umbilical cords would have only complicated the jumble of baby books, photo albums and elementary school drawings we attempted to organize and save for our daughters. The baby books were prime examples of projects gone wrong. Although our first daughter had a nearly complete baby book with first steps, first teeth and first perfect days of toilet training carefully recorded, the books for the other three girls were relatively dismal. Their books contained hastily scribbled notes, amounting to little more than, "Came home from hospital ... first tooth ... first college interview." The quality of the baby books declined as our lives became busier with the addition of each child. Photo albums for each of the girls also varied in quality, depending upon their birth order. While the first daughter had countless photos with clever captions written beneath them in her album, the other girls had shoeboxes overflowing with loose photos and good intentions. There simply wasn’t enough time to do everything. Immediately after the birth of our first daughter in Duluth, I met a mother who saved umbilical cords. In fact, it was one of the first things she told me. Shortly after I was wheeled from the delivery room to what would be my regular hospital room for five days, I got to know her rather well. Within a few minutes she had me cranking up her bed, adjusting her tangled bedding and opening the room window "just a crack." As she rambled on non-stop about the importance of preserving umbilical cords, I assumed her recent delivery must have been much more difficult than mine. I was still hobbling around the room, making my less fortunate roommate comfortable, when a nurse glared at me from the doorway. "What are you doing out of bed?" she demanded. As it turned out, my roommate had her baby 10 days earlier. Because she had become delusional with postpartum stress, she would be transferred shortly to the fourth floor, the psychiatric unit. I suddenly understood her preoccupation with umbilical cords. She, of all people, would have appreciated the Reuters story from South Korea.

By Shane PalmquistThe girls hockey team played two last week getting a tie Saturday and losing in New Ulm Tuesday. This week two conference games await the girls, tonight at Windom and Tuesday hosting to Worthington.NEW ULM 6, LUVERNE 1Cardinal girls hockey traveled to New Ulm Tuesday hoping to keep their recent good luck rolling but a road block stood in their way and Luverne was crushed 6-1. New Ulm came out shooting and playing great defense, out-shooting Luverne 16-2 in the first period and 22 shots to four in the second.The Cardinals couldn’t get the puck into their own zone, and after two periods found themselves shut out trailing 6-0. Luverne did manage to get on the board and avoid the complete shutout as senior standout Natalie Domagala registered Luverne’s only goal. Goalie Sarah Schneekloth stopped 42 of 48 shots for Luverne.LUVERNE 6, ST. PETER 6It took an extra session of skating Saturday for the girls hockey team, and a winner still couldn’t be decided as the girls skated to a 6-6 tie at Blue Mound Arena. Coach Dave Siebeanahler said, "We just got outskated and we ran out of gas toward the end of the game."Sarah Schneekloth stopped an impressive 57 of 63 shots. During some point in the second period, Her goalie stick broke, and she was forced to use it regardless. Broken stick and all she turned away 15 of 17 shots in the second. Luverne had only 19 shots on goal all game, but converted six of them.Natalie Domagala continued her scoring spree, like she has been doing all season long. Domagala put five scores on the board for the home team and teammate Sadie Dietrich scored the other goal, but was more in the giving mode recording two assists. The game went back and forth with St. Peter matching Luverne goal for goal. That was until a goal by Dietrich put Luverne up 4-3. With 45 seconds left in the second period Domagala took a pass off the stick of Dietrich and went high glove side to close out the second period with Luverne up 5-3.A very physical third period by both teams and Luverne having trouble clearing the puck out of its zone gave St. Peter what it needed to get three third-period goals and put the game into overtime.The game-tying goal by St. Peter was a power play goal, the only power play of the game as Luverne registered the only penalty of the game.

Last Saturday the Adrian Dragon wrestling squad traveled to Owatonna to participate in the Federated Duals. The Duals consist of two pools with the best records out of each pool matching up at the end of the night in a championship dual. The Dragons won the Silver pool by defeating all four teams in it. The championship dual featured the Adrian Dragons and one of the best teams in class AAA, the Owatonna Huskies.The first dual of the day was against the Buffalo Bison. The Dragons won 12 of 14 weight classes, losing one of the matches to a state-ranked opponent. Buffalo started the dual with a 10-5 decision at 103. Tony Thier started a string of eight-straight victories for the Dragons with a 14-8 decision. Joey Bullerman followed by pinning his opponent in 2:30. Zach Reker wrestled 125 for the Dragons. Reker handled his opponent but was unable to win by fall, earning the 7-2 decision, giving the Dragons a 12-3 lead. Brandon Croat controlled Danny Maghrak and earned a 9-0 major decision at 130 pounds. Buffalo forfeited to Andy Heitkamp at 135 pounds, leading into the 140 pound match between Brandon Bullerman and Tyler Reiss. Bullerman, battling the flu, was able to jump out to a 6-2 lead, earning a 9-8 decision. At 145 pounds, Dusty Bullerman took down Ray Heinkel three times before pinning him in 1:28. Tony Sauer earned a last-second takedown to major decision his opponent by a score of 18-10, giving the Dragons a 35-2 lead (Buffalo lost a team point after the 140 pound match). At 160 pounds, Nate Engelkes wrestled another state ranked opponent. Engelkes fought hard but lost a close decision by a score of 6-4. The Dragons ended the dual in style by pinning the final four Buffalo wrestlers in the first period. At 171, Cody Reverts forced Jesse Klingelhoets over, earning the fall in 1:07. Levi Bullerman followed by earning a 24 second fall over his opponent. Will Lutmer earned two takedowns before earning the fall in 1:02 at 215 pounds. In the final match of the dual, Cody Lutmer finished off Justin Franke in 1:25, giving the Dragons the 59-5 victory.Adrian vs. NREHGThe No. 2-ranked Dragons squared off against the No. 5-ranked New Richland-Ellendale-Heartland-Geneva squad. NREHG jumped out to a quick lead, 4-0, as they won the 103 pound match by major decision. Adrian was able to bounce back and win the next three matches as Joey Bullerman won by fall, Tony Thier by decision, and Zach Reker finished off the winning streak by accepting a forfeit, giving Adrian a 15-4 lead. At 130 pounds, NREHG pulled out a squeaker by a score of 3-1. Brandon Bullerman cradled his opponent and got the pin in 20 seconds, extending the Dragon lead to 14 (21-7). Andy Heitkamp took the mat for the Dragons at 140 pounds. Andy wrestled tough, but lost by decision. Dusty Bullerman, Tony Sauer, and Nate Engelkes sealed the deal for the Dragons as they won by technical fall (4:33), and two falls (1:52 and 3:45) respectively. NREHG was able to squeak out another decision at 171 pounds, making the team score 38-13. In one of the feature matches of the day, No. 1-ranked Levi Bullerman squared off against No. 1-ranked Nick Christiensen. Bullerman was on the offensive the whole match but was unable to earn the winning takedown in regulation, forcing OT. In OT, Levi shot a hard double and earned a takedown on the edge of the mat to end the match. NREHG finished the dual by catching both of its Dragon opponents and earning falls, making the team final 41-25.Adrian vs. HutchinsonThe third round of the Duals matched up the Dragons of Adrian against the Tigers of Hutchinson. Stephen Loosbrock jump-started the Dragons by earning a major decision by a score of 8-0. He was followed by a string of falls at 112, 119, 125, and 130. Joey Bullerman, Tony Thier, and Brandon Croat all pinned their opponents in the first period, while Zach Reker won by fall in 3:35. Hutchinson gained one of its two victories at 135, making the score 28-3. Brandon Bullerman won his third match of the day by tech falling Jamie Larson in 3:58. At 145 pounds, Dusty Bullerman won the fastest fall trophy in the tournament by pinning Josh Wendlend in 12 seconds. Tony Sauer also pinned his opponent at 152 pounds, making the Dragons’ lead 45-3. Nate Engelkes won his second match of the day as he decisioned Josh Ellis 4-0 at 160. Cody Reverts pinned his Tiger opponent in 3:09 seconds giving the Dragons a 54-3 advantage. Levi Bullerman received a forfeit at 189 pounds, while Will Lutmer wasted little time with Derek Wertz as he pinned him in 15 seconds. Hutch won its second match of the day at HWT as Mike May earned a close 2-1 decision over Cody Lutmer, making the team final 66-6. Adrian vs. Coon RapidsIn the fourth dual of the day, Adrian faced the #8 ranked Coon Rapids Cardinals. Adrian won the dual by a score of 54-19. Stephen Loosbrock earned his second victory on the day as he pinned Kyle Anderson in 3:38. At 112 pounds, Joey Bullerman earned his fourth fall of the day as he earned the fall in 34 seconds. Tony Thier won his fourth match of the day by decision 9-5 at 119. The Cardinals forfeited to Zach Reker at 125 pounds making the team score 21-0. Coon Rapids sent out three ranked wrestlers at 130, 135, and 140 pounds. The Cardinals won the 130 and 135 pound matches by fall and the 140 pound match by decision, making the team score 21-16. Adrian countered by winning the next six matches. Dusty Bullerman won the 145 pound match by fall in 3:36. At 152 pounds, Tony Sauer was able to escape in double OT to win by a score of 2-1. The Dragons’ Nate Engelkes and Cody Reverts received forfeits at 160 and 171 pounds. Levi Bullerman earned his fourth victory of the day as he pinned Nick Creamier in 46 seconds. At 215 pounds, the Cardinals forfeited to Will Lutmer, giving the Dragons a 54-16 lead going into heavyweight. At heavyweight, Glen Kruger wrestled well but gave up a late takedown and three near fall points at the end of the match to lose by a score of 9-4, making the final score 54-19, Dragons. History was made in the dual as Dusty Bullerman and Levi Bullerman both broke the Adrian individual career win record that was held by Pat Dorn. Dusty and Levi both finished the dual with 162 career victories.Adrian vs. OwatonnaThe Owatonna Huskies jumped out to a 31-0 lead, winning two close matches that could have gone either way. Dusty Bullerman got the first victory for the Dragons at 145 pounds. Bullerman fell behind 2-0, but battled back to take the lead by a score of 5-4. Dusty forced over Tyler Grunwald and earned the fall in 5:08, putting the Dragons on the board. At 152 pounds, Tony Sauer put four more points on the board for the Dragons as he earned a major decision over Brad Uher by a score of 19-7. Owatonna countered by getting a major decision of their own at 160 pounds, giving them a 35-10 lead. Cody Reverts controlled his opponent at 171 pounds, earning a 4-3 decision. At 189 pounds, Levi Bullerman squared off against Russell Smith, another No. 1-ranked wrestler in the state. Bullerman stayed in good position, but was unable to come away with the win, as Smith won the match up between two of the best wrestlers in the nation by a score of 7-4. Will Lutmer earned numerous takedowns in the 215 pound bout, as he defeated the No. 8-ranked wrestler in class AAA by a score of 11-6. At heavyweight, Cody Lutmer scored two takedowns and an escape on his way to a 5-3 decision over the very physical Kyle Schweisthal, making the final score 38-19.Dusty Bullerman and Tony Sauer were the only Dragon wrestlers to go undefeated in the Duals. Dusty was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the event as he went 5-0 on the day. Bullerman had 4 falls and one technical fall on his way to his 163rd career victory.* * *Ideas for pull graphics:New AHS Wrestling Record Set - Two senior wrestlers had a record setting night at the Federated Duals. The record was set 21 years ago by current assistant coach, Pat Dorn.Dusty Bullerman and Levi Bullerman both broke the record by earning their 162 career wins in the Coon Rapids dual. Both wrestlers have never wrestled a B-squad match, competing at the varsity level since seventh grade. Both wrestlers have the chance to extend the record to over 180 wins by the end of the season.

By Shane PalmquistA light schedule for the boys hockey team seemed to be just what was needed as the only game they played, they won beating up on Sleepy Eye.LUVERNE 10, SLEEPY EYE 3Three power-play goals and a hat trick by senior forward Matt Reverts pushed Luverne past host Sleepy Eye Tuesday night. Nick Otten and Jordan Siebenahler got involved in the scoring fun as well netting two goals apiece with both of Otten’s goals coming with the man advantage.Luverne came out and struck first as Reverts scored off a rebound to put Luverne up 1-0. On the first power play of the game, Otten scored off a pass from Chris Fitzer to make it 2-0 Luverne. Still in the first period Siebenahler scored with an assist from Tim Drost. Sleepy Eye tried to make a game of it, crawling back to get within one at 3-2 but Luverne piled it on after that in the second getting three goals from Otten, Siebenahler, and Nathan Boler to go up 6-2 after two. The visiting Cardinals showed no sign of letting up in the third and built an 8-2 lead off a power play from Reverts assisted from Siebenahler. Sleepy Eye managed to get one more goal to bring the score to 8-3. Luverne put the game away when Boler passed up to Dylan Anderson who scored his only goal of the night. To top off the night with 45 seconds left in the game Reverts got his third goal giving him the hat trick and leading the Cardinals to victory. Brad Van Santen in goal for Luverne stopped 27 of 30 shots for Luverne.

The Minneota Vikings, a very athletic and quick team, defeated the Lady Panthers Friday in Ellsworth 70-60 to end their six-game winning streak and dropped the Panthers to second place in the Camden Conference with a 4-2 record and 7-4 overall. "The Vikings were the most talented, quickest and most athletic team we’ve played thus far on our schedule," said Coach Dean Schnaible. "But I’m very proud of the Panthers because they didn’t throw in the towel."Ellsworth battled the 10-2 Vikings the entire game, trailing 18-14, 39-32, 49-44, losing by 10 counters, the largest point margin in the contest. "We had difficulty defending their quickness," Schnaible said."Minneota should be a contender for the north sub-section title the way they played against us, but anything can happen in the field of sports."The Lady Panthers shot better from two-point range 44.4 percent (24-54) to the winners’ 39.6 percent (321-3), but faltered from treyland, shooting a cool 16.7 percent (1-6) to the opponents’ 44.4 percent (4-9). Ellsworth also was superior from the gift line, denting the nets for a torrid 90 percent (9-10) to Minneota’s 84.2 percent (16-19). Ellsworth also won the battle on the boards 38-26, with Laurel Drenth charting 10 caroms followed by Brittney Kramer and Rosie Lewis with six each for team leaders. The assist department was led by Drenth with eight, followed by Kramer’s four. Minneota turned the ball over only 10 times to 15 by Ellsworth, who encountered the Vikings’ full-court man-to-man press the entire game. The Lady Panthers were led in scoring by junior post Lewis with 20 points, with guard post Drenth and junior post Amy Tiesler adding 17 and 12 counters respectively. "Rosie had her best offensive output for the Panthers, besides playing an all around floor game," Schnaible said. "She is a very hard worker, always exerting 110 percent effort in every practice and game. Good things happen to good people and Lewis is an excellent example of this."Ellsworth entertained G-LR, a powerhouse in Iowa, Monday and also hosted Lincoln-HI, who leads the Camden Conference with a 5-1 record and 11-1 overall. The Panthers travel to Remsen St. Mary’s Saturday,s playing a four-game series starting at 11 a.m. with two J-V and two varsity boy-girl combos.

The Hills-Beaver Creek girls basketball team traveled to Comfrey for a rescheduled game on Tuesday, Jan. 11. Brittany Rozeboom netted 10 points and grabbed five rebounds. Kerri Fransman made 10 points, with Cassi Tilstra netting 17 points and coming up with eight rebounds. Malinda Feucht had seven rebounds and five assists. Kelly Mulder blocked five shots. With four seconds left in overtime, Cassi Tilstra had a shot under the basket on an inbound pass to Stacy Bush. She made the bucket, so the girls took the win 49 to 47. "Despite not shooting well, the girls continued to play hard from start to finish," Coach Goehle said. "Our defensive pressure late in the overtime was the key in turning a five-point deficit into a two-point win." Patriot girls demolish W-WGH-BC girls played Westbrook-Walnut Grove at W-WG on Jan. 13, and returned home with a decisive 82-35 win.Cassi Tilstra had 20 points, seven steals and 10 assists. Brittany Helgeson netted 12 points. Kelly Mulder had 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds. "The girls shot the ball very well and were able to cause a number of turnovers, which helped us get the thing rolling," Coach Goehle said.Girls take fourth in a row against the West Lyon WildcatsThe girls traveled with the boys to West Lyon on Saturday, Jan. 15, to take their fourth win in a row. The score was 52-43. The girls had a total of 30 rebounds and 17 turnovers. Cassi Tilstra netted 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Malinda Feucht had nine points and hit two big shots late in the fourth quarter. Kelly Mulder blocked seven shots along with Brittney Rozeboom making six points. These stories were submitted by Katie McGaffee.

By Shane PalmquistThe boys basketball team had three tough tasks last week. Task 1 was to avenge an earlier loss to Edgerton. Task 2 was to knock off Marshall the seventh-ranked team in Class 3A ball. Task 3 was to get the sweep on Southwest Conference rival Pipestone. Luverne didn’t quite get the sweep but they weren’t swept either.LUVERNE 75, PIPESTONE 63After dropping two in a row, the Luverne boys basketball team was looking for some redemption, and the unfortunate Pipestone Arrows were next on the Cardinal schedule. Luverne didn’t look like it had a chance after the opening tip, and it fell behind fast as Pipestone took off to a 17-0 lead to open up the game. Brad Herman came off the bench to try and stop the bleed, and he did just that, giving his teammates the spark they needed to tie the game at 25 with 3:14 to go in the first half. "We got down early, using time outs to try and slow them down, but it didn’t work as they were making everything early," said Coach Tom Rops. "Herman came in to the game, and we started to go down low, which opened everything else up for us."Luverne started matching Pipestone shot for shot to close out the first half, and the Arrows limped into the locker room looking dumb-founded with only a 37-32 lead. A more confident Cardinal team came out to open up the second half. Playing tough defense and a tight full-court press seemed to have Pipestone a bit puzzled throughout the rest of the game. Herman and Brandon Deragisch led Luverne with 19 points each, Jake Hendricks chipped in 16 points and three steals, Nick Heronimus also finished in double digits, too, with 10. Herman led the team in rebounds with 6, while Deragisch shot an impressive 12-13 from the free throw line. Dusty Antoine wasn’t a scoring threat as much as a passing threat and ended the game with five assists."The key for was balance, as we got four guys in double digits, so it wasn’t one guy; it was a whole team effort," said Rops. "This was a big win for our program, not just from a conference standpoint but for this program as a whole. Sweeping Pipestone hasn’t happened for a long time so this is good."Luverne’s key play which swung the momentum all the way to their side happened in the third period. Pipestone was trying to bring the ball up the court, senior Herman stole the ball at half court, and with no defenders in sight threw down a monstrous two-handed dunk that drove the Cardinal fans wild. Whatever wind was left in the Arrows sails fizzled after that play. Luverne kicked its game into high gear in the fourth quarter playing solid ball on both sides of the court and not letting Pipestone make any sort of comeback. Herman sealed it for Luverne with two minutes to go. Luverne forced another turnover, Herman took a pass at half-court, and with two-hands elevated above the rim, jammed it home. With that, Luverne beat Pipestone for the second time this year and improved its record to 11-4, 5-2 in conference play. Luverne got to the free-throw line 32 times, converting 24 of them. Pipestone only had one free-throw attempt before getting there five more times in the last minute and a half.MARSHALL 72, LUVERNE 42Luverne ran into a buzz saw Friday night as the visiting Marshall Tigers took it to the host Cardinals. Marshall came out with lots of fastbreak points and tough defense cleaning the glass, allowing Luverne to get only one shot for each trip down the court."We were totally outmatched, and we couldn’t really stop them on defense." said Coach Rops. "Marshall is probably the best team in the conference right now." Brad Herman’s 11 points and five rebounds were tops for Luverne. Brandon Deragisch scored eight of his own to help the host team."We have to forget about our last couple games and move ahead. Our goal now is to take care of our conference games to get a high seed come playoffs." Rops said.EDGERTON 58, LUVERNE 54Luverne played host to Edgerton public last Thursday. Luverne tried to avenge an earlier loss to Edgerton but to no avail. The Cardinals couldn’t buy a basket in the first quarter and found themselves down early as Edgerton took a commanding 22-6 to close out the first quarter.We didn’t come out with the intensity at the start like we needed," said Coach Rops.Rops wasn’t about to let his team go down without a fight, and Luverne came out hot early in the second quarter led by the lights out three-point shooting from Dusty Antoine and Brandon Deragisch to close the gap to 39-30 at halftime. The Cardinals kept reeling the visiting Dutchmen in all the way through the second half and for the first time all game took the lead away at 54-53 with less than one minute remaining. Edgerton’s Jordan Menning drained a 15 footer to retake the lead 55-54. Luverne had a couple more chances to win the game but both shots rimmed out. Two late free throws iced the game for Edgerton.Rops said, "We fought and clawed our way back, but we just couldn’t get the last shots to fall."Jake Hendricks led Luverne in scoring finishing up with 16. Brad Herman and Dusty Antoine chipped in 10 each; with Brad Herman grabbing five rebounds for Luverne.

By Lori EhdeWhat on earth are we here for?Answers to that question are at the core of a spiritual renewal campaign making its way across the country.Thousands of communities in the past year have participated in the "40 Days of Purpose" campaign, and now it’s coming to Luverne.Based on the best-selling book, "The Purpose Driven Life," the campaign studies truths about God’s purposes for people.The book, written by Pastor Rick Warren, has exceeded a record-breaking 12 million copies since its release last year.In Luverne, the 40-day campaign will kick off at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29, in the Palace Theatre.The American Reformed Church is leading the local 40 Days of Purpose, and Pastor Dave Sikkema said he hopes the whole community can benefit."Hopefully we can enrich people’s spiritual lives and encourage them in spiritual development and growth," Sikkema said."The hope is that people will find purpose for their lives and see God’s joy and peace in daily living."The church is arranging for roughly 30 local homes to host weekly meetings. The public can join any of these groups to participate in the campaign, which ends on March 13.To sign up or for information, call 283-3674 or 920-9270. There is no cost to participate.