By Sara StrongRock County cemeteries offer a permanent record of birth and death dates, and a peek into the lives of former residents, with epitaphs like "beloved mother" or "gone home."Rock County Historical Society President Betty Mann will talk about local cemeteries in an open meeting at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, in the Hinkly House museum. Mann said cemeteries are important from a record-keeping standpoint, but also because they are a place to pay respect to people’s lives.Some cemeteries, like one in Springwater Township, are small and have no records. Another, in Rose Dell Township, has an inordinate amount of children’s graves.One of the stories Mann will share Saturday is of the Blue Mound Church, northeast of Luverne. It was first built west of the railroad tracks.Mann said, "I never have found out why, but the people wanted it on the east side of the tracks."In 1884, church members got their wish when a tornado, at the time called a "cyclonic storm," came through. It lifted the church off the ground and planted it on the east side of the tracks. The saying at the time was that the incident was remarkable because it "never broke a window, never sprung a door."The church still stands where the tornado placed it, and a new cemetery was plotted next to the new location back in the 1800s. However, the original cemetery is still in place on its western location.Besides the interesting, unusual or even spooky cemetery tales, Mann said cemeteries have their practical place in history."At the Historical Society, we are trying to find lists of people buried in cemeteries," Mann said.Some of the smaller cemeteries or ones that are no longer active don’t have clear records of who’s buried.Anyone with family burial information that wouldn’t be found in cemetery records is asked to share it with the Historical Society."We have many cemeteries throughout the county and most are well taken care of," Mann said. "We are fortunate that in Rock County, they are not only well-kept, but there are services and flowers and flags all over on Memorial Day."Those graveyard traditions may not be common forever.Not as many people are buried as they used to be, because of the increased use of cremation. Some families choose to bury cremains, but others forgo the tradition of tombstones altogether. The custom of giving people a permanent resting place is not as typical as it used to be.Those who are buried today, though, are likely to have more on their tombstones than previous generations. Now, tombstones often include birth and death dates, names of children, full-color photos, dates of weddings and many other details. Early markers sometimes just had a last name, leaving it up to the imagination, or oral family history for people to know who is buried.The Historical Society ran into that problem with the tombstone for Philo Hawes, the founder of Luverne. He and his wife are buried under a marker that says only Hawes, and their children’s names are listed on their markers.In order to mark the first names of Philo and his wife, the Historical Society and the cemetery have to get permission from a direct descendent.The Historical Society will also have a program by Vance Walgrave in May on the moving of the American Reformed cemetery to Maplewood.

By Sara StrongThe city of Luverne is in the middle of formulating an advertising campaign to draw businesses to town with the JOB Zone tax breaks.The Luverne Economic Development Authority met Wednesday to develop ideas and come up with a budget.EDA Director Dan Statema said the Sioux Falls market, and other parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa would make good targets for the ads.The city is also developing a Web site with the Luverne Area Chamber of Commerce as a place to showcase JOBZ and the city itself.Energy servicesThe city is looking into a possible contract for utility management through Missouri River Energy. The management contract would mean the city wouldn’t have to hire an engineer to manage the department, as previously planned. Also, city workers would become Missouri River employees.City Administrator Greg LaFond said the current electric employees are included in conversations on the possible switch. Their wages and benefits may actually increase with the possible change.Another benefit to a shared management would be that other Missouri River employees could help Luverne in special projects. Luverne employees could be expected to do some travel for the job if they weren’t busy in town and there was another project that needed attention elsewhere.The management agreement will come before the council for approval.City wagesThe city could pay about $15,000 more in salaries after a review of employees’ responsibilities. The comparative worth evaluations are mostly complete by city employees. A private firm will likely be hired to confirm the findings. Most employees reviewed will earn more, but it appears a few will get pay freezes.Sioux Valley at poolThe city got word from Sioux Valley Regional Hospitals that negotiations will be on hold for a management contract at the Rock County Pool and Fitness Center. This was brought on largely because the county pulled out of joint ownership of the facility.

By Lori EhdeA 25-year-old Luverne woman faces felony drug charges after selling methamphetamines to a confidential informant.According to police reports, officers had received a number of complaints about possible drug activity at Jamie Lynn Jensen’s home at 318 South Freeman Avenue.Rock County Deputies Jeff Wieneke and Ken Baker used the services of a female confidential informant who told them she’d be able to purchase drugs from Jensen.The first purchase took place on Nov. 18, 2003, in which she purchased 1.1 grams of meth from Jensen for $175.The second purchase took place on Nov. 25 when she purchased 2.5 grams of meth for $175.A Dec. 11 transaction resulted in the purchase of a substance that tested negative methamphetamine.The confidential informant was equipped with a wireless transmitting device so officers could hear the transactions underway.In the background, Jensen’s son, about 4 or 5 years old, can be heard.The criminal complaint, filed in Rock County District Court this week, lists two counts of fourth-degree controlled substance crime for selling meth, and one count of "sale of a simulated controlled substance."If found guilty of the more serious fourth-degree drug charge, Jensen faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, a fine up to $100,000 or both.She’s currently not in custody, awaiting her first court appearance.

By Lori EhdeA 25-year-old Luverne woman faces felony drug charges after selling methamphetamines to a confidential informant.According to police reports, officers had received a number of complaints about possible drug activity at Jamie Lynn Jensen’s home at 318 South Freeman Avenue.Rock County Deputies Jeff Wieneke and Ken Baker used the services of a female confidential informant who told them she’d be able to purchase drugs from Jensen.The first purchase took place on Nov. 18, 2003, in which she purchased 1.1 grams of meth from Jensen for $175.The second purchase took place on Nov. 25 when she purchased 2.5 grams of meth for $175.A Dec. 11 transaction resulted in the purchase of a substance that tested negative methamphetamine.The confidential informant was equipped with a wireless transmitting device so officers could hear the transactions underway.In the background, Jensen’s son, about 4 or 5 years old, can be heard.The criminal complaint, filed in Rock County District Court this week, lists two counts of fourth-degree controlled substance crime for selling meth, and one count of "sale of a simulated controlled substance."If found guilty of the more serious fourth-degree drug charge, Jensen faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, a fine up to $100,000 or both.She’s currently not in custody, awaiting her first court appearance.

By Sara StrongAlthough they disagree on the numbers, representatives of the city of Luverne and Rock County both said Tuesday that when it comes to law enforcement, services take priority over balance sheets."The problem is, that you can do anything you want with numbers," County Administrator Kyle Oldre said Tuesday.County Commissioner Richard Bakken said, "I think we’ve got a scenario where we’ve lost trust so we don’t believe each other’s numbers. That’s why I don’t think we want to get into a tit-for-tat game. … It looks like we’re going down a dead end street."The Luverne City Council also met Tuesday, and discussed ways the city could save money in law enforcement and still keep service quality.Councilman Bob Kaczrowski said, "I don’t see that our sheriff’s department is overstaffed. … And in defense of the county, if we don’t give them money, where will it come from?"Mayor Glen Gust said, "We do need to work with them. The city of Luverne will be here forever and Rock County will still be here forever."The city has completed various polls of other cities, reviewing what they pay for dispatch services. The county, seeing that Luverne is questioning its cost, did its own research.The cost of doing business has come under scrutiny since the city and county lost state aid and were constrained with levy limits. The city has cancelled its contract for dispatch services, citing the fact that the city doesn’t have an obligation to pay for it, and the county does. Now, the city is also considering what it pays for law enforcement, on top of dispatching services.DispatchLuverne pays $160,220 for its half of dispatching services, under a joint powers agreement. Luverne councilmen terminated the dispatch agreement to ensure the city wouldn’t continue through the 2005 contract without resolved negotiations.Most Minnesota cities don’t pay for dispatching services.City Administrator Greg LaFond said that through a survey of 90 communities, he found 23 other municipalities that pay for dispatch services. Of those, Luverne cost the most, at about $35 per capita. Pipestone pays $23 per capita; Morris pays $22 per capita; Alexandria pays $18 per capita, for example.Cities simply aren’t obligated to spend money on dispatching. However, dispatching involves more than answering phones, and has been a key part of how joint law enforcement works.Some things dispatchers do that don’t fall under emergency services are: calls for city electrical problems, monitoring security alarms in Luverne, calls for electric line locations and reporting branches down after storms among other things.The officers also do things like lock and unlock the public restrooms in City Hall, and open the city park during the summer hours.LaFond said, "In most cases, by changing our procedures, most of that activity can be switched from dispatch to other sources."City Hall can take electrical calls, LaFond said, and the city already pays workers to be on call for after-hours problems, so they can be used for those calls.Former Luverne Police Chief Keith Aanenson was on hand to offer a historical perspective to joint law operations during Tuesday’s Rock County Commissioners meeting. "Joining dispatch was a plus from the beginning," he said. "Our records were in one place, and we could review each other’s reports."Aanenson said some people miss the activity reports the city used to get when they had their own separate police force, before joining with the county. They felt like they had more ownership over the department, he said. The county and city of Luverne dispatching agreement started in 1969 with a 50-50 split. In 1984, both the offices merged and became one unit when the 911 emergency number was established. Then, the city of Luverne paid the county half of the dispatching budget, plus $300 in utilities, and equipment and other incidentals. In 1993, a new agreement was reached where both paid into a joint fund that simplified the budgeting process. It has continued at a 50-50 split since then.The Luverne City Council says it has a problem with the even split because city residents pay for dispatching as city taxpayers, and then as county taxpayers, through the regular county levy. Other cities don’t have that obligation for dispatching.The county points out that city residents receive more services than rural residents do, so it evens out.Law enforcementThe city had six full-time officers in 1998 when the two departments merged. The county had five full-timers then.Now, they share the expenses of law enforcement and the 11 full-time sheriff’s department employees. Some numbers shown at previous meetings have calculated taxes on top of fees, but direct law enforcement fees for the city of Luverne to Rock County amount to $96.57 per capita for Luverne, according to the county, which used 2002 Census data and current budgets. Using that same formula, Worthington’s per capita fee is $176.42; Windom, $132.47; Pipestone, $102.91; Jackson, $133.24; Redwood Falls, $130.98; Slayton, $110.42 and Ivanhoe, $75.25 for other examples.The city put out some other numbers figuring in cost to residents in county and city taxes for law enforcement: Luverne, $131.60 per capita; Monticello, $94.93 per capita; Cokato, $72.15 per capita, for example.LaFond drew up a proposal for the Council Tuesday that will be forwarded to the county. LaFond says that Luverne needs the services of the equivalent of two officers’ time, within the existing department.That would amount to $276,860 annually — compared to the $536,983 city residents pay for law enforcement. (This calculation, provided by the city, includes taxes residents pay to the county. Of that total, in direct charges, the city actually pays $447,486 now. The new proposal would cut direct contribution to $122,133.)Hearing that proposal, Rock County Commissioner Ron Boyenga spoke to the Luverne City Council on his own behalf. He said, "If the city pushes for this proposal to go through, there isn’t a chance in hell that joint law will continue."Boyenga said that good will between the government bodies has come after years of working together, and that it will come at a "high price" to have to rebuild in the future.LaFond said, "I don’t deny that good will is important, but at what price? … I would like to see all these contracts continue, but on a fair and equitable basis."The council is pushing numbers at this point, and so is the county. Both are considering the cost of separating departments again, even though they don’t necessarily support separation in concept.LaFond said, "In a county this size, we don’t really need two departments and that’s the last thing in the world I would suggest."County Administrator Kyle Oldre said service since joint law has improved, but that poor city and county relations may make separation easier on the department, which is caught in the middle of a budget battle.The city is working on more proposals, that the council may send to the county.

By Lori EhdeOn Jan. 24, 1994, the Minnesota Veterans Home, Luverne, welcomed its first two residents.That day marked the culmination of a three-year legislative effort to locate the state facility in Luverne and another two-year construction period after Luverne was selected early in 1991.Jan. 24 also marked the start of an unrivaled economic development era in Luverne.The Veterans Home currently employs 170 people with an annual payroll of nearly $5.3 million.As of this week, 85 veterans reside at the facility, which charts an average waiting list of 50 to 60 people.The facility remains at the center of social and volunteer activity in the community, with more than 90,000 volunteer hours logged since it opened and more than $729,000 donated funds to date.On Sunday, Jan. 25, an open house will commemorate the Veterans Home 10-year anniversary in Luverne. The open house is from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. and a short program is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.Sen. Jim Vickerman, who was instrumental in the state’s process of selecting Luverne for the facility, will speak at Sunday’s open house. ‘Cadillac of all veterans homes’"I couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked at it," he recalled Tuesday. "What a wonderful place. All I wanted was a veterans home, but this was a Cadillac of all veterans homes."His legislative district at the time didn’t include Luverne. Windom, whose citizens he did represent, was on the list of communities vying to be chosen.But as a member of the state Veterans Affairs Committee, Vickerman’s primary role in the process back then was to represent all Minnesota veterans."We needed a veterans home in southwest Minnesota, and they were telling me they wanted it in Luverne," he said.In the end, several factors influenced the decision to put the home in Luverne.
The city was able to provide $2.25 million in matching construction costs — about a third of the total construction project. In addition, the city purchased 40 acres of land on that end of town, donating land for veterans home campus and developing the rest for housing.
Luverne had what the site selection committee viewed as an impressive supporting medical campus.
Its close proximity to the VA hospital in Sioux Falls also had bearing on the decision.The right choiceSeeing how the facility thrived in the years to follow, Vickerman said Luverne clearly was the right choice."You gotta give credit to the city and community for building homes around it," Vickerman said. "It’s not just a nursing home out there all by itself."Former Luverne Mayor Bill Weber was on the city council at the time site selection for the facility was underway. He had been elected mayor by the time it opened."That was the event that opened development on that end of town," Weber said. "And it was the single biggest reason for housing growth — something Luverne needed at that time. Up until that time, housing development had been stagnant."Weber refers to that period as an exciting time for economic development in Luverne."On the heels of that, we were able to survive the closing of our largest employer, IBP, and have another employer come in in a year," he said. "I think these are phenomenal events for a community of our size."Group effortLooking back on life in Luverne before the veterans home, what stands out in Weber’s mind was the cooperative effort of local government officials and legislators from both political parties."I think it’s important for people to remember that," he said. "We all rolled up our sleeves to get it done. It wasn’t a question about who was going to get credit."Specifically, he said Ben Vander Kooi and Steve Perkins spent a great deal of time in St. Paul, making a case for Luverne as the veterans home site.Vander Kooi will emcee the event Sunday, and Perkins is on the list of individuals to be honored that day.

By John RittenhouseThe Luverne girls’ basketball team snapped a six-game losing skid with a five-point victory at Edgerton Public School Monday.The skid reached six games with an overtime loss at home to Fulda Friday.Luverne, 4-11 overall, hosts Marshall Friday.Luverne 48,Edgerton 43The Cardinals overcame some adversity to beat the Flying Dutchmen in Edgerton Monday.Playing the game without leading-scorer Maggie Kuhlman, who was involved in a car accident after Friday’s home game with Fulda, the Cardinals pulled together as a team to top Edgerton by five points."It was nice to see some of the other kids step up and pick up some of the scoring for Maggie," said Cardinal coach Jason Phelps. "That says a lot about these girls."After falling behind 10-7 in the first quarter, Luverne’s Samantha Gacke scored seven points in the second period to help the Cards outscore EHS 15-9 and take a 22-19 halftime lead.Luverne extended its lead to seven points (37-30) by the end of the third quarter. Edgerton closed the gap to three points late in the fourth quarter before Tori Snyder, who led LHS with 12 points, canned a pair of free throws to ice the game.Mindy Nieuwboer and Danielle Loosbrock added nine and seven rebounds respectively to the winning cause. Marissa Stewart contributed four assists.Box scoreWilliams 1 1 0-0 5, Heitkamp 0 0 0-0 0, Boomgaarden 1 0 2-3 4, Nieuwboer 1 1 1-3 6, Snyder 5 0 2-2 12, Stewart 3 0 2-3 8, Gacke 4 0 1-2 9, Evans 1 0 0-0 2, Loosbrock 1 0 0-0 2.Team statisticsLuverne: 19 of 47 field goals (40 percent), eight of 13 free throws (62 percent), 28 rebounds, 13 turnovers.Edgerton: 17 of 57 field goals (30 percent), nine of 16 free throws (56 percent), 30 rebounds, 16 turnovers.Fulda 49, Luverne 41The Cardinals nearly pulled off a big upset when they entertained the Raiders for a non-conference game Friday in Luverne.Luverne led Fulda, the state’s seventh-ranked Class 1A team, by six points with less than three minutes remaining in regulation play. The Raiders, however, battled back to tie the game before the fourth quarter was complete and won it by outscoring LHS 12-4 in overtime.Luverne took a 31-28 lead into the fourth quarter and appeared to be in a position to win the game when Nieuwboer turned a steal into a layup that gave the Cards a 37-31 advantage with 3:03 left in the fourth quarter.The Raiders countered with a 6-0 run that ended with a field goal by Abby Oakland with 48 seconds remaining to tie the game at 37 and force overtime.Luverne led 39-38 when Loosbrock drained a field goal 20 seconds into the overtime session. Fulda, which made eight free throws in overtime, outscored the Cards 11-2 the rest of the way to prevail by eight.The Cardinals led by as many as four points in the first two quarters before settling for one-point (9-8 and 20-19) cushions at the first two quarter breaks.The score was tied at 22 in the third quarter when Luverne went on a 9-0 run capped by a field goal from Loosbrock with 4:04 remaining to give LHS its biggest lead of the game at 31-22. Fulda scored the final six points of the quarter to trail 31-28 heading into the fourth quarter.Kuhlman led the Cards with 11 points. Kuhlman and Stewart grabbed six rebounds each, and Kuhlman and Nieuwboer charted five steals each. Nieuwboer contributed four assists and Loosbrock four rebounds to Luverne’s cause.Box scoreWilliams 0 0 0-0 0, Heitkamp 0 0 0-0 0, Boomgaarden 2 0 0-0 4, Nieuwboer 3 0 0-0 6, Snyder 2 0 2-2 6, Kuhlman 2 2 1-2 11, Stewart 2 0 0-2 4, Gacke 1 0 0-0 2, Evans 0 0 0-0 0, Loosbrock 4 0 0-0 8.Team statisticsLuverne: 18 of 63 field goals (29 percent), three of six free throws (50 percent), 30 rebounds, 19 turnovers.Fulda: 17 of 58 field goals (29 percent), 13 of 24 free throws (54 percent), 38 rebounds, 20 turnovers.

Luverne post Scott Boelman (34) delivers a one-hand pass during Thursday’s home boys’ basketball game against Southwest Christian in Luverne. The Cardinals let an eight-point lead slip away in the fourth quarter and dropped a 45-42 decision.By John RittenhouseThe Luverne boys’ basketball team dropped a pair of tight decisions at home.The Cardinals lost a three-point game to Southwest Christian in Luverne Thursday before falling by four points to Lennox, S.D., Tuesday.Luverne, 7-6 overall, plays in Marshall Friday and in Pipestone Tuesday.Lennox 48, Luverne 44Lennox outscored the Cardinals 28-24 in the second half to win Tuesday’s game in Luverne by four points.The teams battled to draws at 12 and 20 in the first two quarters, but Lennox was able to overcome cold shooting at the free-throw line (15 of 32 in the game) to nip the Cards by four in the second half."They kept us in the game by missing some free throws, but we just couldn’t get over the top," said Luverne coach Tom Rops. "The kids played extremely hard. One of these nights we’ll find a way to win one of these close games."Lennox used a 14-11 scoring edge in the third quarter to open a 34-31 lead before outscoring the Cards 14-13 in the final eight minutes.Brandon Deragisch netted 13 points to lead LHS. Jared Pick added 10 points and three steals to the cause. Nick Heronimus pulled down seven rebounds, passed for four assists and came up with three steals. Brad Herman added seven rebounds.Box scorePick 2 1 3-4 10, Tofteland 2 1 2-3 9, Herman 1 0 0-0 2, Deragisch 2 3 0-0 13, Stegemann 1 0 0-0 2, S.Boelman 1 0 1-2 3, Heronimus 0 0 2-4 2, Lange 0 0 3-6 3.Team statisticsLuverne: 14 of 36 field goals (39 percent), 11 of 19 free throws (58 percent), 25 rebounds, 10 turnovers.Lennox: 16 of 31 field goals (52 percent), 15 of 32 free throws (47 percent), 26 rebounds, 12 SWC 45, Luverne 42The Cardinals were seconds away from posting their biggest win in a number of years when they entertained the Eagles Thursday.Unfortunately for LHS, the win never came.SWC rallied from an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter, and the comeback included scoring five points in the final 13.5 seconds of the game, to pull out a three-point victory over Luverne."This one would have put us on the map," said a disheartened LHS coach Tom Rops, after the game. "Obviously, we didn’t finish the game the way we needed to. We definitely had some chances to score late in the fourth quarter, but the ball didn’t fall in for us."The Cardinals were in position to knock off the Eagles when they turned a one-point (24-23) halftime lead into an eight-point (39-31) cushion by outscoring SWC 15-8 in the third quarter.SWC, however, pulled to within two points (42-40) with less than two minutes left to play before Marshall Pater converted a three-point play with 13.5 seconds remaining to give the Eagles a 43-42 edge. Luverne’s Herman took an open jumper with five seconds left, but the shot was off the mark. SWC’s Matt Van Schepen grabbed the rebound and made two free throws after being fouled with 2.1 seconds remaining to cap the coring."We’ve got some pretty disappoined guys in our locker room, but they’ve got to make sure they don’t dwell on this loss because we did a lot of good things in this game," Rops said. "We need to move on and improve on the things we need to work. The next time we’re in the same situation like this, hopefully, we’ll learn how to win."Heronimus led LHS with 11 points and eight rebounds. Pick scored 10 points and came up with four steals.Box scorePick 4 0 2-2 10, Tofteland 0 1 1-2 4, Herman 0 0 0-0 0, Deragisch 1 1 0-0 5, S.Boelman 3 0 1-4 7, Heronimus 3 1 2-2 11, Lange 1 0 3-4 5.Team statisticsLuverne: 15 of 41 field goals (37 percent), nine of 14 free throws (64 percent), 30 rebounds, 23 turnovers.SWC: 15 of 41 field goals (37 percent), 10 of 17 free throws (59 percent), 20 rebounds, 19 turnovers.

Adrian senior Kyle Knips scored 28 points during a 67-49 home win over Edgerton Monday.By John RittenhouseThe Adrian boys’ basketball team ran a season-long winning stretch to four straight games with a pair of Red Rock Conference victories.The Dragons posted a 14-point win over Red Rock Central in Lamberton Friday before securing an 18-point victory over Edgerton Public in Adrian Monday.Adrian, 7-3 overall, hosts Southwest Star Concept tonight.Adrian 67, Edgerton 49A big run in the second quarter carried the Dragons to an 18-point home win over the Flying Dutchmen Monday.Adrian, which led 13-6 before Edgerton scored six straight points late in the first quarter and early in the second stanza to make it a one-point game (13-12), put together a 17-0 run to take control of the game for good.The run, which ended with AHS sporting a 30-12 advantage with 2:36 remaining in the first half, was capped by a field goal from Lee Stover.The Dragons extended their lead to 19 points twice as the second period progressed before settling for a 37-20 halftime advantage.Adrian led by as many as 24 points (48-24) in the third quarter before Edgerton closed the gap to 17 points (52-35) by period’s end.Edgerton pulled within 13 points of the Dragons in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, but Adrian increased its lead to 20 points moments later before prevailing by 18 in the end.Kyle Knips pumped in 20 points to lead the Dragons in scoring, while Brandon Wolf recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 assists. Wolf also charted six steals. Casey Knips had seven rebounds. Brett Block and David Brake snared six rebounds each.Box scoreWolf 4 1 5-6 16, Klaassen 0 0 0-0 0, Tjepkes 0 0 0-0 0, Block 3 0 0-0 6, Reisdorfer 0 0 0-0 0, Weidert 0 0 0-0 0, Engelkes 0 0 2-2 2, K.Knips 10 0 8-8 28, Brake 2 0 1-3 5, Stover 1 1 0-0 5, C.Knips 2 0 1-2 5.Team statisticsAdrian: 24 of 63 field goals (38 percent), 17 of 21 free throws (81 percent), 35 rebounds, nine turnovers.Edgerton: 18 of 54 field goals (33 percent), 13 of 22 free throws (59 percent), 25 rebounds, 12 turnovers.Adrian 59, RRC 45A 15-0 run in the fourth quarter carried the Dragons to a 14-point win over the Falcons in Lamberton Friday.The score was tied at 40 with 5:00 remaining in the game. With Dragon senior Wolf leading the way by scoring 12 of his team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter, Adrian snapped the deadlock with a 15-0 surge that settled the issue."We played pretty well," said Dragon coach Chris Rozell. "RRC is a pretty good team. We took the game over in the end. We did what we had to do to get a win on the road."Adrian led by six points (15-9) after eight minutes of play. The score was tied at 23 and 37 at the end of the second and third quarters.Kyle Knips scored 12 points, collected 12 rebounds and blocked four shots for the winners. Block and Casey Knips added 12 points each. David Brake snared 12 rebounds. Wolf charted five assists.Box scoreWolf 3 2 5-8 17, Block 3 2 0-0 12, K.Knips 6 0 0-0 12, Brake 3 0 0-0 6, C.Knips 4 0 4-8 12.Team statisticsAdrian: 23 of 58 field goals (40 percent), nine of 16 free throws (56 percent), 42 rebounds, eight turnovers.RRC: 17 of 60 field goals (28 percent), 11 of 19 free throws (58 percent), 26 rebounds, nine turnovers.