For the first time in seven games this season, the Luverne girls’ basketball team experienced a loss.
The Cardinals traveled to Worthington on Tuesday, Dec. 21, and came up on the short end of a close 50-45 game.
Luverne had no trouble returning to its winning ways, however, when they defeated Tri-City United 75-17 Monday night and LeSueur-Henderson 87-26 Tuesday morning.
The 8-1 Cardinals are scheduled to play in Marshall Tuesday night.
Worthington 50, Luverne 45
Luverne led most of the first half in Worthington, even sporting a ten-point 25-15 lead with about six minutes left in the first half.
The Cardinals enjoyed a 27-19 lead on the 6-1, state-ranked Trojans at halftime.
The dynamics of the game changed as the second half progressed, however.
The Trojans narrowed the lead and eventually tied the game 33-33 with about ten minutes remaining.
Lead changes continued until Worthington took a 45-43 lead they would not relinquish.
Errors and fouls hurt the Cardinals, who committed 40 turnovers and 23 personal fouls with Emma Beyer, Averill Sehr and Elizabeth Wagner all fouling out of the game.
“We turned the ball over a lot, but we were able to cause turnovers for them as well,” said Luverne head coach TJ Newgard.
“Foul trouble really put us in a tough spot, but I’m proud of the way we fought and gave ourselves chances to win.”
Kira John led the way for Luverne with 14 points and Elizabeth Wagner had 12.
John also tallied 11 rebounds while Elizabeth Wagner had 10 and Christina Wagner added seven.
“I thought we were a few plays away from knocking off a very good team,” Newgard said.
Box Score
C. Wagner 1 0 0-0 2, Beyer 2 0 0-0 4, Ver Steeg 2 0 1-2 5, Sehr 0 1 1-2 4, E. Wagner 5 0 2-9 12, Stegenga 1 0 0-0 2, Jocelyn Hart 1 0 0-0 2, John 6 0 2-5 14, Hansen 0 0 0-0 0
Team Statistics
Luverne: 19 of 44 (43 percent), 6 of 18 free throws (33 percent), 41 rebounds, 40 turnovers.
Worthington: 17 of 58 (29 percent), 16 of 25 free throws (64 percent), 34 rebounds, 27 turnovers.
Luverne 75, TCU 17
Luverne traveled to Montgomery to take on the Tri-City United Titans Monday night.
The Cardinals had no trouble with the Titans, outscoring the home team 42-8 in the first half and 33-9 in the second half to secure the 58-point victory, 75-17.
Luverne shot 57 percent from the field and held TCU to just 18 percent shooting.
Elizabeth Wagner led the Cardinals’ offense with 26 points and five rebounds.
Emma Beyer had nine points and four assists, and Brooklynn Ver Steeg scored eight and added five assists.
The Luverne defense caused 29 Titan turnovers and tallied 21 steals in the lop-sided contest.
Box Score
C. Wagner 1 2 0-0 8, Beyer 2 1 2-3 9, Ver Steeg 4 0 0-0 8, Sehr 1 0 2-2 4, E. Wagner 13 0 0-0 26, Stegenga 2 1 0-1 7, Jocelyn Hart 1 0 2-2 4, Sandbulte 0 0 0-0 0, John 1 0 0-2 2, Smith 0 0 0-1 0, Huiskes 1 0 0-0 2, Serie 0 0 0-0 0, Hansen 0 1 0-0 3, Schmuck 1 0 0-0 2, Jadyn Hart 0 0 0-0 0
Team Statistics
Luverne: 33 of 57 (57 percent), 6 of 14 free throws (43 percent), 32 rebounds, 12 turnovers
TCU: 7 of 39 (18 percent), 3 of 6 free throws (50 percent), 26 rebounds, 29 turnovers
Luverne 87, L-H 26
The Cardinals played a rare morning game Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. in Le Sueur.
Just 12 hours after defeating Tri-City United by 58 points, Luverne earned its second lop-sided victory in two days (and largest of the season), 87-26, over the Le Sueur-Henderson Giants.
The Cardinals were again led by Elizabeth Wagner, who scored 32 points (28 from the field) and collected nine rebounds.
Kira John also totaled nine rebounds in the game.
Sarah Stegenga tallied 13 points and offered five assists. Averill Sehr also had five assists.
Box Score
C. Wagner 4 0 0-1 8, Beyer 1 0 3-4 5, Ver Steeg 1 0 4-6 6, Sehr 1 1 1-2 6, E. Wagner 14 0 4-4 32, Stegenga 3 2 1-2 13, Jocelyn Hart 1 0 0-0 2, Sandbulte 2 0 0-0 4, John 2 0 0-0 4, Smith 1 0 0-0 2, Huiskes 0 0 0-0 0, Serie 1 0 0-0 2, Hansen 1 0 1-2 3, Schmuck 0 0 0-0 0, Jadyn Hart 0 0 0-0 0
Team Statistics
Luverne: 35 of 77 (45 percent), 14 of 21 three throws (67 percent), 37 rebounds, 13 turnovers