The Luverne boys’ basketball team won two games and lost one high-game this past week.
LHS beat H-BC at home 80-67 Tuesday, Feb. 7. The Cardinals lost to Windom 111-97 on the road Feb. 10 and won 80-60 at home against Adrian Feb. 13.
Luverne is now 11-9 for the season with one game remaining against Windom, on the road, Thursday, Feb. 16.
LHS 80, H-BC 67
The Cardinal boys’ basketball team and the Patriots matched up in the Luverne Cardinal Gym Tuesday, Feb. 7.
Luverne won the cross-county contest 80-67, pressing the Patriots and going to the line 31 times, making 16 free throws.
H-BC made three of only five free throw attempts in the game.
“Luverne was much more aggressive on both ends of the floor, and they shot 31 free throws to our five because of it,” Patriots head coach Kale Wiertzema said.
“We are at our best when we defend and get to the free throw line.”
Luverne played without Senior Gannon Ahrendt who was resting an injury.
“It was fun to see some of the kids step up with Gannon out due to injury,” Luverne head coach John Sichmeller said.
“Carter and Gavin had big scoring games for us, and I was really happy with how Eli Woodley played in his first varsity start.”
Sophomore Carter Sehr was five for nine at the 3-point line, posting 28 points, one rebound, four assists and one steal.
Junior Gavin DeBeer netted 27 points inside with seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and one blocked shot.
Sophomore Eli Woodley in his first start added six points and 13 rebounds with two assists.
Other Cardinals scoring in the game were sophomore Landon Ahrendt with six, seniors Marcus Feit and Tyson Cowell with six and five points respectively, and freshman Jaydon Johnson with two points.
Senior Riley Sneller came off the bench with four rebounds and one assist.
Sophomore Beau Bakken played a solid game for the Patriots, posting 22 points, five rebounds, one blocked shot and one steal.
Senior Brock Harnack netted 19 points, grabbed three rebounds and one steal.
Sophomore Sawyer Bosch added nine points, one rebound, one assist and two steals.
Freshman Micah Bush made seven points, grabbed three rebounds, had two assists and one steal.
Other Patriots scoring in the game were freshman Jamin Metzger with four points and senior Brayden Metzger, junior Riley Tatge and sophomore Cameron Allen all with two points each.
Sophomore Jackson Gacke helped H-BC with three rebounds and one assist.
“We are starting to move the basketball a little better which is helping our shooting percentage, but we’re still looking to put a full game together on both ends of the floor,” said Wiertzema.
Windom 111, LHS 97
The Luverne boys’ basketball team traveled to Windom Friday, Feb. 10, losing to the Eagles 111-97.
“Windom leads the state in scoring and they are tough to stop,” Sichmeller said.
“Their point guard is the toughest guy to guard that I have seen in a while.”
Windom had 17 steals in the game to Luverne’s six.
The Eagles were also able to hurt the Cardinals at the free throw line, shooting 94 percent, making 16 of 17 attempts. Luverne shot 61 percent, making 14 of 23 at the line.
“I was proud of how our kids kept battling and we were able to get the lead to ten multiple times but just couldn’t get over the hump,” Sichmeller said.
Gannon Ahrendt posted a double-double for Luverne, making 20 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. He also had one assist and four blocked shots.
Sehr made six of 10 3-point shots in his 35-point day. He also had five rebounds, three assists, two steals and one blocked shot.
DeBeer added 28 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals for the Cardinals.
Woodley netted nine points, muscled six rebounds with one steal and one blocked shot.
Feit added four points, one rebound and one assist.
Cowell made one of two at the line, had one rebound, one assist and one steal.
Landon Ahrendt did not score but grabbed one rebound, had two assists and one blocked shot.
LHS 80, Adrian 60
The LHS boys’ basketball team hosted Adrian Monday, Feb. 13, beating the Dragons 80-60.
“We were able to speed Adrian up and make some runs in the second half to pull away and did a little better job of limiting our turnovers the second half as well,” Sichmeller said.
“It was good to see the scoring a little bit more balanced tonight.”
Gannon Ahrendt opened the game with a missed dunk, which turned into a technical from him hanging on the rim.
It sent Adrian to the line scoring the first points of the game.
Ahrendt was still able to make a few other dunks on his way to 16 points. He also had eight rebounds, five assists, six steals and five blocked shots.
DeBeer played strong inside, sinking 18 points, grabbing nine rebounds and two assists.
Sehr made 15 points, three rebounds, five assists and had two steals.
Cowell added 11 points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal in the win.
Landon Ahrendt come off the bench and posted nine points, four rebounds, one assist and two steals.
Feit and Sneller both added three points.
Feit helped with two rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Sneller made one rebound, had two assists and one steal in the game.
Woodley made two free throws, had four rebounds and one steal.
Senior Ashton Eitreim came off the bench to chants of his name, to sink a 3-pointer in the last 1 1/2 minutes of the game.