It was a successful week overall for the Luverne boys’ basketball team.
The Cardinals won their fourth and fifth games of the year, including a surprising six-point upset over the 17-1 Martin County West Mavericks.
LHS lost in Worthington Feb. 3, defeated MCW Saturday and won a lopsided victory in Edgerton Monday night.
Luverne, now 5-11, travels to Windom to face the Eagles tonight (Thursday). The Cardinals will take on Montevideo at Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall Saturday night before hosting the Pipestone Arrows Tuesday.
Worthington 77, Luverne 50
Luverne had a difficult time defending the Trojans and struggled to get into an offensive groove when the Cardinals traveled to Worthington Thursday, Feb. 3.
Worthington, with a 3-12 record entering the contest, defeated Luverne 77-50. The Trojans shot 65 percent from the field and outscored the Cardinals (45 percent from the field) 41-28 in the first half and 36-22 in the second half.
Eli Radtke led the scoring for Luverne with 18 points, and Gannon Ahrendt totaled 15.
Box score:
Cole-Kraty 0 0 1-2 1, Schoeneman 0 1 1-2 4, Frahm 0 0 0-0 0, Cowell 1 0 0-0 2, Sehr 3 0 1-2 7, Feit 0 0 0-0 0, Radtke 7 1 1-2 18, Friedrichsen 0 0 0-0 0, DeBeer 0 0 0-0 0, Ahrendt 2 0 1-2 5, Overgaard 5 0 5-10 15, Mounce 0 0 0-0 0.
Team stats:
Luverne: 19 of 42 (45 percent), 10 of 20 free throws (50 percent), 9 rebounds, 15 turnovers.
Worthington: 33 of 51 (65 percent), 6 of 12 free throws (50 percent).
Luverne 62, MCW 56
The Martin County West Mavericks came to Luverne Saturday afternoon with a 17-1 record and the No. 3 ranking in Class A Minnesota boys’ basketball.
The Cardinals, a Class AA team, entered the game with a 3-11 record.
After 36 minutes of play in the Luverne classic gym, season records didn't mean much.
Martin County West (MCW) scored first in the game, but when junior Gannon Ahrendt made a layup with 12:25 remaining in the first half, Luverne took an 8-7 lead that it held for most of the rest of the game.
The Cardinals played an outstanding first half, led by senior Eli Radtke who had 17 points in the first half, and Luverne took a 15-point lead (34-19), its largest of the game, to the locker room at halftime.
In the second half, MCW outscored Luverne 37-26 and briefly had small leads. Luverne withstood the improved Maverick offense and maintained its defensive pressure, however, to hold on for the 62-56 upset victory.
“Our record doesn’t show what we are capable of as a team and the talent we have,” Radtke said after the game.
“The MCW game was a much needed win, and we hope to continue with our team’s momentum,” Radtke said.
Gannon Ahrendt led all scorers in the game with 26 points and pulled down six rebounds.
Radtke had 17 points, while Connor Overgaard had nine points and eight rebounds in the contest.
Box score:
Cole-Kraty 0 0 2-2 2, Schoeneman 0 1 0-0 3, Sehr 0 0 2-2 2, Radtke 4 2 3-3 17, DeBeer 1 0 1-2 3, Ahrendt 10 0 6-10 26, Overgaard 4 0 1-5 9
Team stats:
Luverne: 21 of 43 (49 percent), 15 of 23 free throws (65 percent), 28 rebounds, 11 turnovers.
MCW: 23 of 42 (55 percent), 5 of 9 free throws (56 percent), 21 rebounds, 17 turnovers.
Luverne 81, Edgerton 40
The Cardinals had little trouble picking up their second win in a row when they traveled to Edgerton to take on the Edgerton Flying Dutchmen Monday night.
Luverne outscored the Dutchmen 48-17 in the first half and 33-23 in the second stanza to earn the 81-40 victory.
Gannon Ahrendt led all scorers with 29 points. Colin Schoeneman tallied 15 points, all from three-pointers.
Eli Radtke had 13 points in the contest. Connor Overgaard grabbed five rebounds.
Box score:
Cole-Kraty 2 0 2-2 6, Schoeneman 0 5 0-0 15, Frahm 0 1 0-0 3, Sneller 1 0 0-1 2, Cowell 0 1 0-0 3, Sehr 1 0 1-2 3, Feit 0 0 0-0 0, Radtke 3 2 1-1 13, Friedrichsen 0 0 1-4 1, DeBeer 3 0 0-0 6, Ahrendt 9 3 2-2 29, Overgaard 0 0 0-0 0, Mounce 0 0 0-0 0, Arp 0 0 0-0 0.
Team stats:
Luverne: 31 of 57 (54 percent), 7 of 12 free throws (58 percent).
Edgerton: 16 of 37 (43 percent), 3 of 6 free throws (50 percent).