Luverne guard Mindy Nieuwboer puts up a shot over the hand of Windom’s Amber Behrens during Saturday’s South Section 3AA Girls’ Basketball Tournament game in Windom. Nieuwboer scored 14 points during a season-ending 75-47 loss to the Eagles.By John RittenhouseA tough draw led to an early exit from the South Section 3AA Girls’ Basketball Tournament for Luverne Saturday night.Luverne, the event’s eighth seed, took on No. 1 Windom for a quarterfinal-round game in Windom Saturday.The Cardinals were unable to upset the Eagles as their 4-20 season came to an end with a 75-47 loss.Windom, the co-champion of the Southwest Conference, controlled the contest from beginning to end by outscoring the Cardinals in all four quarters of the contest.The game was tied at two early when Windom went on a 9-0 run to open an 11-2 advantage.Luverne trimmed the difference to five points (12-7) when Samantha Gacke converted a field goal later in the first period, but the Eagles ended the quarter with an 8-1 spurt to take a 20-8 lead into the second stanza.The Cardinals came within 10 points (20-10) of the Eagles after scoring the first two points of the second quarter. Windom countered with a 15-7 surge that gave it a 35-17 lead at the 1:45 mark of the quarter before Luverne scored the final five points of the first half to trail 37-22 at the intermission.Windom scored the first five points of the third quarter to open a 42-22 advantage and led by 24 points (50-26) when Gacke capped a 7-0 spurt for LHS with a field goal at the 1:47 mark of the period to make it a 50-33 game. Windom increased the difference to 18 points (54-36) by period’s end.Maggie Kuhlman drained a three-point shot and Mindy Nieuwboer delivered a field goal in the first minute of the third quarter to bring the Cardinals within 13 points (54-41) of the Eagles. The score was 54-41 moments later before the hosts ended the game with a 21-6 run that inflated their final margin of victory to 28 points.Nieuwboer led the Cardinals with 14 points and four rebounds in the game. Tori Snyder charted four assists and three steals for LHS. Gacke snared three rebounds. Tera Boomgaarden distributed four assists.Box scoreWilliams 0 2 0-0 6, Heitkamp 0 0 0-0 0, Boomgaarden 0 0 1-2 1, Nieuwboer 5 0 4-4 14, Schneekloth 0 0 0-0 0, Snyder 0 0 1-2 1, Peterson 0 0 0-0 0, Park 0 0 0-0 0, Kuhlman 0 2 0-0 6, Stewart 1 1 0-0 5, Gacke 3 0 1-1 7, Evans 0 0 0-0 0, Loosbrock 4 0 1-2 9, VandeBerg 0 0 0-0 0.Team statisticsLuverne: 17 of 48 field goals (35 percent), eight of 11 free throws (73 percent), 16 rebounds, 20 turnovers.Windom: 27 of 61 field goals (44 percent), 17 of 30 free throws (57 percent), 34 rebounds, 14 turnovers.
