After rallying from a 17 point first-half deficit to cut Luverne’s lead to seven points with just over 10 minutes to play in the game, the Blue Earth Area girls basketball team went cold and did not score another point in the remainder of the game. The result was a 61-36 triumph for the visiting Cardinals.

Luverne didn’t hardly miss a shot in the opening minutes of the contest while building a 13-2 lead over BEA.

And while the Cardinals were sinking almost every shot, the Bucs were getting some good looks at the basket but the ball wasn’t falling through the hoop.

BEA finally was able to generate some offense and scored five consecutive points to trim Luverne’s lead to 13-5.

The Cardinals began to pull away after that and by the time the horn sounded ending the first half of play, Luverne was up by 13 points at 33-20.

The opening minutes of the second half saw the Cardinals outscore the Bucs 5-2 to increase their advantage to 16 points.

Trailing 38-22, BEA found a spark in the form of guard Lola Lundquist.

The left-handed guard sank three consecutive shots from outside of the arc to pull the Bucs within seven points of the Cardinals at 38-31 near the 13-minute mark.

A traditional 3-pointer and another field goal by Luverne helped the Cardinals increase their lead back to double digits at 43-31.

Lundquist narrowed Luverne’s lead back to 10 points when she stole the ball at mid-court and drove to the basket for a layup.

Moments later, Myla Eastman’s 3-pointer from the baseline brought the Bucs back to within seven points of the Cardinals at 43-36. That is when BEA went cold and Luverne pulled away for the 61-36 victory.

Lundquist led the Bucs with 18 points while Myla Eastman added eight.