DOUBLE REJECTION — Fairmont’s Logan Junkermeier (left) and Oliver Tordsen (30) combine to block a shot by Luverne’s Jaydon Johnson (13) during their Section 3AA basketball opener Saturday night at Cardinal Gym in Fairmont. (Photo by Greg Abel)
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FAIRMONT — Luverne head boys basketball coach John Sichmeller adapted a page out of fictional Hickory High School mentor Norman Dale’s practice planner in preparing to face Fairmont in the Section 3AA playoffs.
Carter Sehr drilled a game-best five 3-pointers to fuel his game-leading 22-point performance, while Gavin DeBeer produced a double-double of 18 points and a game-high 14 rebounds to power No. 5-seeded Luverne to a 65-57 victory over No. 4-seeded Fairmont on Saturday night in Fairmont.
Luverne (12-12) advances to play South No. 1 seed Redwood Valley (17-10) in a 6 p.m. sectional quarterfinal on Thursday night in Windom. Redwood Valley netted a first-round bye.
Fairmont ended its season with a 13-14 overall record.
“With their size advantage (6-foot-7 starters Oliver Tordsen and Logan Junkermeier), we knew Fairmont would play zone (defense) against us tonight,” said Sichmeller, “so that’s all we did during the week — worked on our passing in close proximity.
“We knew we had to use short quick passes and a lot of bounce passes to find any seams within the lane.”
DeBeer utilized his 6-2 frame and outstanding vertical leap to carve out slivers of space in the paint, with Connor Bose and Jaydon Johnson threading passes to him to help build a 21-12 lead with 9 minutes left in the opening half.
When Fairmont sagged to help out on DeBeer, the sharpshooting Sehr capitalized by swooshing four first-half 3-pointers to eventually help Luverne grab a 36-25 advantage on the scoreboad by intermission.
“He (Sehr) is probably the best perimeter shooter I’ve coached, so we ran a lot of sets for him and tried to give him some open looks from behind the (3-point) arc,” said Sichmeller. “Fairmont made a defensive adjustment to open the second half, but we got big contributions from Gavin and Landon (Ahrendt) down the stretch.”
Logan Junkermeier triggered Fairmont’s 9-0 surge during the first 4 minutes of the second half to whittle Luverne’s lead to 38-34.
Levi Pooley tossed in a pull-up 10-footer in the lane, Pooley fed Tordsen for a low-post turnaround and Pooley knocked down a 3-pointer off a find by Hadan Toomer.
Junkermeier’s traditional 3-point play later inched Fairmont within 46-43 with 12 minutes remaining in regulation before Joseph Hackett spotted Harmon Schrunk for a low-block toss-in. Hackett’s 10-foot putback basket created the first of five consecutive lead changes over the next 6 minutes.
The two sets of Cardinals exchanged the lead back-and-forth before the sectional rivals knotted the game one last time at 56-all on Junkermeier’s putback basket and Tordsen’s low-post leaner with 3:38 remaining in regulation.
Bose banked home his only basket of the night on a layup, triggered by one of Sehr’s three steals, to serve as the catalyst behind Luverne’s 9-1 run to close out the playoff game.
Sehr cashed in an Ahrendt pass for a reverse baseline leaner before Junkermeier’s solo free throw interrupted the surge.
DeBeer worked a perfect give-and-go with Bose for a 62-57 lead with 36 seconds remaining before DeBeer hammered a breakaway dunk to help close out the victory.
Ahrendt, who made three 3-pointers, contributed 15 points to Luverne’s winning ways.
Pooley closed out his prolific prep basketball career with a team-best 13 points and three steals, while Tordsen delivered 12 points to complement team-bests of eight rebounds, five steals and four blocked shots for Fairmont.
Junkermeier supplied 10 points for Fairmont, while Hackett netted eight points and three assists off the hometown Cardinals’ bench.
Luverne avenged a 62-59 regular-season loss to Fairmont on Feb. 1.
Luverne 36-29–65
Fairmont 25-32–57
FAIRMONT (57)
Logan Junkermeier 4-7 2-3 10, Blaze Geiger 0-2 1-2 1, Oliver Tordsen 6-10 0-4 12, Hadan Toomer 3-9 0-0 7, Levi Pooley 5-17 1-2 13, Harmon Schrunk 2-5 0-0 4, Joseph Hackett 3-5 0-0 8, Nolan Schultze 0-5 0-0 0, Trevor Maakestad 1-3 0-2 2. Totals 24-63 4-13 57.
LUVERNE (65)
Connor Bose 1-4 0-0 2, Carter Sehr 8-15 1-2 22, Jaydon Johnson 2-7 2-2 6, Gavin DeBeer 9-15 0-0 18, Landon Ahrendt 5-10 2-4 15, Elijah Woodley 0-0 0-0 0, Coy Thone 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 26-52 5-8 65.
3-pointers: Luverne 8-17 (Sehr 5-9, Ahrendt 3-5, Johnson 0-3); Fairmont 5-19 (Hackett 2-2, Pooley 2-9, Toomer 1-5, Schultze 0-3). Fouled out: None. Rebounds: Luverne 37 (DeBeer 14); Fairmont 31 (Tordsen 8). Assists: Luverne 15 (Bose 6, Johnson 3); Fairmont 9 (Hackett 3). Steals: Fairmont 12 (Tordsen 5, Pooley 3); Luverne 5 (Sehr 3). Blocks: Fairmont 5 (Tordsen 4).