PRACTICAL DEFENSE – Fairmont teammate Hope Klanderud as Fairmont's Eva Tervehr, 24, reaches out to stop the advances of Luverne guard Sarah Stegenga in Worthington. He's lending a hand at Thursday night's 3AA quarterfinal basketball game. Fairmont won 67-58. (Photo courtesy of Charlie Sorrells)
WORTHINGTON — A 3-pointer and a well-timed shot from the free throw line gave Fairmont a heart attack in the second half of a playoff basketball game Thursday night in Worthington.
Ava Taffer had 19 points, including three 3-pointers, and five assists, Nevaeh Rahm had 17 points and five assists, and Briley Miller had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, leading Fairmont to 67 points. -58, led to victory over Luverne. Section 3 AA quarterfinals.
Fairmont (16-11) will play Windham Area (21-7) Tuesday night in the sectional semifinals at St. James at 8:05 p.m. Windham Area defeated Jackson County Central by an 81-69 decision (17-10) to earn the next round of the postseason.
Luverne finished the season with an 11-15 record.
“Eva (Telfer) really stepped up and did everything we asked her to do and then some tonight.” Fairmont head coach Sara Junckermeier said. “She helped us deal with the defensive press, played great defense, made some well-timed 3-pointers and made some key free throws down the stretch.”
“At the beginning of the season, we weren't able to make free throws as a team, but we hope we can continue to make free throws in the next games.” Junckermeier said, referring to the Cardinals' batting lineup's 17-for-23 performance.
Leading 23-20 at intermission, Luverne tied the score at 26, 28, 30, 32, 34 as the 6-foot low-post tandem of Kira John and Keithley Smith combined for the first 12 points of the second half. caught up with.
The Tri Serie scored its second three-game winning streak of the game off one of four assists from Kayla Blumendahl, increasing its lead to 37-34 against Luverne before Junkermeier hit a layup off a steal from Sarah Stegenga. A timeout was called at 12 minutes and 41 seconds.
Rahm scored six points in a row for Fairmont, then Hope Klanderd, Telfer and Miller found the net with three 3-pointers to give Fairmont the lead for good with seven minutes left in regulation.
“That was a clutch 3 to get us back in the game.” said Junckermeyer.
Klanderd converted one of Rahm's five assists on a trey to cut Fairmont's lead to 46-43 before Miller hit his lone free throw.
Smith, who finished with 15 points, made a nice post move for Luverne, but Telfer and Miller hit back-to-back 3-pointers to take a 50-48 lead.
Those two triples helped Fairmont jump to 12-1 and keep Luverne at bay until the end.
Rahm converted one of Miller's helpers into a low-post streaker, Miller broke free and drove to the right side, and Telfer made two free throws for a 56-49 lead with four minutes left. Telfer made 6 of 7 from the free throw line in the game.
Grace Pendergast, Rahm and Klanderd made two free throws over the next 3 1/2 minutes to seal the victory.
For Luverne, Kira John had a game-best 20 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three assists.
Taya Johnson contributed eight points off the bench for Luverne, and Serie had six points and seven boards.
Luverne   20-38–58
Fairmont 23-44–67
Fairmont (67)
Ava Telfer 5-13 6-7 19, Ellie Ortega 1-5 1-3 3, Nevaeh Rahm 7-9 3-4 17, Grace Pendergast 0-5 2-2 2, Briley Miller 6 -11 3-5 16, Hope Klanderd 2-4 2-2 8, Kennedy Becker 1-1 0-0 2. Total 22-48 17-23 67.
Luverne (58)
Kayla Blumendahl 2-5 0-0 4, Tori Serie 2-4 0-0 6, Sara Stegenga 1-6 3-4 5, Kira John 8-11 4-7 20, Keithri Smith 7-15 1-4 15, Taya Johnson 4-7 0-0 8, Chloe Visker 0-3 0-0 0. Total 24-51 8-15 58.
3-Point Shooting: Fairmont 6-17 (Telfer 3-6, Klanderd 2-4, Miller 1-3, Pendergast 0-4). Luverne 2-9 (Serie 2-3, Bloemendael 0-2, Visker 0-2, Smith 0-1, Stegenga 0-1). Foul out: None. Rebounds: Fairmont 27 (Miller 11); Luverne 23 (John 9). Assists: Fairmont 17 (Telfer and Rahm 5 each, Pendergast 4). Luverne 10 (Blumendael 4, John 3). Steals: Luverne 12 (Stegenga and John 4 each). Fairmont 10 (Mirror 3).
