TRIMONT — Luverne’s defense caused trouble all night.

The Luverne Cardinals beat the Martin County West Mavericks 54-45 in a non-league game in Trimont on Friday night. The Mavericks celebrated senior night in their final home game of the regular season.

The Mavericks went into the halftime break with a six-point lead, but with 14 minutes left in the matchup and the Mavericks up by seven, the Cardinals began to storm back.

Mallory Thorson got the run started with a 3, for three of her game-leading 15 points. A foul sent Luverne’s Grace Sweeney to the free throw line, where she made the front end of two shots, then Thorson drove through the Maverick defense for a layup to bring the Maverick lead down to one.

Through the run, the Cardinal defense wreaked havoc on the Mavericks, causing trouble in the backcourt, forcing two steals and keeping MCW from getting the ball into the post with a tough zone.

With the Maverick lead down to one, Luverne’s Brooklynn Ver Steeg pocketed one of her game-leading five steals in the Mavericks’ backcourt and dropped in a fastbreak layup to create the lead the Cardinals would keep.

The scoring stretch continued with the Cardinals scoring 15 unanswered points to go up 38-30 before MCW’s Samantha Meyer broke the skid with a layup off a post-entry pass from Cheyenne Owens for two of Meyer’s team-leading 14 points.

The Mavericks started to come back, with Owens making a mid-range jumper and Marissa Whitehead going coast-to-coast for a layup after grabbing a defensive rebound to bring the Mavericks within five, but missed opportunities sank the Mavericks and brought the Cardinal lead back to 10 with Thorson scoring four points and Mackenzie Petersen dropping in a timely 3 from the left corner.

MCW got back within seven with 30 seconds left when Alyssa Williamson sank two free throws, but couldn’t come any closer.

The Cardinals pocketed 12 steals in the game and forced six more turnovers.

MCW head coach Roger Taylor said Luverne deserved credit for its energy, but his team will learn from the defeat.

“I’m gonna give Luverne credit,” Taylor said. “In the second half, they came out with great energy, but our girls, it definitely showed that we had not had as much practice or game time as we would have liked, but that’s everybody’s boat. We’ll learn from this.”

In the first half, the game looked to be a low-scoring affair.

The teams stayed within three points of each other for the first 10 minutes, bouncing the lead back and forth with short point runs.

The Mavericks built a five-point lead with a seven-point run. Williamson started with a free throw, before getting into the paint for a layup. Then Karlee Thiesse used a Meyer assist for a layup and Williamson made another layup to go up 16-11.

The Mavericks would stay ahead for the rest of the first half, with the Cardinals getting within three after Petersen powered her way through a foul for a traditional three-point play to bring the score to 19-16.

After the final regular-season game, Taylor said it’s always surprising how fast the season goes by.

“Where did it go?” Taylor asked. “We’re at playoff time, it’s crazy how fast it goes.”

Williamson ended second on the team behind Meyer with 12 points, while bringing down five rebounds.

Owens dropped six points, collected nine rebounds and pocketed four steals, while Thiesse scored five and grabbed seven boards.

The Mavericks shot 17 of 46 from the field and couldn’t get through the lid on the rim, shooting 2-for-18 from 3.

With only one game remaining in the regular season, Taylor said his team will need to communicate better to have success in the section playoffs.

“We talked with them many times about how we need to communicate more,” Taylor said. “If we play like we’re capable, we can be pretty good.”

MCW (14-6, 8-0 Valley) plays its final regular-season game at Worthington on Tuesday. Luverne (13-9, 4-7 Big South) plays host to Windom today.

Luverne 18-36–54

MCW 24-21–45

MCW (45)

Meyer 6-8 2-2 14, Williamson 4-17 3-8 12, Owens 2-8 2-2 6, Thiesse 2-4 1-2 5, Klima 1-5 1-2 4, Whitehead 2-4 0-0 4. Totals: 17-46 9-16 45.

Luverne (54)

Thorson 5-12 4-7 15, Ver Steeg 4-8 4-9 13, Petersen 5-8 1-1 12, Ferrell 3-7 0-0 7, Sweeney 1-2 3-6 5, Anderson 0-3 2-4 2. Totals: 18-40 14-27 54.

3-pointers: MCW 2; Luverne 4. Fouled out: Owens (MCW). Rebounds: MCW 32 (Owens 9, Thiesse 7); Luverne: 22 (Ver Steeg 6, Thorson & Ferrell 5). Assists: MCW 10; Luverne 7 (Thorson 4). Steals: MCW 10 (Owens 4); Luverne 12 (Ver Steeg 5, Anderson 4).

New Ulm 48, Fairmont 36 — Minnesota State University, Mankato commit Joey Batt generated a game-high 21 points, including four consecutive free throws during the late stages of regulation, to help the Eagles fend off the Cardinals by 12 during Big South action Friday night in New Ulm.

Iyanna Wieland supplied 12 points for New Ulm, which held a narrow 24-21 lead over Fairmont at halftime.

Taylor Crissinger collected nine points and seven rebounds to top the Cardinals’ efforts, Bryn Miller netted six points, while Lexi Lunn chipped in five points.

Maggy Totzke distributed three assists to top Fairmont, which made 15 of 35 field goals overall, including 3 of 11 from 3-point range. The Cardinals also hit only 3 of 9 free throws.

The Eagles, who made 18 of 45 field goals overall but only 1 of 20 behind the arc, sealed the victory by making 11 of 13 free throws.

Fairmont (7-15) travels to Sleepy Eye Public on Tuesday night. New Ulm (19-4) hits the road to Waconia on Monday night.

Brittney Mosloski and Cadence Becker combined for 29 points to pace Fairmont’s 51-25 win over New Ulm during B-squad action Friday.

Mosloski tossed in 15 points, Becker tallied 14, while Bryn Miller chipped in nine points.

Carissa Saxton generated a game-best 17 points to power Fairmont to a 50-24 victory over New Ulm during C-squad action Friday.

Cassidy Schultz scored 10 points for the Cardinals, Mosloski neared double-double territory with nine points and nine rebounds, while Sami Lenort chipped in eight points and five rebounds.

Blue Earth Area 69, St. James Area 27 — Senior forward Caitlin Rorman continued her torrid scoring streak to engineer the Bucs’ 42-point Big South rout over the Saints on Friday night in Blue Earth.

Rorman scorched the nets for a game-leading 34 points, Hannah Johnson supplied 10 points and Te’a Armstrong added eight points for BEA.

Chloe Mickelson netted seven points for St. James Area.

Blue Earth Area (12-9) plays host to Medford on Monday night in a nonconference game.

Sleepy Eye Public 68, Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther 54 — Brittney Dittbenner netted 19 points and teammate Madison Krueger scored 18 more to propel the Indians to a 14-point non-league win over the Jaguars on Friday night in Granada.

Lydia Studer produced a game-high 22 points to complement eight rebounds for the Jaguars, while Rachel Stauter neared double-double territory with nine points and nine rebounds to complement three steals.

Eden Studer collected nine points and six rebounds for the Jaguars, while Michaelah Petrowiak added eight points and nine boards.

The Jaguars (6-17) play host to Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey on Monday night in Granada.