HARDWOOD SCRAMBLE — Luverne’s Elizabeth Wagner attempts to fend off Fairmont’s Ellie Ortega (20) and shuffle a pass to teammate Emma Beyer (far right) during Thursday night’s Section 3AA, South Sub-Section championship game at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall. Fairmont’s Brylee Miller (lower left) and Jazlyn Geerdes look on. (Photo by Greg Abel)

MARSHALL — Christina and Elizabeth Wagner gave the Southwest Minnesota State University basketball fans an early glimpse of their future collegiate skills on Thursday night in Marshall.

Luverne’s senior twin siblings combined for 25 points, 10 rebounds and eight steals to engineer a 54-33 victory over defending champion Fairmont in the Section 3AA, South Sub-Section championship game at the R/A Facility.

Luverne (25-3) earned a spot in the sectional finals against Class AA No. 5-ranked New London-Spicer (27-1) at 5 p.m. Friday, March 10, back on the SMSU campus. New London-Spicer posted a 43-37 win over defending Section 3 champion Montevideo (22-4).

“Right on this court. This (SMSU) is our home for the next four years of basketball,” said Christina Wagner, who topped all scorers with 17 points on a blistering 6-for-8 shooting performance to complement pulling down a game-best six rebounds.

The Wagners also helped Luverne avenge a 53-42 loss at the hands of Fairmont during last season’s South Sub-Section finale.

“Our girls have been looking forward to playing Fairmont again in the playoffs for some time,” said Luverne assistant coach Corey Nelson. “They’re definitely motivated to play tonight.”

“After trailing 10-3 early, we finally figured out their (full-court) press a little bit and hit some shots to get back into it,” said Fairmont head coach Sara Junkermeier, whose rebuilt lineup ended the season with a 15-11 record.

Grace Pendergast, who topped Fairmont’s offense with eight points, nailed a 3-pointer off an Olivia Ortega assist, but Tori Serie matched the trey to restore Luverne lead to seven at 13-6.

Down 15-9 on the heels of Luverne post player Jocelyn Hart’s basket in the low blocks, Pendergast later spotted Kate Busche for a banked-in 3-pointer from the top of the key before Pendergast nailed a pull-up right-wing trifecta to knot the score at 15-all with 7 minutes left before intermission.

Jazlyn Geerdes’ solo free throw staked Fairmont to its only lead of the sub-section finale at 16-15 at the 6:24 mark.

Enter the Wagner twins.

Luverne’s towering tandem displayed their future collegiate skills as Elizabeth Wagner banked home a baseline slide move before Christina Wagner swooshed the second of her game-best 3-pointers to trigger a 17-0 offensive avalanche.

Elizabeth Wagner hit an ensuing solo free throw, Lauren Hansen snapped the cords on a left-wing 3-pointer and Christina Wagner spotted Emma Beyer for a clutch right-corner 3 with 2 minutes remaining before intermission.

Elizabeth Wagner, who produced eight points and a game-best five steals, capped the double-figure surge by stepping through on a low-post lay-in off an entry pass from Serie to double Luverne’s lead to 32-16 with only 1 minute to go before halftime.

Freshman guard Brylee Miller, who suffered a finger injury during Tuesday night’s sub-section semifinal win over Pipestone Area, tossed in a left-wing runner as time elapsed for her initial points of the game. Fairmont’s seasonal leading scorer finished with seven points.

“We just didn’t match Luverne’s physicality and intensity tonight,” said Junkermeier. “We knew they’d press us, but we didn’t handle as well as we’re capable off.

“They just outplayed us tonight like we outplayed them last year in this game.”

Abby Cihoski converted Ava Terfehr’s low-post entry pass into a 2-point basket to pull Fairmont within 41-26 at the 10-minute juncture of the second half, but Hansen answered for Luverne by nailing another timely 3-pointer off one of Averill Sehr’s game-leading six assists.

Hansen’s trifecta triggered Luverne’s ensuing 11-0 offensive outburst that put the game out of reach at 52-25 with only 3 minutes left in regulation.

Kira John, who collected three steals and three assists, utilized a dribble-drive move along the baseline to set up Christina Wagner’s low-post bank shot before Christina Wagner sank two free throws.

John, who finished with nine points, contributed a left-handed sweeping baseline hook shot and two charity tosses for Luverne.

Allison Janssen, who missed the entire season with a knee injury, scored Fairmont’s final field goal of the game.