Straughn fell at Luverne on Tuesday night, 54-50.

“We were up 27-22 at the half, but (Luverne) got real physical,” Straughn coach Todd Reynolds said. “They are that type of team.”

Luverne took the lead with 2:21 left and ended up holding on for the win.

“The mindset is to basically steal one of the area games on the road,” Reynolds said. “We came out working hard. It was a really good battle.”

Austin Pickrel led in scoring with 14 points and had eight rebounds for Straughn (5-10, 0-3 in Class 3A, Area 3). Caleb Cochran chipped in 13 points and James Byrd had nine.

In B-team action, Straughn won 28-26.

Straughn will host Luverne next Tuesday night.

This Friday night, Straughn hosts Calhoun. Tip off is at 4:30 p.m. with the B-team.

Straughn girls 48, Luverne girls 38

Straughn’s Kimberly Teel scored 20 points of her team’s 48 Tuesday night to help defeat Luverne in area play.

In addition, Straughn’s Katy Messick also had a good night with 12 points.

“We played well,” Straughn coach Scott Kinsaul said. “We shot the ball well. With rebounding, we got hurt on the boards and we’re working on that at practice going into these next few games.”

The girls team improves to 14-3, 2-1.