The Luverne Tigers added another win to their regular season, but more importantly, they added their first area win after they defeated Calhoun High 65-61 Friday night.

Luverne kept the lead over the visiting Tigers during the first quarter, but Calhoun managed to pull themselves back in the game as the score was tied 15-15 going into the second quarter.

The back-and-forth action continued as Luverne ended the second quarter just two points ahead of Calhoun, 32-30.

With 1:11 left in the third quarter, the game was again tied at 44-44 as Calhoun, with only a six-man team, kept pace with the Tigers.

But Luverne’s Lonnie Freeman put up a nice layup with 20 seconds left in the third quarter to add two more points and put the Tigers in the lead. At the buzzer, senior Ketric Jackson dropped in a beautiful three-pointer to put Luverne up 49-44.

With just under five minutes left in the game, Jackson put up a bank shot, bringing the score to 57-52, as Luverne began pulling away with the lead.

Junior Darren Foster added another bank shot, adding two more points for Luverne.

Calhoun turned over the ball, and sophomore Morrease Barber took advantage of it by driving the ball in for a nice layup and two points. Barber also drew a foul, allowing him to add one freethrow, and giving Luverne a 10-point lead, 62-52.

Calhoun dropped in a nice three-pointer after adding a freethrow to their score, closing in the lead 62-56.

But sophomore Lonnie Freeman put up a layup, adding two more points for the Tigers.

With one minute left in the game, Calhoun was only trailing Luverne by six points.

However, Luverne’s Ketric Jackson was fouled and added a freethrow to make up the final points for the Tigers at 65-58.

With 3 seconds on the clock, Calhoun hit a beautiful three-pointer, but it was too late as Luverne came away with a 65-61 area win.

Leading scorers for the Tigers were Ketric Jackson with 17 points and 3 steals, and Morrease Barber with 11 points, 2 steals, and 12 rebounds.

Sophomore Rashad Cannon had a great night with 10 points, 2 steals, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists.

“Rashad had the best all-around game,” LHS head coach Richard Dorsey said. “He’s just coming back from an ankle injury. We’ve definitely missed his leadership on the floor.”

Other leaders in Friday night’s win were Lonnie Freeman with 8 points, 2 steals, and 6 rebounds, while Darren Foster had 6 points, 2 steals, and 3 assists.

Robert Freeman added 5 points and pulled down 6 rebounds, and Blake Bagents and Desmond Harrell had four points each.

This was the first area game for the Luverne Tigers and a big win, according to Coach Dorsey.

“That’s our goal, to win area games,” he said. “Everything else will take care of itself if we can do that.”

“We’ve got a young team; we’ve been up and down, and that’s why we win some and we lose some,” he said. “We’re trying to find our identity; but things are coming along.”

The Luverne Tigers now have a 6-5 overall season record and are 1-0 in area play.

Tuesday night’s game against Goshen was cancelled due to the threat of inclement weather. The Tigers will travel to Calhoun High School in Lowndes County Friday night to face Coach Jim Hunter’s Tigers again.

This Saturday, the Brantley Bulldogs will travel to Luverne. Game time is 3 p.m.