FAIRMONT — Lucas Denney was the Fairmont Cardinals’ key to success against the Blue Earth Area Bucs. Denney scored a co-game-high 14 points in the Cardinals’ 54-41 win over the Bucs during Big South Conference boys basketball action on Friday night.

“I thought Lucas Denney’s minutes off the bench were huge,” Cardinals head coach Jared Thompson said. “Derek (Missling) and Lucas consistently scored versus one-on-one defense in the post, and that was big.”

This proved to be true as Missling scored the first points for the Cardinals and Denney’s bucket at the 11:33 mark gave the home team the lead.

The Cardinals fell behind after Missling’s shot. Bucs senior forward Collin Bell netted the first bucket before Jacob Vaske added in another two points. Freshman forward Caelan Sanders then put the Bucs up, 7-3, with a 3-pointer from the top of the arc.

Cardinals junior point guard Nate Kallenbach broke up the 7-0 run after getting fouled on an attempt to turn his steal into a fastbreak layup. Instead, Kallenbach made one free throw and later sunk a 3 from the left side off a feed from senior guard Sam Schwieger.

Bucs senior guard Chris Sanders made on shot at the foul line to tie the game at 8. But Schwieger dished out one of his team-best four assists to Denney for the 10-8 lead.

The Cardinals maintained the lead for much of the half, going up 20-12 after Schwieger knocked in two shots at the free throw line with 6:56 to go in the opening frame.

But Bell brought the Bucs back within striking distance. After Bucs junior point guard Blake Barnett made a free throw, Bell scored back-to-back shots to bring the Bucs within four with 4:25 remaining.

Cardinals senior center Walker Tordsen answered by banking in a leaning shot to restore the six-point advantage.

With less than two minutes left, the Bucs started their comeback bid. Senior forward Joe Ritter hit a fadeaway shot before senior guard Logan Jahnke put up a short jumper to bring the Bucs within one at 28-27.

The Bucs then got the ball back and Bell hit the open trey with four seconds on the clock, sending the Bucs into the break with the 30-28 lead.

“That first half was the best we’ve played in a really, really long time,” Bucs head coach Colby Swanson said. “For us to score 30 points in the first half against a good half-court defense like Fairmont, I was really happy with that.”

The Cardinals, however, got off eight points to start the second half, taking a lead for the remainder of the game

“For the most part, we stayed within ourselves and kept playing our game,” Thompson said about the second half. “Our game is good enough to be successful. If we get the ball inside and play good defense and rebound the ball, we’re going to be in every game.”

Missling rattled off a putback shot to tie the game before netting two baskets at the foul line for the lead. Junior guard Brady Allen then went to the line and made both baskets with 12:42 to go for a 36-30 game.

Vaske managed to get a score in off one of his game-high 17 rebounds to end the Bucs’ scoring drought around the 12-minute mark.

“Jacob’s effort was phenomenal,” Swanson said. “The kid has an incredible will to go get the basketball. He’s a lot stronger than he was last year and more confident. I’m really proud of what he did.”

Caelan Sanders then pulled the Bucs within two, but Tordsen knocked in two buckets to keep the Bucs at bay.

Vaske and Bell later pulled the Bucs within three for a 44-41 deficit, but the Cardinals prevented the Bucs from getting any closer. Kallenbach and Allen closed out the game with eight equally combined points to garner the victory. The Cardinals outscored the Bucs, 26-11, to close out the game.

“I thought everybody contributed tonight and played well,” Thompson said. “We think we can get better defensively. Giving up 11 in the second half, the kids will ask, ‘How do you do much better than that?’ (It’s) the little things we can improve on.”

Missling finished with 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting in addition to five rebounds, while Kallenbach added 10 points. Tordsen crashed the boards for a team-leading eight rebounds.

Denney and Carter Lloyd each finished with three rebounds off the bench.

In addition to 17 rebounds, Vaske added a co-game-high 14 points, shooting 5 of 10 on the floor, for a double-double. Bell chipped in 10 points, and Caelan Sanders recorded seven points and five rebounds.

Fairmont (1-1) plays at Worthington on Tuesday and Blue Earth Area (1-2) hosts Waseca at 7:30 p.m. next Friday in Blue Earth.

BEA        30-11–41

FMT       28-26–54

FAIRMONT (54)

Lucas Denney 7-11 0-1 14, Derek Missling 5-8 2-2 12, Nate Kallenbach 1-4 7-8 10, Walker Tordsen 4-13 0-2 8, Brady Allen 1-4 4-4 6, Sam Schwieger 0-5 4-4 4, Carter Lloyd 0-2 0-0 0, Wyatt Quiring 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-48 17-21 54.

B.E. AREA (41)

Jacob Vaske 5-10 4-6 14, Collin Bell 4-9 1-2 10, Caelan Sanders 2-7 2-2 7, Blake Barnett 1-11 3-7 5, Logan Jahnke 1-5 0-0 2, Joe Ritter 1-2 0-0 2, Chris Sanders 0-4 1-2 1. Totals 14-47 11-19 41.

3-pointers: Blue Earth Area 2-17 (Bell 1-3, Caelan Sanders 1-2, Ritter 0-1, Jahnke 0-2, Vaske 0-2, Chris Sanders 0-3, Barnett 0-4); Fairmont 1-13 (Kallenbach 1-4, Allen 0-1, Lloyd 0-1, Quiring 0-1, Tordsen 0-2, Schwieger 0-4). Fouled out: None. Rebounds: Fairmont 30 (Tordsen 8, Missling 5); Blue Earth Area 29 (Vaske 17, Caelan Sanders 5). Assists: Fairmont 8 (Schwieger 4); Blue Earth Area 0. Steals: Fairmont 8 (Schwieger 3); Blue Earth Area 3.

West Hancock 61, North Union 47 –The Eagles used a 35-23 halftime lead to beat the Warriors during Top of Iowa Conference action on Friday night in Britt, Iowa.

Trent Pedersen topped the Warriors’ effort with 14 points and eight rebounds. Riley Bauer pocketed three steals to go along with nine points, while Nathan Eaton produced seven points and seven rebounds.

Parker Oleson provided the Warriors with six points and five rebounds, and Elliott Hagebock recorded five points and six rebounds.

Overall, the Warriors made 20 of 64 shots from the floor, including 7 of 32 behind the 3-point arc, while going 0-for-2 at the free throw line.

North Union (1-4) hosts Belmond-Klemme at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Armstrong.

NU      8 15 12 12–47

WH   14 21   9 17–61