FAIRMONT — Don Waletich took one glance at his basketball lineup’s boxscore and grinned — balanced numbers in points, rebounds, assists and steals across the sheet.

Junior post player Claire Cutler produced a double-double of 15 points and a game-best 10 rebounds, while teammate Alli Lardy delivered a team-high 16 points off the bench to help the Fairmont Cardinals scratch the Belle Plaine Tigers, 71-49, Tuesday night in Fairmont.

“I thought the girls rebounded extremely well tonight. I don’t think we allowed them (Tigers) to grab many offensive boards except maybe a long one or two,” Waletich said in reference to his Cardinals’ 46-28 edge on the glass during the nonconference clash. “We had good balance in scoring with four in double figures, and five players with six or more rebounds.”

Defense and rebounding spurred Fairmont’s instant 10-0 run out of the starting gate, with Claire Cutler pulling down five quick boards while Abby DeWitt reeled off seven consecutive points via two of her game-high six steals. DeWitt then dialed long distance for three of her 12 points off one of Brooke Hunwardsen’s co-game-high five assists.

Sophomore sharpshooter Paige Narveson, who paced all scorers with 17 points, nailed three of her five 3-pointers on the game to claw the Tigers within 19-13 midway through the opening half.

Brenna Cutler, who came off the bench to produce 12 points and eight rebounds, combined forces with her twin sister Claire to help trigger Fairmont’s countering 8-0 run to restore a 27-13 lead with six minutes to go before intermission.

Taylor Crissinger doled out two of her co-game-high five assists to Lardy, who produced 8 of her 16 points on 4-for-6 shooting to keep the Cardinals’ margin at 13.

Narveson and Hunwardsen — who generated solid all-around numbers of six rebounds, four steals and four points to go with her assist total — exchanged 3-pointers during the final 38 seconds of the first half en route to a 40-27 hometown lineup lead.

Crissinger, who chipped in five points and seven boards, then triggered passes to set up Lexi Lunn for four points during the red-and-white’s 7-0 run early in the second half.

After Belle Plaine point guard Elizabeth Johnson drained a pull-up 15-footer to whittle her team’s deficit to 59-48, Claire Cutler, DeWitt and Lardy combined to deliver the majority of Fairmont’s 12-0 scoring surge during the final six minutes to put the game out of reach.

Lunn chipped in seven points, four steals and three assists to the Cardinals’ winning ways.

Elizabeth Johnson finished with 13 points, four assists and three steals for the Tigers, while Lily Vinkemeier contributed nine points.

Fairmont (3-2) plays host to St. Peter on Friday night at Cardinal Gym. Belle Plaine (2-4) travels to Jordan on Thursday night.

Belle Plaine     27-22–49

Fairmont         40-31–71

FAIRMONT (71)

Crissinger 2-8 1-2 5, Hunwardsen 1-3 1-3 4, C. Cutler 7-16 1-6 15, DeWitt 5-10 1-2 12, Lunn 2-8 3-3 7, B. Cutler 3-8 6-8 12, Mosloski 0-1 0-0 0, Lardy 8-10 0-0 16. Totals 28-64 13-24 71.

BELLE PLAINE (49)

S. Lenz 0-2 0-0 0, Vinkemeier 4-8 0-0 9, E. Johnson 6-12 0-2 13, Lambrecht 0-2 0-0 0, Narveson 5-14 2-5 17, Sterk 1-3 0-0 2, Larson 1-2 2-3 5, Struck-Schmitz 1-7 0-0 2, A. Lenz 0-1 0-0 0, L. Johnson 0-3 1-2 1, Hilgers 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-56 5-12 49.

3-pointers: Belle Plaine 8-24 (Narveson 5-10, Larson 1-1, Vinkemeier 1-2, E. Johnson 1-3, Lambrecht 0-2, S. Lenz 0-1, Struck-Schmitz 0-2, L. Johnson 0-2, A. Lenz 0-1); Fairmont 2-7 (Hunwardsen 1-2, DeWitt 1-1, Crissinger 0-2, B. Cutler 0-2). Fouled out: None. Rebounds: Fairmont 46 (C. Cutler 10, B. Cutler 8); Belle Plaine 28 (Sterk 9). Assists: FHS 17 (Crissinger and Hunwardsen 5 each); BP 8 (E. Johnson 4). Steals: FHS 15 (DeWitt 6, Hunwardsen and Lunn 4 each); BP 9 (E. Johnson 3).

Belle Plaine edged Fairmont, 46-44, during B-squad action Tuesday night in Fairmont.

Abby Tonder scored 17 points to top the Cardinals, Jen Moeller tallied 10 points, while the trio of Cambrie Anderson, Whitney Scott and Chloe Murphy scored five points apiece.

Boys Basketball

Worthington 58, Fairmont 39 — Zach Boever delivered a game-high 21 points to power the Trojans to a 19-point Big South Conference triumph over the Cardinals on Tuesday night in Worthington.

Walker Tordsen produced eight points and five rebounds to top the Cardinals.

Derek Missling supplied five points and four boards, while Brady Allen tallied four points and five rebounds for Fairmont.

The Cardinals connected on 10 of 32 shots from 2-point distance, 3 of 16 behind the 3-point arc and 10 of 18 at the free throw line.

Fairmont (1-2) travels to St. Peter on Thursday night.

Dustin Schultz scored 15 points to help guide Fairmont to a 42-39 victory over Worthington during B-squad action Tuesday night in Worthington.

Hayden Berhow contributed 10 points to the Cardinals’ win, while Nick Eversman netted nine points.

Jacob Roberts delivered 12 points and six boards to pace Fairmont’s 39-22 victory over Worthington during C-squad play on Tuesday night in Worthington.

Dan Betts and Joey Flohrs contributed six points apiece to the Cardinals’ winning ways.

Blue Earth Area edged Fairmont, 54-52, during last Thursday’s B-squad game.

Berhow scored 14 points to top the Cardinals, while Jeb Green and Eversman chipped in 10 and seven points, respectively.