MANKATO — Fairmont’s frontcourt of 6-foot-6 power forward Derek Missling, 6-7 center Walker Tordsen and 6-2 forward Brady Allen — ironically — proved too much height for the Le Sueur-Henderson Giants to overcome during holiday basketball action at Bethany Lutheran College on Wednesday night.

Missling produced a double-double performance of 10 points and a game-best 12 rebounds, Tordsen collected a game-high 14 points and seven boards, while Allen generated nine points and eight caroms to propel the Cardinals to a runaway 69-42 consolation semifinal victory over the Giants in Mankato.

Fairmont (2-5) advances to face St. Clair — a 52-49 winner over Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial — at 8 p.m. tonight for the Pepsi/ BLC Holiday Tournament’s consolation championship at Younge Gym in Mankato.

Le Sueur-Henderson (1-8) plays LCWM at 6 p.m. tonight in the seventh-place contest at Younge Gym.

“Our length really seemed to bother them (the Giants) tonight,” said Fairmont head coach Jared Thompson. “Their guards like to drive the paint, but they couldn’t get good looks with our size inside.”

In fact, LSH proved icy cold from the hardwood floor, missing its first 13 field goals during the opening half as Fairmont built a 12-0 lead after winning the opening tip. Nate Kallenbach triggered the Cardinals’ early scoring barrage by draining a 3-pointer, Carter Lloyd drained a trey off one of Missling’s three assists and Tyler Johnson banked home a reverse follow to cap the double-digit offensive explosion.

Mitchell Borchardt, who netted eight points and grabbed a team-best nine boards, finally ended the Giants’ game-opening field-goal drought via a putback basket with 8:26 remaining in the first half.

Kallenbach later delivered two of his eight points on a literal fall-away putback and Allen cleaned the offensive glass for a stick-back shot with 15 seconds left in the opening half for a 29-17 lead by intermission.

The Giants’ shooting woes continued in the second half as they missed their first 11 field-goal attempts as the Cardinals later erupted for a 12-2 run to extend their lead to 49-25 with 9:15 remaining in regulation.

Tordsen cashed in a baseline putback, Kallenbach drilled a 3-pointer off one of Sam Schwieger’s three assists, Lucas Denney dropped home a low-post leaner off an Allen assist, Tordsen hit another follow basket and Schwieger produced a traditional 3-point play to highlight the second-half surge.

“Our big guys finished during the second half, whereas in the first half, we just couldn’t get the shot to fall,” said Thompson, whose lineup made 16 of 31 field goals — 52 percent — during the final 18 minutes of regulation.

Schwieger finished with 10 points for the Cardinals, while Lloyd and Wyatt Quiring each delivered six points off the bench. Lloyd and Johnson each pocketed three steals for Fairmont.

Burke Nesbit connected for three treys to pace his co-team-high 11 points for the Giants, while teammate Cole Pengilly nailed two 3s to highlight his 11-point performance.

Fairmont                29-40–69

LeSueur-H’son      17-25–42

FAIRMONT (69)

Missling 4-12 2-9 10, Allen 4-7 0-0 9, Tordsen 6-11 1-2 14, Schwieger 4-11 1-2 10, Kallenbach 3-8 0-1 8, T. Johnson 1-2 0-0 2, Lloyd 1-5 3-4 6, Denney 1-7 0-0 2, Quiring 3-3 0-2 6, Schultz 0-0 2-4 2, Klanderud 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-67 9-24 69.

LSH (42)

Borchardt 1-7 6-7 8, Radloff 0-2 0-0 0, Nesbit 3-13 2-2 11, Champagne 2-8 0-0 4, C. Pengilly 4-11 1-3 11, Maczkowicz 1-7 0-0 2, Miller 0-0 1-2 1, Arnold 2-5 0-0 4, T. Pengilly 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 13-53 11-16 42.

3-pointers: Fairmont 6-18 (Kallenbach 2-5, Allen 1-2, Tordsen 1-2, Lloyd 1-3, Schwieger 1-6); Le Sueur-Henderson 5-21 (Nesbit 3-8, C. Pengilly 2-6, Maczkowicz 0-5, Borchardt 0-1, Radloff 0-1). Fouled out: Borchardt. Rebounds: Fairmont 47 (Missling 12, Allen 8); LSH 38 (Borchardt 9). Assists: Fairmont 11 (Missling and Schwieger 3 each); LSH 3. Steals: Fairmont 9 (T. Johnson and Lloyd 3 each); LSH 5 (C. Pengilly 3).