FAIRMONT — Wyatt Geistfeld took over.

Geistfeld led the Martin County West Mavericks past the Fairmont Cardinals 59-56 in nonconference boys basketball action Friday night in Cardinal Gym.

The junior forward totalled 20 points, five rebounds, five blocks, four steals and three assists to help lead the Mavericks.

“When we got down late, we kind of spread the floor and let Wyatt Geistfeld determine what we were doing and he took over the game,” Maverick head coach Cliff Anderson said. “That was a big momentum changer for us.”

With 7:30 left in the second half, Fairmont had a five-point lead, but the Mavericks stormed back.

Angel Reyes put up two points before fouling Fairmont’s Zach Jorgensen, who made one of his two free throws. Then, Reyes put up two more to bring MCW within two points with six minutes remaining.

Geistfeld tied the score with a bucket with 5:30 showing on the clock and Nick Beseke sank a 3 to take the Mavericks’ first lead in 10 minutes.

The Cardinals called a timeout to regroup, but a turnover out of the break gave Geistfeld the chance to sink two shots and give the Mavericks a seven-point lead with two minutes left.

After a made free throw from Dustin Schultz, the Cardinals were down six when Wyatt Frank used a post-entry pass from Nicholas Eversman to bring the Cardinals within four.

A foul sent Zach Anderson to the line for the Mavericks and he sank both attempts he had to put MCW back up by six.

Another foul sent Eversman to the line, where he made both tries.

With seven seconds left, Eversman drained a 3 from the right corner off an assist from Zach Jorgensen to put the Cardinals down by one.

The Mavericks were able to get the inbounds pass in play and forced Fairmont to foul Kolton Larson, who sank both free throws to put the Mavericks back up by three.

The Cardinals had six seconds to make up the final three points, but a missed 3-point attempt as the buzzer sounded to end the comeback chance.

Fairmont head coach Jared Thompson said he was pleased with parts of his team’s performance, but the Mavericks’ late intensity was too much.

“At times it went very well,” Thompson said. “I was pleased with how we responded after halftime down six. In the second half, our defensive intensity picked up and stayed up until we had our five-point lead and then there was about a three-minute stretch where they cranked the intensity up. They called a timeout and went on a run, that really was the difference, we were scrambling from then on out.

“They just made the winning plays. Geistfeld dominated the game offensively and defensively, he was unbelievable tonight and some other guys threw in some timely shots as well.”

The teams stayed close in the first half with neither team building more than a six-point lead.

Jack Hested led the Cardinals in the first half with nine points on three 3-point shots. Hested ended his day with 12 points after adding another 3 in the second half.

Frank put up seven first-half points on 3-for-4 shooting to help pace the Cardinal offense.

Pete Ortega joined Hested in double-digit scoring with 11 points after shooting 3 of 4 in the second half and 4-for-5 overall with three 3 pointers.

Eversman led the Cardinals in assists with seven, while Jorgenson had five. Frank led the rebounding effort with seven, Schultz and Hested each brought down five.

Thompson said he told his team the game was just a bump in the road.

“It’s a long ride, this is one game and it hurts, but it’s right back to work next week,” Thompson said. “One of our assistants said to the guys, ‘We’re the same team that won the Bethany tournament.’ We were hoping to have a steady climb and this is just a little hiccup in that. The guys will come back ready to work hard on Monday.”

Geistfeld, Reyes and Zach Anderson scored in double digits for the Mavericks. Geistfeld put up 20, while Reyes scored 12 and grabbed five rebounds and Zach Anderson dropped 10 points and brought down five boards.

The Mavericks went into halftime up six, but two quick 3s from Ortega and two points from Schultz tied the game at 31.

Fairmont built to a 47-42 lead through the first 12 minutes of the second half before the Mavericks came back.

Cliff Anderson said he was happy with his team’s effort and he was glad to leave Fairmont with a win.

“We gave a great effort tonight, I’m proud of the boys for that,” Cliff Anderson said. “We got down there in the second half and had a nice comeback. We never gave up. We made free throws down the stretch and made just enough plays on defense to win the ballgame. Fairmont’s a very nice team, well coached, and we’re just glad to get out of here with a win.”

Fairmont (3-6, 0-3 Big South) plays at New Ulm at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Martin County West (2-4, 1-0 Valley) plays at Alden-Conger at 7:15 p.m. Monday.

MCW 29-30–59

Fairmont 23-33–56

MCW (59)

Geistfeld 8-13 4-7 20, Reyes 5-10 0-0 12, Z Anderson 3-4 4-4 10, Larson 1-5 6-6 8, Beseke 2-7 0-0 6, Weber 1-9 0-0 3. Totals 20-48 14-17 59.

FAIRMONT (56)

Hested 4-8 0-0 12, Ortega 4-5 0-0 11, Schultz 4-9 1-2 9, Frank 4-9 1-4 9, Jorgensen 2-6 4-5 8, Eversman 1-5 2-2 5, Denney 1-6 0-0 2, Flohrs 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-49 8-13 56.

3-pointers: MCW 5-15 (Reyes 2-5, Beseke 2-4, Weber 1-3); Fairmont 8-21 (Hested 4-8, Ortega 3-4, Eversman 1-2). Fouled out: None. Rebounds: MCW 22 (Reyes 5, Geistfeld 5, Z Anderson 5); Fairmont 28 (Frank 7, Hested 5, Schultz 5). Assists: MCW 8 (Geistfeld 3, Beseke 2); Fairmont 14 (Eversman 7, Jogensen 5). Steals: MCW 5 (Geistfeld 4); Fairmont 6 (Jorgensen 3). Blocks: MCW 5 (Geistfeld 5); Fairmont 3 (Frank 3).

Garner-Hayfield/Ventura 55, North Union 26 — The Cardinals erupted for 24 third-quarter points to help pace a 29-point victory over the Warriors during Iowa prep action Friday night in Armstrong.

Elliott Hagebock neared double-double territory by scoring 10 points to complement a team-best eight rebounds to pace North Union.

Braden Pierce netted seven points for the Warriors, while Dylan Delperdang chipped in four points.

The Warriors made 10 of 37 field goals overall and only 3 of 14 free throws on the game.

North Union (1-8) hits the road to Graettinger, Iowa, on Tuesday night to face Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire.