FAIRMONT — Nearly every time the Blue Earth Area basketball team either tied the score or took the lead, Redwood Valley guards Bryant Haas and Connor Josephson answered the challenge during Saturday’s Big South Showcase in Fairmont.

Haas produced a game-best 26 points to complement five rebounds, five steals and three assists, while Josephson neared rare quadruple-double territory with nine points, nine boards, eight steals and seven assists to power the Cardinals to a 66-57 victory over the Bucs.

Cameron Anderson’s traditional 3-point play staked Blue Earth Area to its last lead of the game at 39-38 after the Bucs’ early 13-6 surge in the second half erased a six-point halftime deficit.

Unfortunately for the Bucs, Caelan Sanders suffered an ankle injury with 59 seconds remaining in the initial half and the senior guard did not return to the hardwood floor for the duration.

Oddly, Sanders and Braden Gudahl combined for a traditional 3-point to trim the Bucs’ gap to 32-26. Sanders scored on a hard drive to the basket before crashing to the floor after contact. Gudahl then made the ensuing free throw as Sanders’ replacement.

Gudahl drilled a 3-pointer to trigger BEA’s second-half surge, but Haas countered with a steal-turned-layup.

Anderson and Gudahl combined for three free throws, Austin Thielfoldt sank a pull-up jumper in the lane and Zach Herrmann converted Gavin Storbeck’s assist into a 36-34 Bucs’ lead with 14 minutes left in regulation.

Drew Lundeen scored on Josephson’s half-court outlet pass before Josephson triggered his inbound toss to Carter Johnson for a go-ahead right-wing jumper.

After Anderson restored a one-point lead for the Bucs via his and-1 play, Haas turned to his playmaking skills to reel off an 8-0 run for Redwood Valley. Haas hit Carter Guetter for back-to-back buckets before he and Josephson delivered back-to-back steals-turned-layups to swing a 46-39 lead to the Cardinals.

Despite Anderson tallying nine consecutive points for the Bucs during the final 7 minutes of regulation, Haas was equal to the challenge for the Cardinals. Haas poured in nine of Redwood Valley’s final 13 points to fend off BEA’s late comeback bid.

Guetter finished with 11 points for Redwood Valley, while Alex Lang added nine points.

Sam Keister neared triple-double territory for the Bucs by scoring nine points, grabbing eight rebounds and blocking seven shots. Gudahl netted seven points, while Thielfoldt chipped in six points, four steals and four assists.

Blue Earth Area (1-2) plays host to St. Peter on Tuesday night, while Redwood Valley (4-2) travels to Marshall.

B.E. Area 26-31–57

R. Valley 32-34–66

B.E. AREA (57)

C. Anderson 5-15 7-7 18, Sanders 2-4 0-0 5, Keister 3-9 3-6 9, Gudahl 1-6 4-5 7, Thielfoldt 3-12 0-0 6, Storbeck 2-5 0-0 5, Herrmann 2-4 0-0 5, Strukel 1-2 0-0 2, Howard 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-57 14-18 57.

R. VALLEY (66)

Guetter 3-6 5-6 11, Woodford 2-4 3-3 7, Lang 4-14 0-0 9, Josephson 3-7 2-7 9, Haas 11-15 4-6 26, Lundeen 1-2 0-0 2, Johnson 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 25-60 14-22 66.

3-pointers: BEA 5-15; Redwood Valley 2-8. Rebounds: Redwood Valley 33 (Josephson 9); BEA 30 (Keister 8). Assists: Redwood Valley 12 (Josephson 7); BEA 9 (Thielfoldt 4). Steals: Redwood Valley 13 (Josephson 8, Haas 5); BEA 11 (Thielfoldt 4). Blocks: BEA 9 (Keister 7); Redwood Valley 4.

Waseca 94, Jackson County Central 78 — Andrew Morgan, Kyreese Willingham and Ryan Dufault combined for 74 points to power the Class AA No. 1-ranked Bluejays to a 16-point victory over the Huskies during Saturday’s Showcase shootout.

The 6-foot-9 Morgan produced a team-best double-double performance of 26 points and 14 rebounds, Willingham swooshed seven 3s to pace his 25-point effort, while Dufault netted 23 points and doled out five assists.

Rudy Voss drilled six trifectas to pace a game-best 34-point effort to top JCC, while teammate Andrew Hesebeck supplied 19 points.

The Bluejays built a 49-39 halftime lead.

Waseca (4-2) plays host to St. Peter on Friday night, while Jackson County Central (2-1) hosts Worthington on Tuesday night.

Marshall 60, St. Peter 44 — Power forward Noah Puetz’s double-double of 13 points and 13 boards helped the Class AAA No. 5-ranked Tigers claw the No. 8-ranked Saints during Saturday’s battle of previously-unbeaten Showcase teams.

Bryce Lance produced a team-best 15 points to complement six rebounds and four assists to steer Marshall to a 31-20 halftime edge.

Wyatt Olson scored a game-leading 19 points to pace St. Peter, Ethan Grant netted 12 points, while Bennett Olson chipped in eight points and seven rebounds.

Marshall (4-0) hosts Redwood Valley on Tuesday night, while St. Peter (5-1) travels to Blue Earth Area on Tuesday night.

Pipestone 75, St. James Area 64 — Dawson Kellen and JT Tinklenberg combined forces for 44 points to shoot the Arrows to an 11-point Showcase win over the Saints on Saturday.

Kellen tallied a game-best 23 points to complement six rebounds, while Tinklenberg collected 21 — including three 3s — to go with eight rebounds and three assists.

Connor Zephier tacked on 13 points for the Arrows, who led 36-26 at halftime.

Hayden Jones pocketed a team-best 21 points and eight rebounds for the Saints, Logan Carlson nailed four 3s to trigger a 20-point effort, while Derrick Halvorson chipped in 15 points.

Pipestone (2-2) hosts Windom on Tuesday night, while St. James Area (3-3) hosts Fairmont on Friday night.

Worthington 59, New Ulm 43 — Terbuto Ochothow poured in a game-high 19 points to pace the Trojans’ 16-point Showcase win over the Eagles on Saturday.

Marenono Opiew hit three 3s to highlight his 11-point effort for Worthington, while Brock Bruns chipped in nine points.

Reece Melby, who reached the 1,000-point career scoring plateau on Thursday night, netted 18 points to top the Eagles, while Isaiah Miller and Cole Rhode chipped in seven points apiece.

Worthington (3-2) travels to Jackson County Central on Tuesday, while New Ulm (0-5) hosts Delano on Tuesday night.

Southwest Minnesota Christian 93, Windom 43 — Avery Pater topped a balanced scoring attack to power Class A No. 5-ranked SWMC to a 50-point rout over Windom during Showcase action Saturday.

Pater collected 16 points to complement eight rebounds, five steals and four assists, while teammate Jacob Van Dam netted 15 points in the win.

Zach Prins hit three 3s to pace a 14-point performance for the unbeaten Eagles, Kade Fey and Micah Schaap each tallied 12 points, while Denver Decker chipped in 11.

Conner Redman generated 12 points and five rebounds for Windom, Austin Doorenbos scored eight points, while Dylan Serreyn chipped in six points and seven rebounds.

Windom (0-4) travels to Adrian tonight for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff, while Southwest Minnesota Christian (4-0) travels to Hills-Beaver Creek on Thursday night.