GRANADA — The Fairmont girls basketball team relied on their Faith to seize the early momentum during its intra-county showdown with Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther on Tuesday night.

Faith Olson, the Cardinals’ junior point guard, connected on four 3-pointers and a baseline runner to single-handedly build an initial 14-8 lead over the hometown Jaguars in Granada.

Olson added her fifth 3 in the second half to finish with a game-best 17 points, while Emma Gudahl sank three 3s to match teammate Cadence Becker with 11 points apiece to pace Fairmont’s 70-38 non-league rout over GHEC/Truman/Martin Luther.

“They (the Jaguars) really packed it (defense) in tight, so we needed our guards to step up offensively from outside tonight,” said Fairmont head coach Sara Junkermeier, whose team connected on 8 of 22 shots behind the bonus arc. “It was nice to see Faith and Emma show confidence in shooting from the perimeter. Once those two started making 3s, it opened up a lot of options for us offensively.”

After Olson blistered the nylon cords on 4 of 5 trifectas, Gudahl chipped in two of her three 3s before Madysen Allen converted one of her co-game-best five steals into a driving runner en route to a 23-10 lead for the Cardinals.

Jayme Balcom delivered half of her team-leading four assists to Michaelah Petrowiak and Lizzie Oothoudt for a low-post turnaround and a 12-foot jumper in the lane, respectively, to reduce the Jaguars’ deficit to less than 10 before Fairmont’s post players accounted for an 8-0 surge.

“As usual, we had good balanced scoring tonight,” Junkermeier said in reference to her reserves — Brittney Mosloski, Rayah Quiring, Cassidy Schultz and Emily Frank — combining for 20 points off the bench.

Schultz converted a backcourt steal into a breakaway layup, Mosloski cashed in a low-post entry pass from Olson and Bryn Miller tossed in back-to-back baskets in the paint for four of her seven points to extend Fairmont’s lead to 31-14 with 4 1/2 minutes left in the first half.

Allen closed the opening half by distributing two of her four assists to Becker and Quiring to help carry a 39-23 lead into the lockerroom at intermission.

“I thought our girls really turned up the defensive intensity, too, and that usually leads to easy offensive opportunities,” said Junkermeier, whose lineup created a plus-14 turnover ratio by garnering 21 steals.

Gudahl’s back-to-back assists to open the second half triggered the Cardinals’ inside-outside assault as Becker pounded the low blocks for a lay-in before Olson snapped the nets on her fifth 3 on the game.

Gudahl followed Jaguar guard Makayla Hall’s steal-turned-layup with a right-wing 3 off an Allen assist to serve as the catalyst behind the Cardinals’ ensuing 12-0 run that put the game out of reach.

Becker, Gudahl and Miller combined for five free throws, while Mosloski cashed in passes from Quiring and Allen for points in the paint to cap a 58-25 lead with 8 minutes remaining in regulation.

Mosloski finished with seven points and five rebounds, while Quiring added five points and five boards for the Cardinals.

Oothoudt topped the Jaguars with seven points, Petrowiak collected six points, a co-game-best five steals and five rebounds, while Kaelynn Meixell chipped in five points.

Fairmont (14-8) plays host to St. Peter on Friday night in a Big South Conference game, while the Jaguars (10-13) hit the road to Sleepy Eye Public on Friday night.

Fairmont 39-31–70

GHECTML 23-15–38

FAIRMONT (70)

Miller 3-6 1-3 7, Allen 2-6 0-0 4, Becker 3-5 5-8 11, Gudahl 3-7 2-2 11, Olson 6-10 0-0 17, Quiring 2-5 1-2 5, Mosloski 3-4 1-2 7, Schultz 2-3 0-0 4, Schwieger 0-1 0-0 0, Saxton 0-1 0-0 0, Nemmers 0-0 0-0 0, Frank 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 26-48 10-17 70.

GHECTML (38)

Petrowiak 3-6 0-0 6, Studer 1-4 0-0 2, Moeller 1-5 0-0 2, Preston 0-0 0-1 0, Oothoudt 3-11 0-2 7, Balcom 0-1 0-2 0, Diegnau 1-2 0-0 2, Steinhaus 1-2 0-0 2, Calkins 1-3 0-0 2, Hall 2-5 0-0 4, Stauter 2-4 0-0 4, Meixell 1-1 2-2 5, Bentz 0-0 2-2 2, Steen 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-45 4-9 38.

3-pointers: Fairmont 8-22 (Olson 5, Gudahl 3); GHECTML 2-7 (Oothoudt and Meixell). Rebounds: Fairmont 30 (Becker 6; Miller, Quiring and Mosloski 5 each); GHECTML 24 (Petrowiak 5). Assists: Fairmont 16 (Allen 4, Gudahl 3); GHECTML 6 (Balcom 4). Steals: Fairmont 21 (Allen 5; Becker and Gudahl 4 each); GHECTML 12 (Petrowiak 5).

Emily Frank netted 20 points and Claire Nemmers contributed 17 points to Fairmont’s 52-47 overtime victory over GHEC/Truman/ Martin Luther during B-squad action Tuesday night in Granada.

Olivia Ortega contributed seven points to the Cardinals’ winning ways, including two free throws in the extra session.

Abby Cihoski delivered 22 points and seven boards to power Fairmont to a 41-16 triumph over GHEC/Truman/Martin Luther during C-squad action Tuesday night in Granada.

Jazlyn Geerdes contributed six points and five rebounds for the Cardinals (12-3), while Anna Busche produced five steals.