FAIRMONT — Andrew Morgan utilized every inch of his 6-foot-9 frame to power the Class AA, No. 2-ranked Waseca Bluejays basketball lineup to a 73-52 Big South Conference triumph over the Fairmont Cardinals on Tuesday night.

Morgan produced an impressive game-high double-double performance of 31 points — including three dunks — and 16 rebounds to complement five blocked shots, while backcourt teammate Ryan Dufault collected 17 points to go with game-bests of seven assists and five steals.

“Waseca definitely is a state championship-caliber team this year and maybe next year, too, since all five of their starters are juniors,” said Fairmont head coach Jared Thompson. “It’s fun to watch them play, but not so much when you’re playing them.”

“You could say Morgan won the battle of the cousins tonight, but Wyatt (Frank) had a nice overall game,” Waseca head coach Seth Anderson said with a chuckle in reference to Fairmont’s 6-7 senior post player, who generated a team-best 20 points and eight rebounds to go with three blocked shots.

“You have to play well and shoot exceptionally well to beat a quality team like Waseca,” said Thompson. “The fact that we competed with them for the whole game speaks volumes, but we didn’t shoot particularly well tonight.”

Indeed. The Cardinals connected on just 20 of 58 field goals overall for 34 percent, but did make 6 of 14 from behind the 3-point arc, with Jack Hested swooshing five for 15 points.

Hested’s initial 3 of the game inched Fairmont within 13-10 with 11 minutes remaining in the first half before Morgan triggered Waseca’s ensuing 11-0 surge.

Dufault flipped an inbound over the Cardinals’ packed in zone defense to Morgan for the lay-in above the rim before the 6-9 junior center displayed some fancy footwork by using a baseline spin move to finger-roll home two more points.

Dufault drilled a 3-pointer off one of Kyreese Willingham’s four assists before Morgan’s rejection and rebound served as a catalyst to Willingham’s breakaway layup. Morgan capped the double-figure run with two free throws before Frank countered for the Cardinals with 7 1/2 minutes to go by swooshing a 12-foot left-wing jumper.

Morgan then unleashed a pair of dunks on both sides of Hested’s 3-pointer with 2 minutes remaining before intermission. Willingham lobbed a pass to Morgan for the throw-down before Morgan transformed a low-post spin move into a rim-shaking slam to trigger the Bluejays’ 8-0 run to help carry a 42-23 lead into the lockerroom.

The second half featured more low-post jockeying as Morgan and Frank each dominated the paint and boards as the Bluejays barely outscored the Cardinals during the final 18 minutes, 31-29.

Zach Hoehn made four 3-pointers to generate 12 points for Waseca, while Willingham finished with eight points, 10 boards, four assists and four blocks.

Fairmont (13-8) travels to Redwood Falls on Thursday night to play Redwood Valley, while Waseca (20-5) hosts Marshall for the Big South Conference championship on Friday night.

Waseca 42-31–73

Fairmont 23-29–52

FAIRMONT (52)

Frank 8-20 4-5 20, Hested 5-7 0-0 15, Jorgensen 0-8 0-0 0, Baarts 2-4 1-3 5, Bell 1-6 0-0 3, Flohrs 3-8 0-0 6, Toomer 0-1 0-0 0, Buntjer 1-2 1-1 3, Reyes Santiago 0-1 0-0 0, Parker 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-58 6-9 52.

WASECA (73)

Willingham 4-11 0-2 8, Seberson 2-3 1-2 5, Morgan 13-18 5-7 31, Hoehn 4-14 0-0 12, R. Dufault 5-13 5-5 17, Spies 0-2 0-1 0, C. Dufault 0-0 0-0 0, Hulscher 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-62 11-17 73.

3-pointers: Fairmont 6-14 (Hested 5-7, Bell 1-3, Flohrs 0-3, Parker 0-1); Waseca 6-26 (Hoehn 4-14, R. Dufault 2-6, Willingham 0-4, Morgan 0-1, Hulscher 0-1). Rebounds: Waseca 36 (Morgan 16, Willingham 10); Fairmont 33 (Frank 8). Assists: Waseca 15 (R. Dufault 7, Willingham 4); Fairmont 7 (Jorgensen 3). Steals: Waseca 9 (R. Dufault 5); Fairmont 0. Blocked shots: Waseca 10 (Morgan 5, Willingham 4); Fairmont 5 (Frank 3).

Waseca edged Fairmont in overtime, 58-54, during B-squad action Tuesday.

Jacob Crissinger made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of regulation to knot the game at 48-all.

Crissinger finished with 11 points, while Tanner Rosch and Jackson Francis topped the Cardinals with 14 points apiece.

Fairmont bested Waseca in C-squad action, 54-35, Tuesday in Fairmont.

Jaime Mueller netted 12 points to pace the Cardinals’ winning ways, while Levi Pooley contributed nine points.