DOUBLE BLOCK — Fairmont’s Zach Jorgensen (11) and Tanner Rosch (15) combine to block a shot by St. James Area’s Alex Stresemann (white jersey) during Big South Conference basketball action Friday night at Cardinal Gym in Fairmont. The Cardinals’ Sawyer Tordsen (0) watches the action. (Photo by Greg Abel)

FAIRMONT — The Fairmont Cardinals held off the St. James Area Saints for a 74-68 Big South Conference basketball win Friday night at Cardinal Gym in Fairmont.

The Saints, led by Hayden Jones’ game-high 33 points, made the Cardinals’ Zach Jorgensen show his leadership skills to help the team regain their composure. Jorgensen netted a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds while dishing six assists to pace Fairmont’s narrow margin of victory.

“I thought Zach settled us down in a lot of ways,” Cardinals’ head coach Jared Thompson said. “He was strong and he was our leader, which he needs to be on both ends of the floor.”

Jones nailed a 3-pointer off a scramble play to end the first half to narrow the Cardinals’ lead 34-29. Jones scored 16 points in the first half alone by hitting mid-range jumpers along with scoring in the paint.

“We knew he was going to get points and we wanted him to take a lot of shots to get those points,” said Thompson. “He was still just hard to handle and we threw an extra guy at him most of the game, but then anytime we would make a mistake he’d make us pay.”

The Saints used that momentum to create a 9-4 run to start the second half. Jones found a way to score by drawing fouls to get to the free throw line and making layups to give the Saints a 38-37 lead.

The Cardinals narrowed the lead to one when Jorgensen found David Maakestad for a layup making the score 41-40. Jorgensen dished another assist seconds later to Sawyer Tordsen to tie the game 43-43. The Saints respond with their leader Jones playmaking ability. Jones dished an assist to Noah Anderson for a layup and then made a layup to help build a 51-47 lead.

The Cardinals chipped at the lead and then with less than nine minutes left took the lead off what would become a momentum swing. Cardinals’ Gavin Junkermeier grabbed an offensive rebound and found a wide-open Jorgensen who nailed a 3-pointer to give the Cardinals a 55-54 lead.

“We have two sophomore posts with Gavin Junkermeier and Sawyer Tordsen and they’re going to continue to develop, but the one thing they both do is play extremely hard and they want to be better,” Thompson said. “Gavin takes a lot of pride in a lot of things and rebounding is one of them. He’s learning as we go and he’s just going to get better.

Thompson continued, “His toughness and rebounding were key for us in both games so far this year. We have to do a better job of getting them the ball in the right positions, because our big guys can score inside.”

Junkermeier scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds. Four of those rebounds came on the offensive glass.

Jorgensen went on to score seven straight points. Jones cut the lead to 59-56 when he netted his 27th point of the game from the free throw line. The Cardinals responded with Jorgensen’s defense on Jones and Jorgensen creating offense from a steal and a layup.

Maakestad dished an assist to Jacob Crissinger for a 3-pointer to give the Cardinals a 66-56 lead.

“Once we were able to get back to what we do it settled us down a little bit and then we were able to go on that run and take that 10-point lead,” “That was really the difference when we were down and came back and went up 10. I thought that was the key stretch of the game.”

The Saints chipped at the lead behind a Steven Balbuena and Jones. Jones found Balbuena for a layup and Jones made two free-throws and a 3-pointer to cut the Cardinals lead 73-68 with less than a minute left. The Cardinals kept their composure and won their second straight game.

Fairmont (2-0) goes on the road to face Pipestone Area on Monday at 7:15 p.m. in Pipestone.

“It’s going to be an entirely different game Monday, because we go up against a team that throws out multiple bigs,” Thompson said. “Overall our defense is going to have to improve. Sixty-eight points is way more than we’re accustomed to giving up so we’ve got a lot of work to do on that end.”

Fairmont 34 40 — 74

St. James 29 39 — 68

Fairmont (74)

Rosch 6-10 1-2 17, Jorgensen 5-8 3-4 14, Junkermeier 5-5 2-4 12, Crissinger 4-11 0-0 11, Tordsen 2-2 3-4 7, Utermarck 1-3 3-5 6, Maakestad 2-4 0-0 4, Pooley 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 26-49 12-19 78.

St. James (68)

Balbuena 3-10 4-4 10, Luna 1-2 2-2 4, H. Jones 11-20 7-11 33, Suarez 3-7 0-0 8, C. Jones 1-2 1-1 3, Stresemann 1-3 2-4 6, Stevens 0-1 -2 2, Firchau 0-1 0-0 0, Anderson 1-1 0-0 2.

3-pointers: Fairmont 10-26 (Rosch 4); St. James 5-15 (H. Jones 2, Suarez 2). Rebounds: Fairmont 31 (Jorgensen 13); St. James 16 (Balbuena 5). Assists: Fairmont 21 (Jorgensen 6); St. James 9 (Balbuena 4) Steals: Fairmont 6 (Pooely 3, Jorgensen 3); St. James 9 (Balbuena 4). Fouled out: Fairmont (Crissinger 5).

Prince Lebbi led the Cardinals in scoring with eight points to pace a 54-19 win over St. James Area in B-squad action Friday night.

Owen Burmeister, Jake Harris and Blake Hilgendorf each scored six points for the Cardinals.

Blaze Geiger scored 14 points to top Fairmont’s 42-36 win over St. James Area in C-squad play Friday night.

Hadan Toomer scored 12 points for the Cardinals.

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Blue Earth Area 83, New Ulm 48 — Braden Gudahl connected for three 3-pointers to net 18 points to top a balanced scoring attack as the Bucs flattened the Eagles by 35 points during Big South Conference action Friday night in New Ulm.

Sam Keister contributed 13 points and pulled down six rebounds for BEA, while Cameron Anderson supplied 12 points and six boards.

Ashton Lloyd produced a double-double performance of 11 points and a game-best 12 rebounds for the Bucs, while Austin Thielfoldt netted 11 points and distributed a game-best seven assists.

Gavin Storbeck tallied 10 points and doled out five assists for BEA, while Will Howard added six points and five assists in the win.

The Bucs made 32 of 54 field goals for 59 percent, including 8 of 17 from 3-point range, and 11 of 15 free throws for 73 percent.

Blue Earth Area (3-0) plays host to Jackson County Central on Monday night.

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St. Clair 74, Martin County West 40 — Connor Andree scored 13 points to steer the Class A, No. 4-ranked Cyclones to a 34-point Valley Conference victory over the Mavericks on Friday night in St. Clair.

Zach Anderson neared double-double territory for MCW by scoring a game-high 15 points and pulling down eight rebounds.

Tanner Sinn supplied five points and seven rebounds for the Mavericks, Mitch Weber tacked on five points and three steals, while Tate Leiding chipped in five points.

Martin County West (0-2) plays host to Luverne at 3:30 p.m. today in Sherburn.

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Girls Basketball

Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial 62, Fairmont 43 — Lakesha Carter produced a game-best 21 points and Alexis Cloyd delivered 17 more to pace the Knights’ 19-point nonconference victory over the Cardinals on Friday night in Lake Crystal.

Cadee Becker scored nine points to top Fairmont’s balanced offensive effort, while Faith Olson, Bryn Miller, Madysen Allen and Emma Gudahl all supplied six points. Allen also doled out four assists, while Rayah Quiring contributed four points and six rebounds.

The Cardinals made 14 of 44 field goals, including 4 of 14 from 3-point distance.

Fairmont (1-1) travels to Jackson County Central on Monday night.

Fairmont defeated St. James Area, 47-27, in B-squad action Thursday night.

Abby Cihoski scored 15 points for the Cardinals, while Olivia Ortega netted eight points.

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Martin County West 69, Madelia 19 — Emily Dunlop collected a game-best 18 points and pulled down six rebounds to power the Mavericks to a 50-point trampling of the Blackhawks on Friday night in Madelia.

Kari Matejka tallied 12 points for MCW, while Lucy Larson collected nine points and pocketed three steals.

Katie Lange produced seven points, dished out a game-best seven assists and pulled down six boards for MCW, while Marissa Whitehead added six points, three assists and three steals.

Martin County West (1-1) plays host to Cleveland on Monday night in Trimont.

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West Hancock 63, North Union 51 — The Iowa Class 2A, No. 9-ranked Eagles netted a 12-point win over the Warriors during Top of Iowa Conference action Friday night in Armstrong.

Cassie Beadle netted 11 points to top North Union and garnered four steals, while Sam Nielsen and Emily Meyer each contributed eight points. Nielsen also grabbed five rebounds, while Meyer garnered four caroms.

Olivia Von Bank and Vanessa Von Bank each scored six points, with Olivia Von Bank pulling down six boards. Lily Henderson doled out four assists, Libby Stevens distributed three helpers and Naomi Jones chipped in three steals.

North Union (10-4) plays host to Spencer on Monday night in Armstrong.