DRAINING A TREY — Fairmont’s Rayah Quiring (red jersey) sinks a 3-pointer over New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva defender Kendall Johnson during Section 2AA, South Sub-Section quarterfinal basketball action Wednesday night at Cardinal Gym in Fairmont. (Photo by Greg Abel)

FAIRMONT — Both times the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva Panthers inched within striking distance of Fairmont in the first half on Wednesday night, junior forward Rayah Quiring lended a helpful hand to keep the Cardinals in the driver’s seat.

Quiring drilled half of her game-best four 3-pointers to trigger Fairmont’s pivotal 10-2 surge during the final minute of the opening half to build an 11-point edge over NRHEG at Cardinal Gym by intermission.

Quiring finished with 15 points and three assists, Cadee Becker delivered 14 points and three assists, while Bryn Miller contributed 12 points and six boards to the No. 3-seeded Cardinals’ 62-42 Section 2AA, South Sub-Section basketball quarterfinal triumph over the No. 6-seeded Panthers in Fairmont.

Fairmont (13-5) advances to face the No. 2-seeded Waseca Bluejays (11-7) in a 7 p.m. South Sub-Section semifinal on Friday night in Waseca. The Bluejays advanced via a 37-28 quarterfinal win over No. 7-seeded Blue Earth Area (4-14).

NRHEG ended the season with a 5-14 record.

“Our (full-court) pressure helped get us off to a strong start, then we hit a long lull,” said Fairmont head coach Sara Junkermeier. “We had the looks (at the basket), but nothing would drop for us.”

Miller opened the playoff game’s scoring with a putback basket before the Cardinals’ swarming backcourt defense of Madysen Allen, Faith Olson, Quiring and Becker created three quick turnovers en route to an eventual 10-0 lead.

Quiring snapped the nets on a left-wing 3 off one of Allen’s four assists before Quiring traded roles by pocketing a steal and threading the needle to Allen for a backdoor layup. Becker then intercepted a Panther pass and weaved through traffic for a 9-0 lead. Quiring added a solo free throw for a double-figure lead.

Junior forward Sophie Stork, who topped all scorers with 18 points, drilled a 3-pointer to end the Panthers’ offensive drought at the 12:44 juncture before teammate Sidney Schultz converted a steal into an assist to Stork.

Sidney Schultz’s breakaway runner inched NRHEG within 10-7 before Junkermeier called timeout at the 10:30 mark.

Quiring responded out of the break by nailing a trifecta to help temporarily keep the Panthers at bay. Sidney Schultz’s ensuing runner and Hallie Schultz’s putback basket later helped inch NRHEG within 15-13 and 17-14 before Quiring answered the challenge again.

Quiring swooshed a 3 off a Cassidy Schultz assist with about a minute remaining in the first half. Rhys Martin hit a putback for the Panthers, but Quiring snapped the nets on another 3 off a Brittney Mosloski pass for a 23-16 lead with 40 seconds to go in the first half.

Olson pocketed a backcourt steal and fired a pass to Emma Gudahl for a layup 10 seconds later before Olson spotted a sprinting Quiring for a last-second lay-in to stake Fairmont to a 27-16 lead.

“We were fortunate that Rayah got hot right before halftime and helped extend our three-point lead to an 11-point lead going into the lockerroom,” said Junkermeier.

Becker then reeled off 12 of her 14 points during the second half, Miller matched her first half with six more in the final 18 minutes, Cassidy Schultz nailed back-to-back 3s, while Mosloski contributed six points to help the Cardinals maintain the postseason contest’s momentum.

Allen doled out four assists and pocketed four steals for Fairmont, while Olson contributed three steals.

Quiring’s four 3s paced the Cardinals’ incredible 7-for-16 shooting performance behind the 3-point arc.

Stork pulled down five boards to match teammates Kendall Johnson and Sidney Schultz to pace the Panthers’ narrow 28-26 rebounding edge.

Sidney Schultz also delivered seven points, five assists and five steals, while Erin Jacobson chipped in eight points.

NRHEG 16-26–42

Fairmont 27-35–62

FAIRMONT (62)

Miller 6-11 0-0 12, Quiring 5-9 1-2 15, Becker 6-9 2-2 14, Allen 1-4 0-1 2, Olson 0-4 0-0 0, Mosloski 2-8 2-2 6, Totzke 0-2 0-0 0, C. Schultz 2-2 0-0 6, Gudahl 2-2 0-1 4, Schwieger 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 25-54 5-8 62.

NRHEG (42)

Johnson 1-2 0-0 2, S. Schultz 2-10 3-4 7, Jacobson 3-9 0-1 8, H. Schultz 1-4 0-0 2, Nielsen 0-6 2-2 2, Stork 8-12 0-0 18, R. Martin 1-1 0-0 2, George 0-0 1-3 1, C. Martin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-44 6-10 42.

3-pointers: Fairmont 7-16 (Quiring 4-6, C. Schultz 2-2, Schwieger 1-2, Olson 0-3, Allen 0-2, Totzke 0-1); New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva 4-19 (Stork 2-5, Jacobson 2-5, S. Schultz 0-5, Nielsen 0-3, H. Schultz 0-1). Fouled out: None. Rebounds: NRHEG 28 (Johnson, S. Schultz and Stork 5 each); Fairmont 26 (Miller 6). Assists: Fairmont 17 (Allen 4, Quiring and Becker 3 each); NRHEG 7 (S. Schultz 5). Steals: Fairmont 14 (Allen 4, Olson 3); NRHEG 12 (S. Schultz 5, Stork 3).