VERTICAL FADE — Windom Area’s Henry Erickson (33) manages to elevate and fade a jump shot over Fairmont defender Jacob Crissinger (2) during Big South Conference basketball action Friday night at Cardinal Gym in Fairmont. The Cardinal trio, from left, of Armando Hernandez, Sawyer Tordsen and Zach Jorgensen, along with the Eagles’ Abe Mckibbin (23), watch the baseline play. (Photo by Greg Abel)

FAIRMONT — Zach Jorgensen’s 6-foot-3 athletic frame proved a welcome sight to Fairmont’s starting backcourt on Friday night at Cardinal Gym.

Jorgensen topped a balanced Cardinals’ offensive attack by netting 19 points to complement doling out three assists and pulling down six rebounds to guide Fairmont to a hard-fought 70-65 Big South Conference victory over Henry Erickson and the Windom Area Eagles.

“Jorgy got off to such a hot start tonight and really set the tone in our favor early,” said Fairmont head coach Jared Thompson.

Jorgensen, who’s a preferred walk-on to play football for the Minnesota Gophers in the fall, did not play during the Cardinals’ 64-51 loss to Redwood Valley on Thursday night in Redwood Falls.

“He tweaked his ankle during the Waseca game on Tuesday night at home,” Thompson said in reference to Fairmont’s 61-58 win over the Bluejays three days earlier in the week. “He couldn’t go last night, so we sat him in hopes he’d be better for tonight’s game.”

Jorgensen proved that theory by reeling off the Cardinals’ first six consecutive points to trigger the home team’s 8-0 run en route to a 10-2 lead out of the starting gate Friday night.

Erickson, who finished with an incredible 32-point performance on 15-for-27 field-goal shooting, and center Dylan Serreyn ignited the Eagles’ counter measures on the scoreboard.

Erickson and Serreyn combined to trigger an 8-2 run, with Erickson barely moving the net on his flawless 2-point jumpers and the 6-5 Serreyn pounding the low post to inch Windom Area within 22-20.

Serreyn, who netted a double-double of 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, sank two free throws and Erickson floated home a pull-up 15-footer in the lane to carve the Eagles’ deficit to 29-28 with 4 minutes left in the opening half.

Jorgensen and point guard David Maakestad, who distributed four assists, utilized 6-6 post player Sawyer Tordsen for six of his 10 first-half points to fuel a 10-0 surge and build a 39-28 lead with 1:37 left before intermission.

Crissinger later connected for two of his three 3-pointers, while teammate Armando Hernandez tallied five of his 11 points on the game to help Fairmont keep pace with the high-octane Erickson and the Eagles during the second half.

Trailing 55-45, Erickson poured in nine of Windom Area’s next 10 points to narrow Fairmont’s margin to 58-54 with 5 minutes remaining in regulation.

Abe Mckibbin, who delivered 17 points, cashed in one of his game-high five steals for a basket to whittle Windom Area’s deficit to 60-58 at the 2:46 juncture.

Tordsen, who neared double-double territory with 14 points and nine rebounds, and Jorgensen dominated the low post and baseline area down the stretch to fend off Erickson’s 22-point second-half scoring surge by five points. Jorgensen sank clutch free throws at both the 1:03 and 17-second junctures to ice the narrow victory.

Levi Pooley and Gavin Junkermeier contributed eight and five points, respectively, off the Cardinals’ bench.

Fairmont (10-11) plays host to Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial on Tuesday night in a nonconference matchup. Windom Area (9-16) hits the road to Springfield on Monday night for a non-league clash.

Windom 31-34–65

Fairmont 39-31–70

FAIRMONT (70)

Jorgensen 6-12 6-8 19, Hernandez 4-5 3-4 11, Tordsen 7-10 0-3 14, Crissinger 3-8 0-0 9, Maakestad 2-8 0-3 4, Junkermeier 1-4 3-3 5, Pooley 4-9 0-1 8. Totals 27-56 12-22 70.

WINDOM (65)

H. Erickson 15-27 1-2 32, Mckibbin 5-15 7-8 17, Serreyn 7-8 0-0 14, Rothenberger 0-4 0-0 0, Garrison 0-3 0-0 0, Wormstadt 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 28-60 8-10 65.

3-pointers: Fairmont 4-15 (Crissinger 3-8, Jorgensen 1-3, Pooley 0-4); Windom Area 1-14 (H. Erickson 1-4, Mckibbin 0-3, Rothenberger 0-3, Garrison 0-2, Wormstadt 0-2). Fouled out: None. Rebounds: Fairmont 35 (Tordsen 9, Maakestad 7); Windom Area 27 (Serreyn 12). Assists: Fairmont 13 (Maakestad 4, Jorgensen 3); Windom Area 6 (H. Erickson 4). Steals: Windom Area 6 (Mckibbin 5); Fairmont 4.

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Hadan Toomer connected on a buzzer-beating putback to lift Fairmont to a 51-49 victory over Windom Area during B-squad action Friday night at Cardinal Gym.

Blaze Geiger poured in a game-best 23 points to pace the Cardinals’ winning ways.

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Harmon Schrunk tallied a game-high 13 points to engineer Fairmont’s 50-13 win over Windom Area during C-squad action in Fairmont.

Nolan Schultze and Hunter Johnson each supplied eight points each for the Cardinals.