INTERCEPTION — Fairmont’s Grace Pendergast (11) intercepts a pass intended for Pipestone Area’s Taryn Tuinstra (far left) during the waning seconds of their Section 3AA, South Sub-Section semifinal basketball game Tuesday night in Windom. Fairmont’s Nevaeh Rahm (40) and Olivia Ortega, along with Pipestone Area’s Madelyn Wiese, watch the defensive gem. (Photo by Greg Abel)

WINDOM — Fairmont discovered a “Graceful” manner in which to squeeze out a down-to-the-wire Section 3AA girls basketball playoff victory on Tuesday night.

Grace Pendergast nearly snapped the Windom gymnasium’s new nets to shreds by pouring in a career-best 27 points — including five 3-pointers — to pace the No. 3-seeded Cardinals’ 65-64 South Sub-Section semifinal win over the No. 2-seeded Pipestone Area Arrows.

Fairmont (15-10) earned a spot in the sub-section championship game against Section 3 and Big South Conference rival Luverne at 6 p.m. Thursday night at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall.

Luverne (24-3), the sub-section’s No. 1 seed, coasted to a 70-45 triumph over No. 4-seeded St. James Area to gain the South championship clash.

Fairmont avenged a 64-47 regular-season loss to Pipestone Area, which closed out the playoffs with a 17-8 record.

“I really don’t know how we just did that,” a smiling Fairmont head coach Sara Junkermeier said shortly after Nevaeh Rahm’s low-post basket with 19 seconds remaining prevented the Cardinals’ postseason exit. “I guess we like to give the fans their money’s worth by winning by one point at the very end of games.”

Rahm, who produced 15 points and grabbed six rebounds in the win over the Arrows, also made the decisive last-second field goal during Fairmont’s 67-66 sub-section quarterfinal win over No. 6-seeded Jackson County Central only three nights earlier.

After Brylee Miller delivered her game-best seventh assist to Rahm for the one-point edge, Pendergast displayed her defensive skills by forcing a jump-ball situation with 4.8 seconds remaining as Fairmont regained possession.

The Cardinals missed from the free throw line with exactly 4 seconds to go, but the Arrows’ last-second shot from the left corner fell short of the mark.

Pendergast buried three trifectas en route to 17 first-half points to power Fairmont’s 36-31 lead by intermission. The playoff battle was knotted at 5, 26 and 29 before Rahm’s second traditional 3-point play swung a 32-29 lead to the Cardinals with 1:04 left before halftime.

Pendergast converted one of her seven rebounds into a 10-foot putback basket before Aubrea Kor’s nifty baseline reverse scoop shot with 13 seconds showing inched the Arrows within 34-31.

Pendergast then delivered an entry pass to Rahm in the low blocks for a turnaround leaner just before the final horn sounded for a five-point advantage.

Trailing 53-48 with 7 minutes to go in regulation, 6-foot-3 center Arinn McGee, Aubrea Kor and Kayla Hubbling combined forces to fuel Pipestone Area’s late comeback bid.

McGee, who produced an impressive double-double of 21 points and a game-best 15 boards to go with a game-high seven blocks, hit a putback before Hubbling swooshed a 12-foot jumper in the paint to narrow the gap to one a minute later.

McGee’s traditional 3-point play off a pass from Hubbling and a follow-up basket off her own miss quickly transformed the Arrows’ one-point deficit into a 57-53 lead with 5:05 remaining.

Olivia Ortega muscled her way to a low-post basket off a Jazlyn Geerdes pass for Fairmont before Aubrea Kor drained a 3-pointer for a 60-55 lead with 3:13 to go.

Pendergast answered the challenge with a pair of 3-pointers to bookend McGee’s low-post basket to whittle the Cardinals’ deficit to 62-61 with 2 minutes to go.

McGee banked home another low-post leaner, but Pendergast tossed in a heart-of-the-net runner off a Miller entry pass to narrow Fairmont’s gap to one again with 1:20 remaining.

Pendergast distributed three assists to go with her 27-point performance for the Cardinals, while Miller neared rare triple-double territory by finishing with 12 points, a team-high 12 boards and a game-leading seven assists.

Aubrea Kor connected for a team-high 23 points for the Arrows and pocketed a game-high four steals, Madelyn Wiese scored eight points, while Kayla Hubbling finished with six points and three assists.

Fairmont     36-29–65

Pipestone     31-33–64

FAIRMONT (65)

K. Busche 1-3 0-0 2, O. Ortega 1-3 3-4 5, Rahm 5-9 5-6 15, Pendergast 11-19 0-0 27, Miller 5-16 0-1 12, Terfehr 1-1 0-0 2, Cihoski 0-1 0-0 0, E. Ortega 0-0 0-0 0, Klanderud 0-4 0-0 0, Geerdes 0-2 2-2 2. Totals 24-58 10-13 65.

PIPESTONE (64)

Wiese 3-8 0-0 8, A. Kor 7-16 7-8 23, Kyla Hubbling 0-2 2-4 2, J. Kor 1-12 0-4 3, McGee 9-14 3-4 21, Tuinstra 0-4 0-0 0, Smidt 0-0 1-2 1, Kayla Hubbling 3-4 0-0 6. Totals 23-58 13-22 64.

3-pointers: Fairmont 7-18 (Pendergast 5-8, Miller 2-7, Klanderud 0-2, K. Busche 0-1); Pipestone 5-20 (Wiese 2-7, A. Kor 2-4, J. Kor 1-7, Kyla Hubbling 0-2). Fouled out: None. Rebounds: Fairmont 40 (Miller 12, Pendergast and O. Ortega 7 each); Pipestone 37 (McGee 15). Assists: Fairmont 13 (Miller 7, Pendergast 3); Pipestone 10 (Kayla Hubbling, Kyla Hubbling and J. Kor 3 each). Steals: Pipestone 11 (A. Kor 4); Fairmont 6. Blocked shots: McGee 7.

Section 2A Playoffs

Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey 44, Martin County West 40 — Brooke Naas poured in a game-best 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the No. 3-seeded Wolverines rallied from a halftime deficit to edge the No. 6-seeded Mavericks during Tuesday night’s Section 2A, South Sub-Section quarterfinals in Mountain Lake.

The Wolverines trailed 20-17 at intermission before outscoring the Mavericks by a 27-20 margin in the final 18 minutes of regulation.

Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey (17-9) advances to play No. 2-seeded Sleepy Eye Public in a 7:45 p.m. sub-section semifinal on Thursday night at St. Peter High School.

Kari Matejka connected for a game-best four 3-pointers to pace her team-high performance of 18 points for Martin County West, which closed out the season with an 11-16 overall record.

Emily Anderson contributed 10 points to the Mavericks’ cause.

Jaci Tollefson chipped in seven points for the Wolverines.

Springfield 66, Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther 51 — Brooklyn Sturm erupted for a game-best 28 points to engineer the No. 4-seeded Tigers to a 15-point Section 2A, South Sub-Section quarterfinal decision over the No. 5-seeded Jaguars on Tuesday night in Springfield.

Springfield (13-12) advances to face No. 1-seeded Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s in a 6 p.m. sub-section semifinal on Thursday night at St. Peter High School.

Olivia Mattson neared double-double territory by scoring 14 points and grabbing eight rebounds to complement three blocked shots to top the Jaguars, who ended the season with a 14-12 overall record.

Bethany Petrowiak supplied 10 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Jaguars, Brianna Petrowiak tossed in 10 points, while Keira Benck contributed seven points and pocketed four steals.

Section 2AA Playoffs

Waseca 62, Blue Earth Area 29 — The No. 2-seeded Bluejays posted a 33-point triumph over the No. 7-seeded Bucs during Section 2AA, South Sub-Section quarterfinal action Tuesday night in Waseca.

Waseca (16-9) advances to face No. 3-seeded New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva in a 7:30 p.m. sub-section semifinal on Thursday night at Mankato East High School.

No individual or team statistics were provided for the game.

Blue Earth Area ended its season with a 5-20 overall record.