TWO MORE FOR TERFEHR ­— Fairmont’s Ava Terfehr drives by Waseca’s Ella Krautkremer (3) and Mia Kanewischer (12) for a layup during Big South Conference basketball action Friday night at Cardinal Gym in Fairmont. The Cardinals’ Ellie Ortega (20) and the Bluejays’ Avery Gaul (31) trail the play. (Photo by Greg Abel)

FAIRMONT — Fairmont’s trademark basketball-hawking trapping press wreaked havoc in Waseca’s backcourt at Cardinal Gym on Friday night.

Brylee Miller pocketed a game-best seven steals to serve as the Cardinals’ defensive catalyst to complement scoring a game-best 19 points, while teammates Grace Pendergast, Ava Terfehr and Nevaeh Rahm each contributed double-digit point totals to pace Fairmont’s 75-51 Big South Conference rout over Waseca.

“We definitely got off to a slow start, trailing 8-0 after the first 3 minutes of the game,” said Fairmont head coach Sara Junkermeier. “Our trapping defensive pressure, however, gave us an instant spark after that stretch and helped us build a 21-point lead by halftime.

“We love to scramble and that style seems to get us going.”

Trailing 12-9 on the heels of back-to-back baskets by Waseca’s Addison Wieseler, Miller’s constant tip-aways, deflections and outright thefts triggered the Cardinals’ ensuing 12-2 surge by the 10-minute juncture.

Miller floated home a one-handed floater in the lane before firing one of her co-game-best four assists to Rahm for a low-post basket.

Lily Owens hit a runner in the paint for the Bluejays, but Miller’s pick-pocketing ways led to eight straight Cardinal points and a 21-14 edge on the scoreboard.

Miller spotted Elayna Anderson for a top-of-the-key 3-pointer before Miller transformed a steal into a layup and later buried a high-arching right-corner trifecta.

Mia Kanewischer answered with a 3-pointer for Waseca only to see Fairmont counter with a 13-0 avalanche to double its lead to 3417 with 5 1/2 minutes remaining before intermission.

Kennedy Becker banked home a lay-in off a Miller assist to engineer the offensive surge before a Miller steal flipped to Pendergast led to a Rahm low-post lay-in.

Becker and Pendergast doled out back-to-back assists to Rahm for four of her 10 points, respectively, before Becker spotted Miller in the low post. Pendergast later spotted Terfehr for a top-of-the-key trey to build a 17-point advantage.

Ellie Ortega tossed in four of her eight points off baskets set up by Miller and Rubi Reyes, respectively, before Pendergast snapped the nets on the second of her game-best three 3-pointers for a 43-22 lead with 1:30 left before intermission.

Terfehr netted eight of her 11 points to help the Cardinals outscore the Bluejays by a 32-29 margin in the second half, with Junkermeier inserting her reserves with 5:14 to go in the game.

Rahm neared a double-double performance by scoring 10 points to go with grabbing a game-high nine boards for Fairmont, while Pendergast finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Ortega also grabbed six boards to complement her eight-point outing off the bench, Becker tallied seven points and doled out four assists, while Terfehr added three steals and three assists to her 11-point outing.

Grace Guritz came off the Bluejays’ bench to score a game-best 11 points and grabbed a co-team-high five boards.

Wieseler netted nine points — all in the first half, while Mia Kanewischer finished with eight points and five boards. Avery Gaul chipped in eight points, Callie Dufault topped Waseca by garnering five steals, while Ella Krautkremer added seven points and three assists.

Fairmont (3-0) hits the road to New Ulm on Tuesday night, while Waseca (2-3) plays Glencoe-Silver Lake at 11:45 a.m. today at the Maple River tournament in Mapleton.

Waseca 22-29–51

Fairmont 43-32–75

FAIRMONT (75)

Rahm 5-7 0-0 10, Terfehr 5-7 0-0 11, Pendergast 4-10 0-0 11, Becker 3-5 0-0 7, Miller 9-15 0-0 19, Ortega 4-5 0-0 8, Anderson 2-3 0-0 5, Reyes 0-1 0-0 0, E. Klanderud 0-0 0-0 0, Peyman 0-0 0-0 0, Traetow 1-3 0-0 2, Gudahl 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 34-59 0-0 75.

WASECA (51)

Gaul 2-6 2-2 8, M. Kanewischer 2-3 2-4 8, Wieseler 4-7 0-1 9, Krautkremer 3-11 1-2 7, Dufault 2-10 0-0 4, Owens 1-2 0-0 2, L. Kanewischer 0-1 0-0 0, Guritz 5-6 1-3 11, Morgan 0-2 0-0 0, Kelm 1-1 0-0 2, Brinkman 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-51 6-12 51.

3-pointers: Fairmont 7-16 (Pendergast 3; Terfehr, Becker, Miller and Anderson 1 each); Waseca 5-12 (Gaul and M. Kanewischer 2 each; Wieseler 1). Fouled out: None. Rebounds: Fairmont 35 (Rahm 9, Pendergast 7); Waseca 20 (M. Kanewischer and Guritz 5 each). Assists: Fairmont 21 (Pendergast, Becker and Miller 4 each); Waseca 4 (Krautkremer 3). Steals: Waseca 16 (Dufault 6); Fairmont 14 (Miller 7).

Emelia Klanderud generated 12 points and grabbed six rebounds to help guide Fairmont to a 27-18 victory over Waseca during B-squad action Friday night in Fairmont.

Makayla Lowry produced six points and pulled down a game-best 14 rebounds for the Cardinals.

Abbie Simpson tossed in a game-best 16 points to propel Fairmont to a 45-18 rout over Waseca during C-squad play Friday night in Fairmont.

Gwyneth Schultz contributed eight points to the Cardinals’ winning ways.

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Boys Basketball

Waseca 60, Fairmont 45 — Carson Ohnstad and Deron Russell combined equally for six 3-pointers to help the Bluejays post a 15-point victory over the Cardinals during Big South Conference action Friday night in Waseca.

Ohnstad supplied a game-best 23 points, while Deron Russell generated 22 points to help Waseca build a 27-20 halftime lead before outscoring Fairmont by a 33-23 margin in the second half.

Oliver Tordsen produced a double-double performance of 13 points and a game-best 15 rebounds to top Fairmont’s effort.

Levi Pooley contributed nine points for the Cardinals, Blaze Geiger tallied six points, while Logan Junkermeier pulled down six rebounds.

The Cardinals made 14 of 45 shots from 2-point range, only 3 of 17 from behind the 3-point arc and 8 of 14 at the free throw line.

Fairmont (1-1) plays host to Blue Earth Area next Friday night at Cardinal Gym, while Waseca (2-1) travels to Jackson County Central next Friday.

Waseca edged Fairmont in B-squad action, 48-39, Friday night in Waseca.

Logan Junkermeier netted nine points to top the Cardinals’ effort, while teammates Joe Long and Jordan Thompson chipped in six points each.

Waseca eked out a 46-45 win over Fairmont during C-squad play on Friday night in Waseca.

Brayden Williamson poured in 18 points for the Cardinals, while Reed Johnson chipped in nine more points.

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Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther 63, Mankato Loyola 58 — Jackson Madsen and Carter Fox each produced double-double performances to help the Jaguars scratch out a five-point Valley Conference victory over the Crusaders on Friday night in Mankato.

Madsen scored a team-best 13 points and pulled down a co-game-high 14 boards, while Fox netted a dozen points to complement grabbing 12 rebounds.

Brody Grathwohl scored 12 points and distributed four assists for the Jaguars, while teammate Bryce Borkenhagen grabbed eight rebounds, doled out a game-high eight assists and pocketed a game-high seven steals.

Skyler Hill-Koenen erupted for a game-leading 31 points to go with a co-game-bes 14 rebounds to pace Loyola.

Chase Kijenski chipped in 12 points for the Crusaders (1-2).

The Jaguars (1-2) play host to St. Clair on Monday night in Northrop.

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Blue Earth Area 84, Martin County West 69 — Will Bromeland continued his high-octane scoring ways to help the Bucs corral the Mavericks by 15 during non-league action Friday night in Blue Earth.

Bromeland blistered the nets for a game-best 27 points to go with pulling down seven rebounds, while teammate Branson Hauskins tallied 19 points and doled out three assists.

Gage Barker supplied 13 points, four steals and three assists for BEA; Jacob Grandgenett collected 13 points and four steals; while Max Loge notched nine points, six rebounds and a game-high five assists.

The Bucs made 17 of 28 shots from 2-point range, scorched the nets on 14 of 36 attempts from behind the 3-point arc and hit 8 of 12 free throws.

Jacob Clarke poured in a team-best 21 points and distributed three assists to top the Mavericks, while teammate Jacob Wilmes scored 15 points.

Kale Larson generated 13 points and four boards for MCW, while Lucas Larson chipped in seven points and five rebounds.

Martin County West (1-3) travels to Cleveland on Monday night, while Blue Earth Area (2-1) hits the road to Fairmont next Friday night.