DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE ­— Fairmont’s Ellie Ortega (20) pressures Martin County West’s Emily Anderson (35) as she looks to pass to Maverick teammate Emily Schettler (3), who’s being guarded by the Cardinals’ Grace Pendergast, during nonconference basketball action Thursday night in Sherburn. Fairmont’s Nevaeh Rahm (back left) watches the action. (Photo by Greg Abel)

SHERBURN — With leading scorer and defensive stalwart Brylee Miller resting at home due to influenza, the Fairmont basketball team needed a little extra offense and a little extra defense on the road Thursday night.

Grace Pendergast and Ellie Ortega filled those respective vital roles and then some to help the visiting Cardinals stave off high-scoring Emily Anderson and her Martin County West Maverick teammates, 66-49, during nonconference action in Sherburn.

“With Brylee out of the lineup tonight, our entire team knew that it would take a lot of people to step up and I’m just glad to be one of them (contributors),” said Pendergast, who poured in a career-best 28 points on 8-for-12 field-goal shooting — including four 3-pointers — and a perfect 8 of 8 effort at the free throw line.

“Emily Anderson is tough to stop offensively, and Ellie (Ortega) made every shot difficult and we’ll take a defensive performance like that every time,” Fairmont head coach Sara Junkermeier said in reference to Emily Anderson’s team-leading 25-point effort.

Anderson, who finished with an impressive double-double by garnering a game-best 12 boards to complement a game-leading five steals, kept the Mavericks either in the lead or tied to 15-all early in the classic county clash.

Pendergast, who also pulled down five rebounds to complement a team-best four steals, dropped home two free throws to trigger the Cardinals’ momentum-shifting 17-1 offensive avalanche with 8 1/2 minutes remaining in the opening half.

Nevaeh Rahm, who delivered 18 points despite early second-half foul trouble, delivered one of her four assists from the low post to Pendergast for a top-of-the-key 3-pointer.

Rahm then cashed in a hard-spin post move off one of Ava Terfehr’s game-leading eight assists before Elayna Anderson threaded the basketball to a cutting Pendergast for a 10-foot runner in the paint.

Emily Schettler sank a solo free throw for the Mavericks before Terfehr tossed in a 12-foot bank shot and a solo free throw before finding Rahm in the low post again. Ortega then filtered an assist to Rahm for another basket in the low blocks for a 32-16 margin with 3 1/2 minutes to go before intermission.

Emily Anderson flipped home back-to-back drive-and-lean baskets before Maddie Carlson converted a one-and-one situation to eventually trim the Mavericks’ halftime deficit to 36-24.

With Rahm being whistled for fouls Nos. 2, 3 and 4 within the first minute and a half of the second half, Fairmont relied on knocking down 5 of 11 shots from behind the 3-point arc to keep the high-scoring Emily Anderson and the Mavericks at arm’s length.

Anderson’s Euro-step maneuver and drive-and-scoop glider narrowed the Mavericks’ gap to 49-38 with 8 1/2 minutes remaining, but Pendergast answered down the stretch.

Pendergast drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to beat the 35-second shot clock before Rahm’s traditional 3-point play off an Ortega entry pass put the game out of reach at 62-43 with 4 minutes left.

Ortega grabbed six rebounds to match Rahm for the team lead and delivered three steals and three assists for the Cardinals.

Fairmont (9-4) travels to Granada on Monday to face the Jaguars, while MCW (9-3) hits the road to Nicollet on Tuesday night.

Fairmont      36-30–66

MCW             24-25–49

FAIRMONT (66)

Pendergast 8-12 8-8 28, Ortega 1-4 0-0 3, Rahm 7-10 4-5 18, Terfehr 2-5 2-4 7, H. Klanderud 1-6 0-0 3, Becker 3-7 0-2 7, Elayna Anderson 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 22-47 14-19 66.

MCW (49)

Emily Anderson 12-19 0-0 25, E. Carlson 3-5 0-2 6, Borchardt 1-2 2-4 4, Sanders 1-2 0-0 2, Courtney Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, M. Carlson 2-4 2-2 6, Schettler 1-4 4-6 6. Totals 20-37 8-14 49.

3-pointers: Fairmont 8-16 (Pendergast 4; Ortega, Terfehr, Becker and H. Klanderud 1 each); MCW 1-4 (Emily Anderson 1). Rebounds: MCW 22 (Emily Anderson 12); Fairmont 20 (Ortega and Rahm 6 each, Pendergast 5). Assists: Fairmont 18 (Terfehr 8, Rahm 4); MCW 6. Steals: Fairmont 14 (Pendergast 4); MCW 10 (Pendergast 5).

Makayla Lowry generated 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds to guide Fairmont to a 46-17 victory over Martin County West during B-squad action Thursday night in Sherburn.

Emelia Klanderud collected 11 points and distributed six assists for the Cardinals.