ON THE MARK — Fairmont’s Brylee Miller releases an accurate 3-pointer to help power the Cardinals to a 101-67 Big South Conference rout over the St. James Area Saints on Tuesday night at Cardinal Gym in Fairmont. Miller went on to score 27 points in the win. (Photo by Greg Abel)

FAIRMONT — The Fairmont Cardinals girls basketball squad set the hardwood ablaze in its record-setting 101-67 victory on senior night against the St. James Area Saints.

Senior post Nevaeh Rahm got to work down low, going 13 of 15 from the floor and finishing with 27 points to go with her six boards and four assists for the Cardinals during the Big South Conference contest.

Following the win, Cardinals head coach Sara Junkermeier couldn’t say enough about Rahm.

“Well Nevaeh really set the tone, I felt like she was going against another really talented post player and I felt like she just came out ready to keep us on pace,” Junkermeier said. “The finishing that she had tonight was great and it all started with our guards.”

Sophomore guard Brylee Miller had an outstanding performance. Miller went 12 of 15 from the field to total 27 points to go with an exceptional display of floor vision with 13 assists on the night for Fairmont.

With the unselfish flow of the Cardinals’ offense on the night, Miller was able to jump passing lanes to convert easy layups on the other end.

“I thought Brylee was very unselfish tonight, she took control of the court, she saw her teammates and penetrated when she knew she could,” Junkermeier said.

Out on the wing for the Cardinals was senior Grace Pendergast. Following a slow offensive first half, Pendergast exploded in the second half with 16 points to bring her total to 21 for the night.

Outstanding floor spacing allowed the Cardinal offense to zip passes in and out of the Saints’ zone defense, making for easy looks at the basket.

Senior guard Hope Klanderud was one such player, nailing a pair of 3-pointers in the first half and ending the game with eight points. She was joined on the wings by junior Ellie Ortega, who finished the night with seven points and eight boards.

As for the Saints, most of their offensive production came from sophomore point guard Jacey Swanson. She ended the game with an impressive 22 points on 8 of 10 shooting from the field, including three 3-pointers.

Her backcourt partner Journey Swanson ended the night with nine points, three boards and three assists for the Saints.

St. James Area possessed a nice interior player as well as senior Madi Whitney put up 11 points and eight boards in the losing effort.

Eighth-grade guard Laila Romsdahl got action as well for the Saints, ending the night with eight points on stellar 3 of 4 shooting.

Following the loss, St. James Area (5-18) will look to regroup before its 7:30 p.m. matchup with Martin County West at home on Monday night.

With the win, Fairmont (15-9) will look to continue the great play at 6 p.m. on Saturday in a Big South Conference Showcase matchup with Marshall in Blue Earth.

Fairmont    53-48–101

St. James    31-36– 67

FAIRMONT (101)

Rahm 13-15 1-4 27, Miller 12-15 2-2 27, Pendergast 9-14 0-0 21, H. Klanderud 2-3 2-2 8, Ortega 3-8 1-1 7, Terfehr 1-6 1-2 3, Anderson 1-3 0-0 3, Peyman 1-2 0-0 3, T. Lowry 1-1 0-0 2, Becker 0-1 0-0 0, Reyes 0-1 0-0 0.

ST. JAMES (67)

Ja. Swanson 8-10 1-3 22, Whitney 5-8 1-1 11, Jo. Swanson 4-11 0-0 9, Romsdahl 3-4 0-0 8, R. Malmgren 2-6 3-4 7, Bowers 2-5 0-0 5, M. Malmgren 2-7 0-1 4, Haler 0-1 1-2 1, Watson 0-2 0-0 0.

The Saints were able to snag a victory in B-squad action over the Cardinals, 46-44, on Tuesday night.

Makayla Lowry and Makenzie Lowry led the way for the Cardinals on offense with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Emelia Klanderud helped out with an 11-point performance for Fairmont, which ended the year with an overall record of 15-8.

In C-squad action, the Cardinals defeated the Saints 42-32 on Tuesday night.

Abbie Simpson was the high scorer in that matchup for the Cardinals, finishing with 16 points.

•

Boys Basketball

Fairmont 74, St. James Area 60 — The Fairmont Cardinals boys basketball team hit the road and grabbed a win over the St. James Area Saints, 74-60, on Tuesday night.

With the score tightly contested at 30-28 at halftime, the Cardinals outscored the Saints 44-32 in the second half to cement the win.

Junior big man Oliver Tordsen went to work on the interior, going 12 of 16 from the field with 28 points to go with another career high of 18 boards. His partner in the frontcourt, Logan Junkermeier, ended the game with 11 points on an efficient 5 of 6 shooting night.

Senior point guard Levi Pooley paced the Cardinals up and down the floor and finished the game with a solid 19 points. Pooley also racked up five assists and six rebounds in the win.

As for the Saints, they were led by the duo of senior big man Bennett Flohrs and junior guard Brennan Kern. They each had 18 points for St. James Area in the defeat.

With the loss, St. James Area (4-18) will look to bounce back at 7:15 p.m. Thursday against Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop on the road in Winthrop.

Following its seventh straight win, Fairmont (11-10) will look to keep the wins going at 7:30 p.m. against Redwood Valley on Thursday in Redwood Falls.

In B-squad action, Fairmont defeated St. James Area 62-57. Cardinals’ guard Tavian Harvey led the way with 14 points in the win. He was accompanied by Joe Long, who also poured in 14 points in the winning effort. Brett Williams helped out with a nice eight point contribution. The key to the game was Fairmont’s 18 for 21 shooting from the charity stripe.

The Cardinals were able to complete the sweep of the Saints in C-squad action, winning 49-43. Brayden Williamson put up 16 points for the Cardinals and Reed Johnson was right on his heels with 14 points in the victory.