ON THE ROAD AGAIN — Fairmont’s Brylee Miller (0) drives around Luverne’s Sarah Stegenga (10) and Kiesli Smith (left) to score during regular-season basketball action in Fairmont. Luverne and Fairmont will square off at 6 p.m. Thursday night in a Section 3AA quarterfinal clash at Worthington High School. (Photo by Greg Abel)

FAIRMONT — Three victories away from Minnesota’s girls basketball state tournament quarterfinals on March 13 at Williams Arena and Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis.

Four storied Big South Conference programs venture to Worthington High School on Thursday night to compete for spots in the Section 3AA semifinals.

Meanwhile, three Valley Conference teams and another from the Tomahawk will clash on Thursday night at St. Peter High School for the right to reach the Section 2A semifinals.

“Survive and advance is the name of the game,” said Martin County West’s Cliff Anderson, who’s made a successful transition from coaching prep boys to high school girls this season. “We’ve played two of the three teams remaining in the South Sub-Section, but drew Springfield — who we didn’t face this winter — in the next round.”

The No. 2-seeded Martin County West Mavericks (19-6) tip off their Section 2A quarterfinal against the No. 3-seeded Springfield Tigers (15-11) at 7:45 p.m. Thursday night in St. Peter.

Emily Anderson, a 5-foot-11 junior point post, tops her father-mentor’s Mavericks’ lineup with a 20.6-point scoring average and 8.7 rebounds per outing.

Senior post player Liv Borchardt, who’s returning from a foot injury, carries an 8.3-point scoring average and 7.0 rebounding clip into MCW’s game against Springfield, while senior forward Ella Carlson contributes 6.7 and 6.0 boards per outing.

The Mavericks will look to contain 5-9 senior forward Brooklyn Sturm, who unleashed a double-double of 26 points and 15 rebounds in the Tigers’ 75-58 first-round win over Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey.

Marissa Pabst, a 5-9 junior, delivered 14 points and eight boards in Springfield’s win, while junior guard Emma Hauger supplied 13 points. Junior Jasmine Novotny and 5-2 freshman guard Jada Reese contributed 11 and nine points, respectively, to the early win.

The winner between Springfield and Martin County West advances to battle the winner between the No. 1-seeded Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther Jaguars (20-6) and the No. 4-seeded Mankato Loyola Crusaders (15-12).

The Jaguars and Crusaders tip off Thursday night’s Section 2A hardwood action at 6 p.m. in St. Peter.

Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther mentor T.J. Pytleski, whose team swept Loyola during their pair of regular-season games, will rely on a balanced scoring attack to gain the next round.

Senior guard McKenna Benck scores at a 13.3-point clip to complement 3.6 steals and 3.1 assists per outing for Pytleski, while sophomore sibling Keira Benck tosses in 10.4 pointers per game.

Olivia Mattson, a 5-10 senior forward, tops the Jaguars with an 8.4-rebound and a 4.0-assist clip to go with 10.4 points per outing.

In the Section 3AA quarterfinals at Worthington High School on Thursday night, head coach Sara Junkermeier’s No. 1-seeded Fairmont lineup (15-11) clashes with long-time rival No. 5-seeded Luverne (11-14) in the opening game at 6 p.m.

Fairmont defeated Luverne by a 61-52 decision on Feb. 1 in the two sets of Cardinals’ only game of 2023-24.

Brylee Miller, a 5-10 sophomore guard, produced 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for Fairmont during its win over Luverne four weeks ago.

Miller tops Fairmont’s statistical charts with 16.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per outing, while 5-11 senior post player Nevaeh Rahm provides a dominating physical presence in the low blocks with a 14.3-point and a 6.9-rebound clip.

Fairmont’s Grace Pendergast, a 5-11 senior guard/forward, also carries a double-figure scoring pace (10.8 ppg) into the sectional quarterfinal on Thursday night.

Fairmont must contend with the towering low-post tandem of 6-1 senior center Kiesli Smith and 5-11 senior forward Kira John in the two Big South teams’ reclash.

Smith produced a double-double performance of 16 points and 12 rebounds to go with six blocked shots in Luverne’s nine-point regular-season loss to Fairmont.

John, a long-time varsity veteran, generated 16 points during the two Cardinals’ contest, while senior guard Sarah Stegenga connected for a pair of 3-pointers to finish with 12 points for Luverne.

The Fairmont–Luverne winner will then advance to face either the No. 2-seeded Windom Area Eagles (20-7) or the No. 3-seeded Jackson County Central Huskies (17-9).

Windom Area, which sweep two games from Luverne and split with Fairmont during the regular season, squares off against high-scoring junior guard Rylie Cother and the Huskies in a 7:30 p.m. section quarterfinal game Thursday night in Worthington.

Ironically, Jackson County Central swept Windom Area during the course of the regular schedule, with the 5-10 Cother hoping to maintain her 31-point scoring clip during the postseason bracket.

Kylee Wenzel, a 5-8 junior guard, will look to ease some of Cother’s offensive burdens on the heels of netting 14 points during JCC’s 71-58 win over St. James Area.

The Huskies will look to slow down Windom Area’s lightning-quick guard tandem of 5-6 sophomore Haidyn Sammons and 5-6 junior Hadley Sammons. Haidyn Sammons delivered 18 points during Windom Area’s opening sectional win, while Hadley Sammons chipped in 14 points.

Post player Tristyn Maras contributed a double-double effort of 12 points and 14 rebounds in Windom Area’s 81-61 victory over Pipestone Area, while 5-11 junior guard Hannah Dauer uncoiled for 24 points and 13 rebounds.

The Fairmont–Luverne winner will face the JCC–Windom Area winner in the Section 3AA semifinals at 8:05 p.m. Tuesday, March 5, at a neutral site to be determined.

The Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther–Mankato Loyola winner will face the Springfield–Martin County West winner at 7:45 pm. Monday, March 4, at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.