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Fairmont falls to outside shooting of St. Peter

ABOVE: Fairmont's Makayla Lowry looks for an open teammate in Big South Conference girls basketball game Tuesday night in Fairmont.

FAIRMONT – An aggressive press by the St. Peter Saints and accurate shots from beyond the arc were the key factors in the Fairmont Cardinals’ 61-51 loss Tuesday night in a Big South Conference girls basketball game.

“Defensively, I thought we were solid,” said Fairmont head coach Sara Junkermeier. “We knew who we needed to be able to stop, and we were better because we were more focused on that. Offensively, we were unsure because of their pressure, and when we play that way, it just makes the entire game more difficult.”

Leading the Cardinals was Ellie Ortega with 17 points, while Brylee Miller had 14 points. Gwyneth Schultz and Makayla Lowry each had 6 points.

The first half started out slow for the Cardinals, taking them almost four minutes to get their first point of the night off of a layup from Gwyneth Schultz. Fairmont continued to probe around the perimeter looking for a lane, but the Saints were effective in closing it down, forcing the Cardinals to the outside. A quick timeout by the Cardinals to address the situation led to an inspired defensive effort that gave way to a Makayla Lowry 3-pointer and an Ortega layup. Down 18-9, Miller started a rally trying to get the Cardinals back into the game, cutting the lead of the Saints down to 4. The Cardinals continued to battle, but the outside shooting by Audrey Menning kept Fairmont at arm’s length heading into the half down 32-26.

As play resumed, Fairmont got back to their game plan, with Ortega, Makayla Lowry, and Miller making short work of the Saints’ lead, going up 33-32. The Cardinals found a rhythm on offense and managed to get the lanes to open up which created multiple scoring chances on the baseline.

The Saints continued to have success from beyond the arc reclaiming the lead and going up 41-36. The Cardinals continued to apply pressure trying to get back in the game, switching to a full-court press to try and slow down the Saints’ scoring. Despite slowing down St. Peter’s scoring the Cardinals struggled to cut the lead down and were not able to pull within 2 down 49-47 in the final minutes of the half. Miller sank a layup to end the scoring, finalizing the St. Peter victory.

Now sitting at 14-6 overall and 10-5 in conference play, Fairmont heads to Redwood Valley for a 7:15 p.m. game on Thursday. The Saints moved to 12-8 and 7-3 in the conference with the win.

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