Staff Photo by Jake Olson: Fairmont's Brylee Miller uses her finishing abilities to extend the Cardinals' lead over Blue Earth Area during the first half of Tuesday night's contest. Miller led all scorers with 32 points.

BLUE EARTH – The Fairmont Cardinals girls basketball team used a dominant effort on both sides of the court to power past Blue Earth Area 67-29 on Tuesday night.

Brylee Miller led all Cardinals with 32 points and nine rebounds, eight of those being on the offensive end. The rest of Fairmont head coach Sara Junkermeier’s team balanced out the scoring column, with four other players securing at least 5 points.

“I thought we set the tone early with our defensive intensity,” Junkermeier said. “We have to go out and defend the ball hard, get in the passing lane and trust that our help-side is going to be there because we pressure the ball so well.”

Defense was the focus early for the Cardinals, holding BEA to 6 points in the first nine minutes of the contest. Fairmont countered the Buccaneers’ zone scheme with a swift inside-out offensive presence, finding the cutting forward while keeping eyes peeled on the perimeter for open shots.

Mackenzie Lowry used this to her advantage to knock down an outside shot to extend the Cardinal lead to 22-8 with just over five minutes left in the first. Miller fueled the rest of Fairmont’s half with a personal nine-point scoring surge, capped off by a rebounded layup after her previous miss. Emelia Klanderud picked up a steal and a layup to push Fairmont up 36-16 heading to the break.

“The girls like to run, and I’ve learned in my years that it’s really hard to take them out of that,” Junkermeier said. “Trying to slow them down isn’t a good move on our part. It does set up a faster-paced game, and also gives us opportunities to finish at the rim.”

A 3-pointer from BEA’s Emersen Weir were the only points the Buccaneers found for the first half of the second period. Makayla Lowry, Olive Kawecki, Lillian Ortega and Miller all took advantage of strong opportunities at the rim, finishing well and pushing Fairmont’s advantage to 49-14.

Miller went on one more scoring run, this time of 7 points, to add to the Cardinals’ 56-19 lead. The Cardinals finished the game with buckets from Ortega, Kawecki and Addison Toothaker to cement the lopsided win over the Bucs.

“If you can see the post player is open, you have to get the ball in,” Junkermeier said. “They will recognize when the help is there to find the open shooter on the outside. We know that’s when we are our best shooters, when the ball comes from the inside and gets kicked out for us to knock down some shots.”

Fairmont (4-0) will play Jackson County Central this Friday, starting at 6 p.m. in the Fairmont High School gymnasium.