Staff Photo by Jake Olson: Fairmont's Gwyneth Schultz passes the ball in transition during the first half of Fairmont's Friday night contest against Jackson County Central. The Cardinals defeated the Huskies 73-28, remaining undefeated early in the season.

FAIRMONT – Transition has always been the name of the game for Fairmont girls basketball head coach Sara Junkermeier. During her time with the Cardinals, she has learned to let her athletes use their speed and quickness to their advantage, relying on immediate outlets and court vision to attack the opponent.

Friday night was another instance of this fast-paced style of play. The Cardinals zoomed past Jackson County Central 73-28 inside the Fairmont High School gymnasium, outscoring their opponent by 31 points during the final 12 minutes of the first half to put the game out of reach.

Brylee Miller led all scoring efforts with 33 points and 11 rebounds. Four other Cardinals had at least five points, with Olive Kawecki chipping in nine points off the bench.

“I thought we started a little slow, but when we were ready to play, we did not take our foot off the gas for the entire first half,” Junkermeier said. “That led to easy transition layups and people stepping up defensive intensity.”

The slow start Junkermeier referred to was the early 7-6 deficit the Cardinals faced with just over 13 minutes left in the first half. Jackson County Central’s full-court press slowed down Fairmont and led to five turnovers in the opening moments of the contest.

What changed for the Cardinals was the defensive pressure. After securing a handful of consecutive stops, Fairmont was able to outlet rebounds immediately and generate its offensive output. Layups from Emelia Klanderud, Bria Williamson and Miller slowly built the Cardinal lead to 23-8 with under eight minutes in the first half.

“We did a good job of getting stops and finding the open girl up the court,” Junkermeier said. “We had good court awareness to be able to see who was out leading the break, and being able to get the ball to her.”

After Junkermeier called a timeout with 5:39 left in the half, Fairmont went on a scoring run to ultimately put the contest out of reach. Miller, Kawecki and Makayla Lowry each hit big-time shots to fuel the 14 consecutive points, giving the team a 39-9 halftime cushion.

Fairmont came out of the break determined to keep up its defensive intensity, sticking to any drives the Huskies performed while always contesting the shot at the rim. Miller recorded four layups off steals and rebounds, exploding out of halftime with a 10-point surge to make it 49-9.

“I thought we did a good job of just helping the helper tonight,” Junkermeier said. “Seeing that someone got beat, and just being there to stand up and take the contact. That’s what they [Jackson County Central] are trying to do, get to the rim. I thought we did a good job communicating that, and that’s something you have to be able to do.”

Junkermeier’s team outscored the Huskies 34-19 in the second half to propel the fifth win of the season. Fairmont (5-0) will look to remain perfect starting next week, playing a home contest against Windom Area on Tuesday beginning at 6 p.m.