Staff Photo by Jake Olson: Fairmont's Emelia Klanderud looks to score in transition during Monday night's contest against Redwood Valley.

FAIRMONT – Monday night’s senior celebrations proved to be fruitful for head coach Sara Junkermeier and her Fairmont girls basketball squad. The home team took down Redwood Valley 66-17 in the Fairmont High School gymnasium, using an opening 21-0 scoring run to put the game away early in the first half.

This victory propels Junkermeier’s team to 14-1 on the season, extending their winning streak to six since Dec 30th’s loss against New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva.

It was an overall balanced scoring attack for the Fairmont offense. Brylee Miller led the charge with a productive 26-point and 10-rebound double-double performance. Gwyneth Schultz had nine points while shooting 75% from the field, and Makayla Lowry paired her 11 rebounds with eight points.

“We came out ready to play,” Junkermeier said. “That’s what kind of propelled us, and we never looked back.”

Miller put her fingerprints on the content immediately after personally fueling the first seven points, scoring a layup and assisting Makenzie Lowry’s hook shot before nailing an outside shot after an inbounds play.

A Redwood Valley turnover on the next possession caused head coach Pete Nez to call a quick timeout with 16:26 on the clock. Fairmont finished with 12 steals that led to multiple transition opportunities.

“I think our full-court pressure helped,” Junkermeier said. “It took them out of what they wanted to do. We tried to keep the ball out of their best ball handlers’ hands, and that threw them because they didn’t have that comfort.”

Junkermeier’s team was also able to make the extra pass tonight. Whether in transition or against Redwood Valley’s 2-3 zone defense, Fairmont ball handlers were always keeping their eyes open for an even better look elsewhere. Fairmont finished the night getting assists on 55% of their field goals.

Consecutive offensive rebounds had the ball falling into the hands of Olive Kawecki on the left side of the court with her team up 11-0. After a quick baseline drive to the hoop, the guard found a cutting Makayla Lowry in the middle of the paint, feeding the senior for an easy layup and taking advantage of the zone’s lapse in coverage.

Audrina Suckow and Miller knocked down a pair of three pointers from the right side to further the run to 19-0. A Bria Williamson dish to a cutting Schultz with under 10 minutes left in the half capped off one of Fairmont’s more impressive scoring surges this season at 21-0.

“We got a lot of open looks simply because we went into our posts,” Junkermeier said. “I did think Redwood [Valley] collapsed hard on our posts, and we read that for the most part, being able to kick it out to shooters.”

Following a 3-pointer from Redwood Valley’s Lilyana Dixon, Fairmont outscored its opponent 32-6 in the final nine minutes of the first half, including two more 10-0 scoring runs to charge a 53-9 halftime advantage.

Fairmont’s defense continued to flex its muscles in the second half. Miller and Makayla Lowry each nabbed steals from the Redwood Valley backcourt, going coast to coast for easy layups and extending the edge to 64-10 with eight minutes to play.

Junkermeier’s team will face Blue Earth Area Tuesday night at the Fairmont High School gymnasium. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.