Staff photo by Jake Olson: Fairmont's Gwyneth Schultz drives by Granada Huntley East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther forward Laticianna Rosales-Wegner during the second half of Friday night's contest at Martin Luther High School.

NORTHROP – The Fairmont girls basketball team wasted little time asserting control.

With under three minutes to play in the opening half, Gwyneth Schultz corralled the Cardinals’ second offensive rebound of the possession before putting up the layup on the right side of the hoop.

After a turnover from Granada Huntley East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther gave Fairmont the ball back, a drive from Bria Williamson led to an easy kick out three for Olive Kawecki, putting a stamp on the 21-2 scoring run that propelled the Cardinals to a 41-12 advantage before the buzzer sounded.

Fairmont used this scoring surge to lead to its 13th consecutive win, topping the Jaguars 67-30 during Friday night’s contest at Martin Luther High School. The Cardinals knocked down almost 50% of their 3-pointers (10 of 21) while holding GHEC/T/ML leading scorers Keira Benck and Londyn Bowers to just 10 points apiece.

Brylee Miller stuffed the stat sheet for the Cardinals with 23 points and eight steals. Kawecki finished with 12 points and four assists, while Williamson contributed 11 points and five rebounds off the bench. Schultz recorded a near double-double with seven points and 10 rebounds.

“We just played together as a team,” Fairmont head coach Sara Junkermeier said. “We were very unselfish. We found the open shooter and knocked down some shots, which just felt good. Seems like we have kind of struggled recently to knock down threes, and I thought we shot with confidence tonight.”

The confidence from beyond the arc was apparent early for the Cardinals after Kawecki drained her first two attempts to give Fairmont an early 12-7 cushion.

Williamson nailed one of her own a handful of possessions later, before a Miller pull-up mid-range completed the 11-point scoring run to fuel the Cardinals’ largest lead of the night at 20-7 with under nine minutes left in the first half.

A put-back layup from Bowers and a Kayla Mattson free throw cut the lead to 10 moments later, prompting Jaguars head coach TJ Pytleski to tighten up his defensive unit into a zone scheme in hopes of slowing down their opponent.

The Cardinals answered with defense of their own, forcing turnovers and contested shots to limit GHEC/T/ML’s scoring opportunities.

Fairmont finished the first half with a Kawecki floater and a Miller transition layup with less than a minute to play, giving the Cardinals a 45-18 lead heading into the break. Junkermeier said that her team’s ability to hold Benck and Bowers in check was one of the keys to the win.

“We just do what we do; we put pressure on them,” Junkermeier said. “We know they were going to get their shots, but every shot has to be contested; you have to make them work hard for every look. I thought we did a great job of that tonight with our guards and the pressure that they put on. That’s what you have to be able to do against good players.”

A 3-pointer from Makenzie Lowry on Fairmont’s second possession of the final half set the tone for more crisp Cardinal offense. Following a Lowry and Schultz free throw, Miller knocked down an outside shot of her own from the right that ballooned her team’s advantage to 53-21 with 14:10 to play.

The Cardinals (21-1) will take on Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.