Photo by Jake Olson: Fairmont's Bria Williamson drives towards the hoop during the first half of Thursday's Section 3AA Girls Basketball Tournament game against St. James Area.

WORTHINGTON – Gwyneth Schultz followed suit with what Fairmont’s offensive attack had been all night.

The junior attacked the open paint in search of generating a look towards the basket. Instead, Schultz kicked the ball out to a ready Bria Williamson, who calmly sank the outside shot and erupted the traveling Cardinal fans inside the Worthington High School gymnasium.

Celebrations didn’t come from a much-needed score to separate a tightly contested game, but rather, a coronation of the new 3AA South Subsection Girls Basketball Champions.

Williamson’s 3-pointer capped off 15 consecutive points for Fairmont’s offense in the final moments of the second-half, helping the Cardinals pull out a 74-47 victory over St. James Area during Thursday night’s Section 3AA Girls Basketball Quarterfinals.

“Big players step up in big games and that’s what we had to do tonight,” Fairmont head coach Sara Junkermeier said. “To just think of the shifts and changes we’ve had to make over the past month, and to be able to do this tonight was such a cool moment. Kudos to the girls for battling so hard and wanting it more than I ever felt they’ve wanted something.”

Fairmont held the Saints’ high-octane scoring attack to just 12 points in the second half. They shot nearly 50% from the floor on 10 assists. The Cardinals finished the night with four players finding double figures, led by Williamson’s 21 points and six rebound performance. Williamson rattled down four outside shots and eight total field goals.

“I know she has this in her,” Junkermeier said of Williamson. “I’ve seen her play this way. That’s the reason she’s getting the minutes she is. It’s just working on that consistency, and tonight had to be a step in the right direction for her confidence. As a sophomore, that’s a huge game to have, especially at this point of the season.”

Brylee Miller again stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, 17 rebounds, five assists and two blocks. Schultz and Olive Kawecki each had 12 points, while Kaylee Kloeckner netted six points and six rebounds.

Fairmont’s opening 3-2 zone began to show cracks in the final moments of the opening half. After holding St. James Area to 15 points in the first 10 minutes of play, the Saints started to figure out the defensive scheme, rattling off 10 quick points over the next handful of possessions to cut the Cardinal lead to 27-25.

Junkermeier’s timeout at the five-minute mark went beyond settling her team down; it was to change tactics. The Cardinals’ new 2-3 zone caught St. James Area off guard on the offensive end and held them to 10 points for the rest of the half.

Consecutive stops ignited the Fairmont offense over this stretch. Layups from Williamson and Miller sent the Cardinals into the break with a 40-35 cushion.

“We knew we had to cover their shooters, but then they started hurting us underneath,” Junkermeier said. “When we switched back to the 2-3, we knew we could match them as long as we covered the corners, and it also gave us more protection under the rim.”

The Cardinal offense began to catch fire after both teams stalled in the first three minutes of the second half. An Emelia Klanderud pass to a cutting Schultz was followed by a Miller offensive rebound finding its way to Williamson for the outside shot.

Miller again showed her impressive passing on the next possession in transition, finding Madilyn Thompson on the perimeter for another 3-pointer that pushed the Cardinals’ lead to 50-37.

“Again, we were unselfish,” Junkermeier said. “We found the open player, and that’s what you have to do. Sometimes we get stagnant and want to stand around, but I feel like we didn’t do that tonight. We took advantage of the cutters going through and had a lot of layup looks.”

A high-low assist from Laila Romsdahl to Jacey Sodeman and an outside shot by Isabelle Alphs temporarily stopped the bleeding for the Saints, who cut the deficit to 10 points with just over 10 minutes to play. Fairmont’s 2-3 zone continued to halt penetration from the perimeter and contain St. James Area’s shooters.

The Cardinals once more used their defensive prowess to their advantage. Assists from Miller to Klanderud and Schultz swelled Fairmont’s advantage to the biggest it had been all night at 58-42. An and-one layup from Kawecki was sandwiched in between two more scores from Williamson to finish off the 15-point swing with under four minutes to play.

Fairmont is set to face off against New London-Spicer next Thursday at Southern Minnesota State University in Marshall. Tip-off begins at 8 p.m.