Photo by Jake Olson: Fairmont's Brylee Miller drives into the paint during the Section 3AA Subsection Championship against St. James Area on Feb. 27 at Worthington High School.

FAIRMONT – Brylee Miller already had a decorated high school basketball career.

Miller’s first four years in the Fairmont program saw her break the 1,000-point threshold, surpass Ashley Alleven-Stensland’s scoring record of 1,307 points and post a 76-35 record with two Section 3AA Championship appearances.

Last season, Miller helped Fairmont to its best finish since the 2021-2022 campaign, but the Cardinals had multiple impactful pieces leave the team heading into the winter. The departure of All-Sentinel nominee Ellie Ortega and Kennedy Becker depleted the starting lineup of two consistent senior players, leaving fans wondering how much Miller could improve on her 22.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 4.2 steals per game.

Miller responded with her best year on the red and white, seeing not only an uptick in production, but a handful of achievements that will leave her name in Fairmont basketball record books for years to come.

A near-26-point-per-game average propelled Miller past Mitch Pfingsten as the all-time leading scorer in Cardinal program history, finishing the season with 2,306 points. Miller also loaded the box score with 10.6 rebounds, 4.9 steals and 4.7 assists. This helped Fairmont secure the most single-season wins in the past decade.

Because of this, Miller has earned the title of 2026 All-Sentinel Girls Basketball Player of the Year. This marks the fourth time Miller has earned All-Sentinel honors after previously captaining the area team alongside Martin County West’s Emily Anderson in 2023 and 2024.

“With these girls, coaches, and community, it truly was a great year and such a fun career,” Miller said. “I can’t thank the coaches enough for how much they have done to help me grow as a player.”

Preseason expectations were unknown with this season’s roster turnover. Miller highlighted the core of three returning starters, joining Gwyneth Schultz and Makayla Lowry, who were set to step into slightly bigger roles themselves.

Guards Emelia Klanderud and Makenzie Lowry were poised to join the starting unit, with underclassmen Bria Williamson and Olive Kawecki poised to make immediate contributions off the bench.

However, Miller said that after a few opening practices, she could tell this group had the potential to do some great things. That thought was further solidified after Fairmont took down New-Richland-H-E-G in the season opener, 63-62.

“We were super young with a lot of girls that didn’t have as much varsity experience yet, so my goal was to get them to feel what it’s like,” Miller said. “Even in that first game when we played New Richland. …I knew that was a good test to see where we were going to be at, and we won.”

The development and growth of the younger players turned Fairmont into a powerhouse the rest of the season. A 17-game winning streak pushed the Cardinals to a top-10 team in Class AA with hopes of making another deep playoff run.

Wins over Montevideo, Luverne and St. James Area placed Miller and her team back into a Section 3AA Championship game, this time against New London-Spicer. Fairmont ultimately ran out of gas against the Wildcats, losing by 6 points and finishing the season 28-3.

Despite the season’s end coming to an abrupt stop, the historical individual achievements and outstanding team success have made Miller’s final year in the Cardinal program one to remember forever.

“Obviously, the season didn’t end how I wanted it to, but we made it a lot further than people expected us to,” Miller said. “I’m just really proud of how our team competed this year. …It was a fun season and just a great way to end.”