CLEAR PATH — Fairmont’s Jazlyn Geerdes (12) drives past Redwood Valley defender Morgan Kodet (left) for a basket during Big South Conference action Saturday afternoon at Cardinal Gym in Fairmont. Fairmont’s Olivia Ortega (10) and Grace Pendergast (11) watch the action. (Photo by Greg Abel)
FAIRMONT — Four in a row.
Fairmont displayed its stamina by needing only 19 hours to follow Friday night’s 45-38 girls basketball comeback win over New Ulm with a 56-26 rout of Redwood Valley on Saturday afternoon.
“Our conditioning and overall depth definitely helped us today on such a short turnaround between games,” said Fairmont head coach Sara Junkermeier, who emptied her bench during Saturday’s running-time game, with nine different players reaching the scoring column. “We’ve got three games this coming week, so it doesn’t get any easier.”
Fairmont’s trapping defense limited Redwood Valley to just 25.7 percent field-goal shooting — 9 of 35 — and created a 3-to-1 edge in turnover ratio — 27-9 — to pull away to a 35-12 lead by intermission.
After Kylee Larsen tossed in a 12-footer in the lane to pare Redwood Valley’s deficit to 24-12 with six minutes remaining before halftime, Fairmont assembled a 17-0 offensive avalanche that bridged the break.
Brittney Mosloski and Cadee Becker traded roles on back-to-back possessions to execute Fairmont’s high-low cutter, with Mosloski hitting the runner first before Becker duplicated the play to trigger the double-digit surge.
Grace Pendergast hit a solo free throw, Becker sank two charity tosses before Mosloski and Cassidy Schultz combined for four quick points. Mosloski spun home a reverse baseline leaner and drew the foul, but missed the ensuing free throw. Schultz, however, cleaned the offensive glass and stuck the putback for a 23-point halftime margin.
Mosloski triggered the Cardinals’ second-half run with another putback basket, Becker powered home a low-post banker off an Emma Gudahl assist and Rayah Quiring tossed in two of her game-best 12 points off an entry pass from Becker for a 41-12 lead.
Maggy Totzke later pocketed one of her three steals and hit the stop-and-pop short jumper to trigger Fairmont’s 7-0 run that created running time on the scoreboard via a 35-point lead. Quiring swooshed a solo free throw before Jazlyn Geerdes scored back-to-back baskets off assists from Brylee Miller en route to a 53-18 lead with 5:20 left in regulation.
Quiring also topped the Cardinals’ defense by garnering four steals to go with her dozen points, while Becker produced all-around solid statistics of 11 points, eight rebounds, three steals and a game-best four assists.
Schultz neared double-double territory by generating seven points and a game-best 10 rebounds, while Mosloski finished with eight points.
Freshman post player Kendall Huhnerkoch scored all eight of her team-high points during Redwood Valley’s first half, while Brynne Farasyn delivered all six of her points during the second segment.
Fairmont (14-2) travels to Northrop on Tuesday night to face Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther. Redwood Valley (0-17) hits the road to Marshall on Tuesday night.
Red. Valley 12-14–26
Fairmont 35-21–56
FAIRMONT (56)
Becker 4-7 3-3 11, Quiring 5-11 1-2 12, Mosloski 4-8 0-1 8, Gudahl 0-7 0-0 0, Totzke 2-9 0-0 4, Schultz 3-5 1-2 7, Pendergast 1-5 2-4 4, K. Busche 1-4 0-0 3, Cihoski 0-2 0-0 0, Geerdes 2-6 1-2 5, O. Ortega 0-1 0-0 0, Miller 0-1 0-0 0, Janssen 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 23-66 8-14 56.
REDWOOD VALLEY (26)
Huhnerkoch 2-12 4-4 8, Barber 0-5 0-0 0, Lundeen 0-2 0-1 0, Fischer 1-1 0-0 2, Farasyn 2-7 2-6 6, Larsen 1-2 0-0 2, Kodet 0-1 1-2 1, Garman 1-2 0-0 2, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Joyce 2-2 1-1 5. Totals 9-35 8-14 26.
3-pointers: Fairmont 2-14 (Quiring 1-3, K. Busche 1-3, Totzke 0-3, Gudahl 0-4, Pendergast 0-1); Redwood Valley 0-8 (Barber 0-4, Huhnerkoch 0-2, Lundeen 0-1, Farasyn 0-1). Rebounds: Fairmont 37 (Schultz 10, Becker 8); Redwood Valley 29 (Fischer 6). Assists: Fairmont 14 (Becker 4); Redwood Valley 2. Steals: Fairmont 18 (Quiring 4; Becker, Mosloski and Totzke 3 each); Redwood Valley 4.
Brylee Miller collected a game-best 16 points to engineer Fairmont’s 46-25 triumph over Redwood Valley during B-squad action Saturday afternoon at Cardinal Gym in Fairmont.
Nevaeh Rahm produced seven points and grabbed eight rebounds for Fairmont (14-1), Ellie Ortega generated four points and five boards, while Hope Klanderud and Grace Pendergast chipped in four points each.
