ABOVE: Fairmont’s Brylee Miller drives through three defenders on her way to the rim in a nonconference girls basketball game against Martin County West on Saturday in Fairmont.

FARIMONT – A second-half rally by the Farimont Cardinals secured a narrow 42-41 win over the Martin County West Mavericks in a nonconference girls basketball game Saturday.

“The key to the second-half rally was the guards putting pressure on their wings and getting their hands on loose balls,” said Fairmont girls basketball head coach Sara Junkermeier. “Which then allowed Brylee to transition down for layups at the other end.”

The Mavericks had a hard time containing Brylee Miller in the second half, which contributed to the Cardinals’ second-half comeback.

Despite the Fairmont comeback, Mavericks head coach Cliff Anderson was proud of his team’s effort overall.

“Our girls played really hard tonight,” said coach Anderson. “[We] played well enough to win, but you’ve got to give Fairmont credit. They came in the second half and did some good things against us. Brylee’s a heck of a player and she took it to us in the second half. Gave her too many easy looks.”

Leading the Cardinals was Brylee Miller with 31 points and Makayla Lowry with 6 points. In comparison, the leaders for the Mavericks were Emily Anderson with 13 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists and Courtney Anderson with 8 points. Maddie Carlson put up 8 points of her own and eight rebounds, and Emily Schettler added 4 points, three assists and four rebounds, While Avery Sanders each added 4 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Down 33-19, the Cardinals came alive. With 5:40 left in the game, the Cardinals’ defense continued to disrupt the Mavericks attack, setting up Miller with multiple fast breaks. Makayla Lowry then drew a foul and hit two free throws to gain a 42-39 lead. The Mavericks were able to put up 2 more points before the Cardinals ran out the remaining seconds to take the comeback victory.

The first half opened with the Mavericks jumping out to an early lead up 6-4, with Emily Anderson draining the go-ahead bucket. Fairmont’s Miller drew a foul with 10 minutes left in the half, sinking both free throws to tie it up 8-8. Miller and Lowry combined for the Cardinals’ final 3 points of the half, while Emily Anderson drained two shots from behind the arc to help close out the half for the Mavericks up 22-11.

After the intermission, the scoring slowed up for the Mavericks as Miller opened the scoring with a free throw. Moments later, Miller drained a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to single digits. The Mavericks responded courtesy of an Emily Anderson 3-pointer followed up by a Carlson bucket to extend the lead to 33-19.

A quick timeout by Fairmont prompted a sudden change, with a Miller bucket from beyond the arc sparking a Cardinals’ 10-0 run to bring them within 6 points, 35-29, triggering a Mavericks timeout. Sanders and Courtney Anderson notched 4 points out of the break before the Cardinals’ defense helped free up Miller on the other end of the court. Miller, combined with Ortega, then cut the Fairmont deficit to 37-34.

The Cardinals continued their momentum by taking the lead in the closing minutes and holding on for the win.