ABOVE: Buccaneers' William Bromeland drives by Fairmont's Oliver Tordsen in a Big South Conference boys basketball game in Blue Earth Friday night.

BLUE EARTH – The Fairmont Cardinals (7-3) defeated the Blue Earth Area Buccaneers (6-3) 65-58 in a Big South Conference boys basketball game Friday night.

The Cardinals shut down a late 8-0 run by the Buccaneers on the way to the win.

“I’m just really proud of our team,” said Fairmont boys basketball head coach Jared Thompson. “Really gritty on the road against a really good Blue Earth Buc team. They have so many good players, they’re so well-coached. They had a really good plan. I’m just proud of our guys for stepping up.”

Leading the Cardinals was Oliver Tordsen with 14 points, seven rebounds and four steals, while Joseph Hackett had 14 points and five rebounds. Nolan Schultze had 10 points, while Trevor Maakestad had 8 points and four rebounds. Harmon Schrunk had 8 points and six rebounds, while Hadan Toomer had 7 points.

“I’m really proud of Trevor Maakestad, who had to make the biggest adjustment by kind of taking

Logan’s [Junkermeier] spot,” said Thompson. “Kind of moving from perimeter to big guy spot for us. That put a lot on him two days ago. So I’m really proud of what he was able to do. Our guards had to deal with trapping the entire game. They made so many great decisions for us. And obviously just answering their runs.”

Leading the Buccaneers was Will Bromeland with 23 points and eight rebounds, while Gage Barker had 19 points and six rebounds. Branson Hauskins had 8 points and four rebounds, while Caden Juba had 6 points.

“I thought we played with a lot of energy,” said Buccaneers boys basketball head coach Colby Swanson. “After maybe the first seven minutes of the game, we did a better job getting up and pressing and trapping and trying to create turnovers with a team as big as Fairmont and as good as Tordsen [is]. We knew that we had to create a game that’s going to be played in the full court, and after we settled in that first seven minutes, we did a better job of that. We just didn’t make enough plays down the stretch.”

Both teams wasted no time scoring in the first half, with Hackett and Bromeland exchanging 3-pointers as the Cardinals took the lead 9-5. A 5-0 run by the Cardinals extended the lead with the help of Schultze, Joe Long and Schrunk, making it 16-9. The Buccaneers answered with a shot from behind the arc by Barker to cut their deficit to 4 16-12.

The Cardinals’ physical play style held Blue Earth at bay, forcing them to shoot from outside. The Bucs proved to be efficient from there, hitting five 3-pointers in the final stretch of the half to force Fairmont to do the same as the half closed out 37-33 in favor of the Cardinals.

Bromeland drained a 3-pointer 10 seconds into the second half to open the scoring for the Buccaneers and cut the Cardinals’ lead to 37-36.

The Cardinals responded courtesy of Tordsen hitting a layup. On the next possession, Tordsen took it a step further by finding space and taking the ball to the basket for a slam dunk. Down by 4 points, the Buccaneers continued the attack from the outside, this time with Hauskins draining a shot from beyond the arc to help tie the game 41-41. The Cardinals continued to drive to the paint regaining their lead with buckets from Toomer and Schrunk going up 49-43.

A quick timeout by the Buccaneers helped to make the adjustment and go on a 5-0 run to bring the score to 51-50 in favor of Fairmont. The Cardinals were able to extend the lead back out to 8 points, 58-50, but a bucket from Barker started an 8-0 Buccaneers run to knot things up at 58-all. A Hackett 3-pointer put an end to the skid and the Cardinals closed out the game 65-58.

Fairmont hosts Tri-City United at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday and The Buccaneers head to Belle Plaine at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday.