ABOVE: Fairmont's Hadan Toomer lines up a shoot against the Belle Plaine Tigers in a Big South Conference basketball game Tuesday night in Fairmont.

FAIRMONT — A late push by the Fairmont Cardinals fell just short of overtaking the Belle Plaine Tigers falling 66-63 in a Big South Conference boys basketball game Tuesday night.

“They came in on an eight-game win streak, ranked 10th in the state,” Fairmont head coach Jared Thompson said of Belle Plaine. “They’ve scored over 90 points, four out of their last five games. So we knew we had our work cut out for us on the defensive end. So I thought we actually played really well defensively. We gave up 66 to a team averaging, you know, over 90, like I said, in the last month. offensively, we did some really nice things at times, just a few too many turnovers.”

Leading the Cardinals was Oliver Tordsen with 27 points and 10 rebounds, while Nolan Schultze had 16 points and seven rebounds. Hadan Toomer had 10 points and four rebounds, while Brayden Williamson and Tavian Harvey each had 3 points.

Shooting from beyond the arc put the Tigers in front for the first time of the night, 17-16. But as the half carried on, it was the hot hand of Schultze, who hit three consecutive 3-pointers, retaking the lead for the Cardinals 28-27 before Toomer drained the final bucket off the half with the Cardinals up 30-29.

At the midway point in the second half, the Cardinals fell behind 61-45. Not content in their position, the Cardinals battled back with the combined forces of Tordsen, Toomer, Williamson and Schultze all finding the mark and pulling Fairmont within 5 points, 66-61, with 55 seconds left on the clock. Schultze drew a foul and drained both shots to make it a 3-point game. The Cardinals ran out of time, however, falling to the Tigers 66-63.

Thompson said Schultze gave the Cardinals a spark in the first half and was happy with how his team continued to battle in the second half despite falling behind.

“When we needed that spark, Nolan hit those three big 3s to get us back in the game in the first half and take a lead in the halftime,” Thompson said. “And then the second half, I thought Belle Plaine really ran some good offense, and did some nice things. And then we kind of answered that, got down 12, and refused to give in. And [we] had some timely turnovers and just fought to the end and rebounded well toward the end as well.”

The first half seemed settled for the Fairmont offense, which quickly fell into a rhythm and jumped out to a quick 6-0. Physical play in the paint and mid-range jump shots kept the scoring going for the Cardinals, but the Tigers’ full-court press and double-teaming Fairmont shooters helped Belle Plaine climb back into the game after a slow start, pulling within a point, 12-11. The teams continued to exchange buckets until Fairmont got its late push to lead at the half.

The battle continued in the second half and a quick 3-pointer by the Tigers gave them the lead in the first few seconds, 32-30. Tordsen scored the next 6 points for Fairmont as it maintained their position behind Belle Plaine only down by 2, 40-38. The Cardinals forced the Tigers to the perimeter but the outside shooting was effective for the Tigers, who jumped out to a 51-43 lead.

The Cardinals head to Jackson County Central at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.