ABOVE: Fairmont’s Ellie Ortega drives to the basket in a Big South Conference girls basketball game against the Blue Earth Area Buccaneers Friday night in Fairmont.

FAIRMONT — The Fairmont Cardinals girls basketball team did not allow the Blue Earth Area Buccaneers a moment to think in an 89-32 victory Friday night.

Showcasing versatile shooting, strong defense and precision passing, the Cardinals were able to replicate an earlier performance against BEA.

Friday’s Big South Conference rematch produced a similar result as the team’s first meeting this season where Fairmont took the win 71-24 on Jan. 3. The Buccaneers also felt the absence of junior guard Lola Lundquist Friday.

“We didn’t know prior to coming in that their guard was going to be missing,” said Fairmont head coach Sara Junkermeier. “Lola does a great job for Blue Earth, so we just continued to put pressure on.”

Leading the Cardinals was Brylee Miller with 27 points, while Ellie Ortega had 12 points. Kennedy Becker had 11 points, while Makayla Lowry and Bria Williamson each had 10 points.

The scoring leaders for the Buccaneers were Myla Eastman with 16 points, while Emersen Weir had 11 points.

“I feel like we have this challenge where we have to start fast,” said Junkermeier. “Because we had some times earlier in the season where we’ve kind of struggled with that. And so that’s kind of become our challenge. Tonight we stepped up to it and then we never took our foot off the gas.”

The scoring of the game opened with a Becker 3-pointer, which was answered with a BEA 3 from Eastman. From there on out it seemed like it was all Cardinals as a flurry of shots from Miller, Ortega and Makenzie Lowry helped aid the Cardinals jump out early 24-8.

Despite finding some success inside the paint, the Buccaneers were unable to catch up. The Cardinals continued to dominate on offense, hitting shots from wherever they chose and connecting well on passes. Miller continued to hit shots from mid-range and outside the arc when Norah Traetow hit a shot right as the shot clock expired, putting the Cardinals up 43-16. The Buccaneers’ struggles on offense continued until the end of the half as they trailed 45-18 headed into the break.

The second half was more of the same. The Cardinals continued their dominant offensive play again with Miller, Ortega, and Lowry all draining shots from beyond the arc. Miller put up 7 unanswered points to put the Cardinals up 65-26 despite a 3-pointer from the Buccaneers they still struggled to do anything on offense. The Cardinal defense was so disruptive in the passing lane that the Bucs were only able to put up 6 more points throughout the second half.

Now 14-5 on the season and 10-4 in conference play the Cardinals will host St. Peter at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday. The Buccaneers are 0-18 on the season and 0-11 in conference play host Maple River at 7:15 p.m. on Monday.