ABOVE: Fairmont's Brylee Miller makes a move in an attempt to get around the Tri-City United defense in a Big South Conference basketball game Friday night in Fairmont.

FAIRMONT – The Fairmont Cardinals girls’ offense was stalled by the defense of the Tri-City United Titans on Friday night as the Titans were able to secure a 61-45 victory in the teams’ second meeting of the season in Big South Conference play.

Despite the loss, the Cardinals celebrated Senior Night, honoring the team’s senior leaders: Norah Traetow, Ellie Ortega, Carys Gudahl and Kennedy Becker, along with team manager Cadence Montgomery. All four senior players played for the Cardinals, even Gudahl, who was injured but got in the final minute and was able to bank in a shot.

“We’re here to honor our seniors tonight,” said Fairmont head coach Sara Junkermeier. “So giving them the opportunity on Senior Night is just what we do.

“It’s just a great group of kids. They do anything we ask of them, whether they’re on the court or on the bench, they understand what they need to do, and they do it well.”

Leading the Cardinals was Brylee Miller with 17 points, while Bria Williamson had 9 points. Makayla Lowry and Ellie Ortega each had 6 points.

The Cardinals came out firing in the first half Makayla Lowry opened the scoring which set off a 10-0 run by Fairmont. It took just over three minutes when the Titans were able to net their first bucket of the night. Fairmont continued to control the tempo of the game, with Miller and Ortega handling the bulk of the scoring for the Cardinals. Fairmont found itself up 16-8, but it was the outside shooting of TCU that kept the Titans in the game. A 3-pointer off the hand of Grace Hennen kicked off a 12-0 run that consisted of four consecutive shots from beyond the arc to swing the momentum back in favor of the Titans, who managed to go up 26-19 at the half.

The Titans shifted into a 2-3 zone to slow the offense of Fairmont. It was Ortega who drained a shot, reopening the scoring for Fairmont. The Cardinals, down 43-26, continued to work around the perimeter ,but the zone defense of the Titans was disrupting the passing lanes and taking away the scoring inside the paint. Williamson began to drain her shots from behind the arc, hitting three shots to try to get the Cardinals back in the game. Despite this, Fairmont was still down 58-43.

As the final moments of the game approached a quick substitution brought Gudahl to the court and she drained a shot to put a cap on senior night.

The Cardinals are now 15-7 overall and 11-6 in conference play. Despite the loss, Makayla Lowry said she sees improvement with the team.

“I think we’ve definitely improved from the beginning [of the season],” said Makayla Lowry. “We battled tonight, so that’s all we could really do.”

Fairmont next travels to Pipestone for a 6 p.m. game on Tuesday.