ABOVE: Fairmont's Bria Williamson hunts for an open lane against Pipestone in the Section 3AA quarterfinals Tuesday night in St. James.

ST. JAMES – The Fairmont Cardinals put on a superb defensive showing against the Pipestone Arrows Tuesday night in the Section 3AA Girls Basketball Tournament quarterfinals, winning 70-49 to move them on to Thursday’s tournament semifinals.

“We had to be confident,” said Fairmont head coach Sara Junkermeier. “We needed to decide that we wanted to set the tone instead of backing down and letting them take over the game.”

Leading the Cardinals was Brylee Miller with 25 points, while Ellie Ortega had 14 points. Gwyneth Schultz added 9 points for the Cards, while Makayla Lowry had 7 points. Kennedy Becker and Bria Williamson each had 6 points.

Despite a bit of a slow start for Fairmont, a quick adjustment swung the momentum in its favor.

“We switched our defense midway through the first half just to take an adjustment out of it,” said Junkermeier. “And that seemed to work in our favor and limited [Pipestone] and their shot attempts in the second half.”

The first half would be a hotly-contested one as Pipestone’s Jadyn Kor opened scoring with a spinning layup. Once in possession, Fairmont drove down the court and Miller found a lane open, driving into the paint, drawing a foul and then sinking both of her free throws to tie things back up. Fairmont continued to get rolling with a tipped pass setting up the fast break for Miller, who drained a shot.

The Arrows managed to jump out to a 12-7 lead, and with 12:37 left in the half Fairmont called its first time out of the night to try and recalibrate. Fairmont came out of the huddle ready to roll and another foul had Miller heading back to the line. That was followed up by a basket from Ortega.

It was a shot from Williamson that tied things back up at 15-15. Pipestone took its first timeout with 9:21 left in the first half. It seemed as though the Fairmont offensive found its footing, with a bucket coming from Ortega that was followed up by a contested layup for Miller.

Miller got another steal and drained a shot, and a mid-range jumper by Becker put the Cardinals up 24-17. Kor generated a three-point play to put Pipestone back within 4 points. The Arrows continued to chip away at the lead, pulling with 1 courtesy of a handful of free throws by Avery Reinhard and prompted the Cardinals to take their second timeout of the half with 2:55 left on the clock. Makayla Lowry scored on a layup through contact, which was followed up by two free throws from Miller. Despite Pipestone being hot on their heels, the Cardinals took a 5-point lead into the locker room at the half up 35-30.

The second half was all Fairmont as the defensive adjustment that was made halfway through the first half proved to be effective. Miller opened the scoring for the Cardinals just moments after the ball was back in play. Becker followed suit, along with Schultz and Ortega as the Fairmont offense found its rhythm and went up 43-32, prompting a Pipestone timeout.

As play resumed, the teams exchanged fouls and the Arrows hit six free throws to pull within 7 points, 45-38. Schultz drained a shot that was followed up by Williamson draining a 3-pointer. A shot from Ortega started a 12-0 run by Fairmont putting them up 63-40. Pipestone tried to rally back, but the Cardinals refused to give any space with every ball carrier being met with a red jersey and a hand in the face. It was a 3-pointer from Emelia Klanderud that closed out the scoring and secured the Fairmont win.

Fairmont heads to SMSU to take on Jackson County Central in a semifinals game at 8 p.m. on Thursday.