ABOVE: Oliver Tordsen goes up for a shot in the Section 3AA opening round against Windom this past Friday night in Fairmont. Sentinel file pohoto.

FAIRMONT – The Fairmont Cardinals are preparing for a Tuesday night matchup against Jackson County Central in the quarterfinals of the Section 3AA boys basketball playoffs.

Fairmont has split this season’s series 1-1 with JCC and are looking to take the series when it matters most with a win.

In their first meeting of the season, the Huskies hung on to defeat the Cardinals 52-49. The Cardinals won the second meeting in a tight game 40-38, with Hadan Toomer’s three consecutive buckets giving the Cardinals their final points as they were able to hang on.

“When Jackson and Fairmont get together, there usually isn’t a lot of surprises,” said Fairmont head coach Jared Thompson. “You know, there’s not a lot of throwing different defenses, offenses, we kind of know what each other does. There might be wrinkles here and there that teams throw in, but Jackson’s going to extend their pressure all the way to the full court. The difference between us winning Game 2 and losing Game 1 against them this year was just the rate at which we turned the ball over in Game 1 and how we protected the ball better in Game 2.”

Thompson has faith in his team beyond just the bigs in the paint, with their outside shooting being crucial once it gets rolling.

“You just have to shoot with confidence,” said Thompson. “You have to trust all the work that you’ve put in before practice, during practice, after practice, and just believe that’s going in.

I think our guys have gotten better with that, but, yeah, in these big games you control taking the open shot when it’s there, getting the ball to the right spots, and then sometimes the ball

goes in and sometimes it doesn’t, but the guys have been putting in work, and I know

they believe it’s going in. So that the mindset is as important as anything else.

“On the other end, you can play really good defense and the other team makes shots. So what you just have to do is to kind of stay even keel in these big moments and these big games and not get caught up in momentum.”

The last time these teams met in the playoffs was the 2020 season, where Fairmont fell in the semifinals round 56-51. The Cardinals are more than confident in their ability to secure the victory this time around against their rivals.

The versatility in the bigs of Oliver Tordsen and Logan Junkermeier are also a key factor in the upcoming game after a strong performance together in this past Friday’s playoff win over Windom Area.

“It really is who’s open, you know, and I would say it shifted Friday,” said Thompson.“Oliver had a big game … in the last week or two, Oliver has been getting double-teamed and kind of, Oliver, he’s making all the right plays. He’s made a lot of passes to Logan and just Logan usually gets that, the second biggest guy guarding him and, and gets double-teamed, but not at the rate that Oliver does. So just kind of the way it goes in ball.”

The rematch is set to be a tight game. The rivalry, though not between the coaches, has resonated with the players into a game that they want to win not only because it’s the postseason, but because of who they are playing against.

“You don’t have to say much to get kids fired up for this one,” said Thompson. “We have a lot of respect for Jackson. We know how good they are. They’ve been ranked in the top, you know, five to six in the state all year. They have everybody back in a team that won the section last year. We have nothing but respect for them, but our guys also really are excited for the opportunity to play them because we’ve split the last two years with them.

“So we’re 2-2 and this group of seniors would obviously like to give it everything they have here in their last game against Jackson in their career, win or lose. … It’s just really gonna come down to who executes the best and that’s the way it should be. I don’t think tricks are going to win it or lose it. It’s going to be execution teams doing what they do better.”

Tuesday’s quarterfinals matchup is scheduled for a 6 p.m. tip-off in Windom.