FAIRBURY, NE — The Crete Cardinals came away with a pair of wins Friday night over Fairbury but had to earn both victories against two game Jeff squads. 

Crete took the girls contest 36-30 and boys game 61-50. 

Marin Rasgorshek led the Cardinals with 13 points in Crete's win over the Lady Jeffs. It was Fairbury however that had a 19-18 lead at the half behind 11 first-half points from Izzy Ohlde.

Crete had a late third-quarter lead 27-24 before a late three from Hannah Robertson tied the game at 27 heading into the final period. 

With the final minute approaching, Crete led 31-30 before a dagger three from Mack Steuer gave the Cardinals a 34-30 advantage. A couple of free throws later and the Crete girls had their second win of the season. 

Robertson paced Fairbury with 13 points. 

In the boys contest, Crete led 11-10 after a back-and-forth first quarter. Then  Fairbury's offense slowed as Crete built its lead to 26-18 at the half and 43-26 after the third quarter. 

With two players in double figures after three quarters in Jabin Gardiner and Aidan McDowell, Crete eventually gained its largest lead a 51-29 — a 22-point advantage with just over six minutes left. 

Fairbury though made a valiant effort at a comeback. The Jeffs used pressure defense to force turnovers and got two-three pointers from Jax Biehl and two layups from Blake Starr to go on a 10-0 run and cut the Cardinals lead to 51-39 with 4:17 left.

The comeback slowly continued as Crete struggled from the free-throw line. Fairbury chipped away with Biehl, Starr and Jackson Martin. The run reached 17-0 and with under three minutes to go, Fairbury only trailed by five at 51-46. 

Crete though got the ball into the hands of McDowell who hit eight consecutive free throws down the stretch to keep the Jeffs at bay. 

The Cardinals held on for a 61-50 win. 

McDowell led Crete with 20 points while Gardiner finished with 19. 

Biehl paced Fairbury with 19 points while Starr added 15 points and Martin 10. 

Fairbury (girls 0-6, boys 4-2) will play at home again Tuesday versus HTRS. Crete (2-3 girls, 5-0 boys) are right back at it Saturday at Palmyra.