Alex Eisen/MDN Nedrose sophomore Hailey Roberts (red) gets tied up with the ball against Surrey on Saturday at Surrey High School.

SURREY — Before the Nedrose girls basketball team could get its bearings set Saturday afternoon against Surrey, the Cardinals were staring up at a 16-0 deficit.

Surrey (8-3) started hot and coasted to a 68-26 home victory over the injury-depleted Cardinals (6-5).

Despite the final score, Surrey coach Erica Fairchild wanted to see even more out of her girls.

“We got complacent,” Fairchild said. “I know what the scoreboard says, but we didn’t play our best game today. That 16-0 run to start is fantastic, but then it was like, ‘Oh, yeah. We can slack now.’ And that’s not OK.”

Senior Raquell Lemere proved everything was going Surrey’s way early, as she banked in 3-pointer to make it 8-0 and then briefly raised her arms up in disbelief that it actually went in.

Nedrose finally got on the scoreboard with 2:47 left in the first quarter on a pull up jumper in the lane by senior Mikalyn Berglof. The Mustangs held a 18-6 lead through the first eight minutes.

The Cardinals were left searching for answers throughout the game with four key contributors sidelined with injuries: Alisha Cannon, Mindee Boyce, Kali Koetter and A’Lexis Crawford.

“There is not much to say when we are playing with six girls out of our 10, without four of our regulars and have no bench,” Nedrose coach Charles Miller said. “The girls tried hard, but we are hurting really bad with injuries and stuff right now.”

Berglof scored the Cardinals only two points in the second quarter. She finished with six points.

The Nedrose scoring drought was a combination of missing open shots and the Mustangs’ length causing problems by blocking shots and getting steals.

Surrey 6-foot-1 junior Hunter Fuchs contested just about every shot Nedrose attempted in the paint. Fuchs capped the first half with put back under the basket to give the Mustangs a 37-8 halftime lead. Surrey outscored Nedrose 19-2 in the second quarter.

Fuchs opened the second half by overpowering her defender at the hoop for two more points. She finished with a game-high 16 points.

“We got quite a number of athletes on the inside and they are working hard,” Fairchild said. “They come to practice every day hungry, so I like that. Our guards are giving them the ball too. I told the guards before the game, ‘Get it into the post.’ Unfortunately, Nedrose has had some injuries and a lot of them are in the post. So, we knew that we were going to be able to attack that weakness.”

The Cardinals had their highest scoring quarter in the third with 12 points. Sophomore Hailey Roberts scored four of her team-high eight points in the quarter. Junior Maycee Odden also had four points in the frame and she finished with six points.

Alongside Fuchs, Surrey had Lemere (12 points) and senior Abigail Storkson (11) reach double figures in scoring.

The Mustangs remain at home and will welcome South Prairie to Surrey on Monday after the Royals take a short drive through Minot.

Meanwhile, Nedrose will host District 11 foe Drake/Anamoose on Thursday. Any time off to recovery is much appreciated by the Cardinals.

“It’s just the season for injuries for us,” Miller said. “We have had a lot. We had two girls that were even sick tonight that were on the floor. So, it was tough to get a team out there tonight and compete. But, it happens sometimes in sports.”

Alex Eisen covers Minot High School, Minot State athletics and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.