ALEXANDRIA—There’s been a couple bumps in the road through the first half of the season for the Alexandria boys basketball team, but one constant has been the way the Cardinals have played against other Section 8-3A opponents.
Alexandria was 6-0 against section teams coming into a matchup at home against Detroit Lakes on Tuesday. Those wins had come by an average margin of 26.8 points-per game, with the lone close contest being a 65-62 win over Rocori (5-11) on Dec. 21.
The Cardinals (11-3) remained perfect against 8-3A opponents on Tuesday as they comfortably beat Detroit Lakes (3-9) in an 85-52 final to complete the season sweep of the Lakers.
“Lately we’ve just kind of been slow,” Alexandria junior guard Jaxon Schoenrock said. “Offense hasn’t been mixing as well as we did in the start of the season. Tonight, we kind of just came out and gave a better approach.”
The Lakers led 3-0 before Alexandria promptly went on a 14-0 run to grab control of the game. It was a 38-23 lead for the Cardinals at halftime.
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Alexandria dominated the game in transition. They forced a big number of Detroit Lakes turnovers and used that to get out and run for easy buckets.
The Cardinals played at a torrid pace that made them tough to beat. Guys’ first instinct after creating a takeaway or grabbing a defensive rebound was to look up court for teammates getting out on the break.
Ten different players scored for Alexandria. Erik Hedstrom had a team-high 17, while Carter Steffensmeier (14), Grayson Grove (13) and Kristen Hoskins (12) made it four in double figures.
“That was one of our emphasis in practice was pushing the ball against these guys because they get tired pretty quick with not many guys off the bench,” Schoenrock said. “We knew we had to wear them out to get up on the scoreboard. When we play like this, we’re tough to beat. We’re all there for each other and ready to go from the start.”
Cihak led the Lakers with 21 points, while Mason Carrier added 10. Seven Detroit Lakes players scored points on Tuesday night.
ALEXANDRIA 85, DETROIT LAKES 52
ALEXANDRIA SCORING - Carter Steffensmeier - 14; Jaxon Schoenrock - 3; Myles Sansted - 9; Wyatt Odland - 4; Kristen Hoskins - 12; Erik Hedstrom - 17; Trevin Hoepner - 2; Zach Gundberg - 7; Grayson Grove - 13; Elijah Vanderveer - 4
DETROIT LAKES SCORING - Nate Cihak - 21; Ethan Carrier - 3; Devon Berg - 3; Chris Breeden - 6; Mason Carrier - 10; Brandton Marsh - 2; Oliver Quam - 5
