Alexandria girls' basketball: Cards fall short against Bemidji, defeat St. Cloud Tech

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Amanda Christianson’s 3-point shot with eight seconds remaining bounced off the rim and the Cardinal girls fell to Bemidji 46-44 Saturday afternoon.

Bemidji grabbed the rebound off the final shot, leaving the Cardinals short in their quest for win No. 13.

Alexandria led 25-16 at the half, but saw the Lumberjacks surge back for 30 second-half points. Bemidji hit seven shots from 3-point range in the game, including three in the second half by Jessa Lusby, who finished the game with 12 points.

Christianson led the Cardinals with 18 points and Kalli Bowser added 14. Jess Syvrud scored two, Dani Strater one, Karly Betterman seven and Amanda Gould two.

ALEXANDRIA 50, ST. CLOUD TECH 30

The Alexandria girls’ basketball team got a nice win over St. Cloud Tech last Thursday that further distanced the Cardinals from the Tigers in the conference standings.

Tech (12-10, 7-6 CLC) came into the night hoping to inch closer to Alexandria in that regard, but the Cardinals made sure it never happened in a 50-30 game. Alexandria pulled away behind a stingy defense that held the Tigers to their lowest point total of the season.

“We went into the half with a five-point lead,” head coach Wendy Kohler said, “and came out swinging [in the second half] as we were relentless on defense and productive on offense as we gradually pulled away for a nice team win.”

Three girls finished in double figures for the Cardinals. Karly Betterman led the way with 16. Amanda Christianson and Kalli Bowser each added 10, while Emily Thul chipped in eight.

The win moved the Cardinals to 10-3 in the CLC. That has them sitting two games up in the loss column in second place. Fergus Falls is still unbeaten at 19-0 and 13-0 in the CLC, while Sartell-St. Stephen is 9-5 in league play.

Alexandria 50,

St. Cloud Tech 30

ALEXANDRIA – Betterman – 16; Christianson – 10; Bowser – 10; Thul – 8; Macy Hatlestad – 3; Jess Syvrud – 2; Dani Strater – 1

Tags: alexandria sports, sports, cardinals, girls, basketball