Card girls' basketball: No. 7 Alexandria topples Tech, Brainerd

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A 60-50 win over St. Cloud Tech Saturday night gave the Cardinal girls a string of four straight victories and moved Alexandria into the No. 7 spot in the State Class AAA polls this week, up from their ninth place standing last week.

“The Cardinals hosted the young and talented Tech Tigers and we came away grinding out an impressive 60-50 win,” said head coach Wendy Kohler. “Tech has a skilled team and the Lady Cards were playing without Alli Haar, who suffered a sprain at Brainerd on Thursday night, so our depth was put to the test.”

Alexandria’s 6’1” Whitney Gesell moved into the starting lineup for the first time and dropped in six points for the Cardinals.

“She delivered with poise and energy,” said Kohler of her junior forward.

Alexandria’s defense, along with balance, was once again the key to the Cardinal’s Central Lakes Conference win.

“[Our defense] made it tough for Tech to get any clean looks without execution of their offense, forcing them to throw several passes,” pointed out the Card head coach. “We kept the young Tigers off balance with a variety of looks on defense and mixed it up on offense.”

Led by Lauren Trumm’s 18 points, Alexandria’s offense spread the ball around.

“The Cards came out red hot on offense and shot Tech out of their 2-3 zone, forcing them to go man-to-man,” said Kohler. “We did a nice job of finding the mismatch and taking advantage of our size at certain positions.

“We really executed on offense the last 10 minutes of the game, and the coaching staff was impressed with the composure of the Cards when Tech cut the lead to one.

“We really buckled down on defense, executed on offense, made our free throws and sealed the deal.”

Alexandria also got 11 points from Jolynn Warnes and Sam Trumm, with Warnes also collecting seven rebounds. L. Trumm added three steals and two blocked shots, while Cara Wood had six assists.

Alexandria will host Willmar on Friday at 7:30 p.m. They were to have been at Sauk Rapids-Rice last night, Tuesday.

GAME STATISTICS

ST. CLOUD TECH 24 26 — 50

ALEXANDRIA 27 33 — 60

ST. CLOUD TECH – Annessa Rosch 7, Natasha Ambrose 6, Rachael Zwiener 3, Kaila Burroughs 2, Bobbie Bohlig 18, Anna Soenneker 14.

ALEXANDRIA – Brianna Ebert 1, Jolynn Warnes 11, Cara Wood 6, Whitney Gesell 6, Sam Trumm 11, Lauren Trumm 18, Amanda Christianson 7. Assists – Wood 6, Steals – L. Trumm 3, Wood 3, Rebounds – Warnes 7, Blocked shots – L. Trumm 2.

Alexandria 71, Brainerd 51

The Alexandria girls’ basketball team came out of the gates ready to go last Thursday night as it rolled over Brainerd on the Warriors home court in a 71-51 game.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 37-8 lead and never looked back against a Brainerd team that has now lost seven of its last eight games.

Alexandria once again used a balanced attack on offense. Sam Trumm led the way with 15 as 10 players scored for the Cardinals. Lauren Trumm added 13, while Alli Haar poured in eight before leaving with an ankle sprain. Cara Wood was the catalyst of that offensive attack with seven assists.

That, coupled with another stingy defensive effort, led to another easy win for Alexandria. They held the Warriors to just 17 points in the first half as the lead was 23 by the break. Brainerd scored 34 after halftime, but it was not near enough to catch up to the seventh-ranked Cardinals.

GAME STATISTICS

ALEXANDRIA 40 31 – 71

BRAINERD 17 34 – 51

ALEXANDRIA – Sam Trumm – 15 points; Lauren Trumm – 13 points, 4 steals, 8 rebounds; Alli Haar – 8 points, 4 assists; Cara Wood – 7 points, 7 assists, 4 steals; Joie Warnes – 6 points; Whitney Gesell – 6 points; Marisa Eigen – 4 points; Lauren Johnson – 4 points; Amanda Christianson – 4 points; Bri Ebert – 2 points

BRAINERD – Taylor Johnshoy – 2 points; Chloe Miller – 4 points; Kayla Kraemer – 2 points; Carlie Sweet – 12 points; Emilee Branum – 11 points; Jennifer Smolke – 5 points; Alyssa Thoennes – 4 points; Ally Mueller – 5 points; Jalynn Lamb – 6 points

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