Basketball roundup: Alex girls get to the section championship, Alex boys end regular season on a good note

The top-seeded Alexandria girls basketball team soared over the No. 4 seed Willmar on Saturday in the Section 8AAA semifinals, 82-48, with an all-around team effort.

Alexandria led by nine at halftime but controlled the second half to win by 34 points.

Alexandria (23-4) plays the No. 3 seed Sauk Rapids-Rice (18-10) on Thursday in the Section 8AAA Championship game at St. John's University at 7 p.m.

Alexandria beat Sauk Rapids-Rice on the road 66-62 in the regular season opener on Dec. 2, 2023, and 85-49 on Jan. 24, 2023, at home.

In Saturday’s semifinal win, Alexandria’s offense was paced by Chloe Scholl’s 21 points, while Hadley Thul, who made the Class AAA team, had 16, and MaCee Linow also scored in double figures with 10 points.

Camree Miller had eight points, while Allie Haabala, who is an All-Class AAA honorable mention, had six, Ella Steussy and Kate Hennessy had five, Lauren Beyer and Kaia Emter finished with four, Alison Krasky had two, and Scotland Brown had one.

Scholl also had a team-high eight rebounds, while Miller and Hennessy had six. Scholl led the team in steals with six, while Thul had two. Hennessy had three blocks, while Linow had two.

Thul had four deflections, while Beyer, Haabala, and Scholl had two. Haabala and Thul led the team in assists with four, Scholl and Linow had three, and Beyer had two.

The Alexandria boys basketball team ended the regular season on a 9-game winning streak after beating Brainerd 68-54 at home on Friday. This win avenged a 75-72 overtime loss Alexandria had on the road at Brainerd on Jan. 26, 2023.

Bralyn Steffensmeier paced the Alexandria offense with 21 points, while Grayson Grove and Chase Thompson each had 14. Jaxon Schoenrock added 13 points, while Mason Witt rounded out the scoring with six points

Thompson had a team-high six rebounds.

Alexandria (21-4, 11-1 Section 8AAA) is the top-seed in the Section 8AAA playoffs and hosts the No. 8 seed, St. Cloud Apollo (1-23, 0-11 Section 8AAA) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The winner of Tuesday’s quarterfinal plays either the No. 5 seed Little Falls or the No. 4 seed Rocori on Friday at 7 p.m.

ALEXANDRIA PLAYER STATS - Trevin Hoepner - 1 rebound, 2 deflections; Bralyn Steffensmeier - 21 points, 5 rebounds, 1 deflection, 2 steals; Grayson Grove - 14 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 deflections, 2 steals; Jaxon Schoenrock - 13 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal; Dawson Roderick - 3 rebounds, 2 deflections, 2 steals; Mason Witt - 6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals

The Osakis boys basketball team reached the 20-win mark with a large 86-65 win over the Pillager Huskies (14-12) on Friday.

“We had an off-shooting night the first half but still found a way to score 40 points. That was mainly due to Kyle getting able to attack his opponent and get some looks around the basket. Mekai [Hoelscher] and Isaac [Maddock] did make a few threes, but they caught fire in the second half. We had some miscues defensively, but we made some halftime adjustments, and guys came out and shared the basketball, executed the offense, were better in transition and contested shots. We got good minutes out of Seth [Staloch], Grant [Mages] was able to find open looks by being active on offense, Stewart [Jones] got going the second half after some foul trouble, and drew was able to get open and make some key plays for us.

Kyle Mages led the team in scoring with 26 points, while Grant Mages added 17, and Isaac Maddock added 15.

Osakis (20-6, 4-2 Section 6AA) is the No. 5 seed in the Section 6AA playoffs and hosts the No. 12 seed Royalton (11-14, 6-5 Section 6AA) at 7 p.m. on Thursday. The winner plays the No. 13 seed Rush City or the No. 4 seed on Saturday, March 11, 2023, at 1:30 p.m. at St. John’s University.

Osakis beat Royalton, 54-41, on the road on Jan. 9, 2023.

Osakis - 40 46 - 86

Pillager - 33 32 - 65

OSAKIS TEAM STATS - FG - 32-56; 3-PT - 11-27; FT - 12-19; Assists - 19; Blocks -2; Rebounds - 29; Steals - 6; Deflections - 8; Fouls - 9; Turnovers - 9

OSAKIS PLAYER STATS - Stewart Jones - 11 points, 5 assists, 1 block, 3 rebounds, 2 steals; 3 deflections; Grant Mages - 17 points, 3 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals; Seth Staloch - 3 points, 6 rebounds, 1 deflection; Isaac Maddock - 15 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 deflection; Kyle Mages - 26 points, 1 assist, 5 rebounds; Drew Imdieke - 3 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 deflections; Mekai Hoelscher - 12 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 deflection

The Osakis girls basketball team hit the road on Thursday to challenge the No. 5 seed Kimball Area.

Kimball (17-8) made the plays it needed to and won 56-36 over the No. 12 seed Osakis (12-14).

“You have to give credit to Kimball, they came out and played a good game and were the better team. Our girls gave great effort and worked incredibly hard all night, which had been a constant for us all season,” Osakis head coach Pat Kalpin said. “Kimball defensively makes it tough to get good looks, and they kept us off balance all night. At times we were able to move the ball well and take good shots, but the consistency was not there for us all night.”

The Silverstreaks had a successful season this year as they earned 12 wins and were Prairie Conference champions.

“With a group of girls getting their first significant varsity experience, they grew and improved all season long,” Kalpin said. “They earned a conference championship which is a great accomplishment. It's always sad to see seasons come to an end, but the coaching staff is extremely proud of how this team improved this season and how hard they worked. This group of girls are a great group and was a really fun and enjoyable team to coach.”

Osakis graduates two seniors, Kiley Kranz and Madi Collins.

“Kiley Kranz and Madi Collins have been part of our program since their elementary years,” Kalpin said. “These two have demonstrated great, commitment, dedication, and leadership not only this year but throughout their careers. We have been very fortunate as a coaching staff to have had them part of our program and they are leaving knowing that they have been a huge part of our success over the years. We can't thank them enough, and they certainly will be missed.”

Osakis - 15 21 - 36

Kimball - 31 25 - 56

OSAKIS TEAM STATS - FG - 13-40; 3-PT - 5-14; FT - 5-10; Rebounds - 27; Assists - 9; Deflections - 16; Steals - 13; Turnovers- 30; Fouls - 10

OSAKIS PLAYER STATS - Hailey Walker - 3 points, 3 rebounds, 1 deflection; Madeline Anderson - 2 points, 3 rebounds, 2 deflections; Greta Faber - 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal; Taylor Dirkes - 8 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 5 deflections, 4 steals; Kaelyn Walker - 2 points, 1 assist; Bella Weisser - 6 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 deflections, 3 steals; Carlee Muenzhuber - 8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 deflections, 3 steals; Kiley Kranz - 5 points, 8 rebounds, 1 deflection, 1 steal; Maggie Dirkes - 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 deflection

The Brandon-Evansville girls basketball team, the No. 6 seed in Section 6A South, trailed by as much as 21 points in Thursday’s playoff game on the road against Wheaton-Herman-Norcross, but clawed its way back to make it an eight point game.

But the comeback effort ran out of steam, as WHN (15-12) went on to win 64-49 and advanced to the next round.

“Our girls battled hard,” B-E head coach Stephen Schreiber said. “We couldn't get shots to go early and started off down 12-0. Coming out of halftime, the girls played more aggressively on offense, and we cut it to eight but ran out of gas.”

B-E finished the season with a 9-18 (6-15 Section 6A) record.

Schreiber has now completed his first season as the Chargers head coach.

“These girls are a great group of kids,” he said. “I appreciate the effort that was put into the season. It was fun getting to know everyone, and I'm very excited to continue next year. To the seniors, I can't wait to see the incredible people they grow into.”

W-H-N - 38 26 - 64 

B-E - 20 29 - 49

W-H-N SCORING - Jordan Perry, 15; Brylie Schultz, 11; Julie Schmidt, 19; Reagan Seilde, 11; Sadie Vipond, 8

B-E SCORING - Taylor Dingwall, 4; Skylar Bitzan, 4; Sydney Schaefer, 2; EmmaLee Brethorst, 2; Ava Santjer, 3; Haddy Baune, 12; Kylee Dingwall, 22; Kayla Bitzan-Anderson, 4

The Brandon-Evansville boys basketball team lost its final regular season game of the season on Friday, 60-44, to the Ashby Arrows.

“I thought we got some good looks and took care of the ball well, which are both positives,” B-E head coach Trent Hintermeister said. “The problem was we couldn't throw a rock in the ocean if we were standing on the beacH. Unfortunately, we were also not able to provide enough pressure defensively to make Ashby take tougher shots. Credit to the Arrows, they shot the ball extremely well throughout the entire game. We are excited to get some practice time in before playoffs start next week.”

B-E (6-20, 4-16 Section 6A) is the No. 7 seed in Section 6A South and plays on the road at the No. 2 seed Border West (22-2, 19-0 Section 6A) at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Ashby (8-16, 7-14 Section 6A) is the No. 6 seed in Section 6A South and faces the No. 3 seed Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg on Thursday.

Parkers Priaire is the No. 5 seed in the subsection and plays on the road at the No. 4 seed Hancock on Thursday.

ASHBY SHOOTING - FG - 22-37; 3-PT - 7-15; FT - 9-13

B-E TEAM STATS - FG - 14-56; 3-PT - 6-26; FT - 10-11

B-E PLAYER STATS - Micah Fuller - 10 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist; Brady Perleberg - 2 points, 1 assist, 1 deflection, 1 steal; Tanner Riedel - 8 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 deflections, 2 steals; Carter White - 2 rebounds, 1 assist; Dezmond White - 12 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 2 deflections, 1 steal; Kian Gackle - 1 rebound, 1 deflection; Nathan Anderson - 4 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist; Lucas Fuller - 3 points, 4 rebounds; Dustin Gillespie - 2 points, 5 rebounds, 1 deflection; Aaron Gillespie - 3 points

The New London-Spicer Wildcats, the No. 5 seed, edged out a 47-43 win over the West Central Area Knights, the No. 4 seed, in the first round of the boys Section 6AA playoffs.

The Knights led 37-34 in the second half after a 10-0 run, but the Wildcats outscored the Knights 13-6 down the stretch.

"Both teams played good defense,” WCA head coach Kraig Hunter said. “We forced a lot of turnovers and took away their 3-point game holding them to 2-16. I was proud of our defense and how hard our kids worked. Unfortunately, we weren't efficient enough on offense. We didn't finish well, and we didn't value the basketball enough as we had too many turnovers. In Class AA basketball, there are a lot of good teams. New London-Spicer is loaded with athletes as they won the state football championship and were the preseason section favorite. It was a great high school basketball game, with both teams leaving everything on the floor. Congratulations to them."

NL-S shot 19 of 47 from the field, while the Knights shot 13 of 42.

"It was a great season for our guys being nearly the smallest AA school in the state,” Hunter said. “We finished conference runner-up in the tough West Central Conference. Some of our seniors have been playing varsity since 9th grade and finished the last four years 82-21. They have a lot to be proud of."

Cole Anderson led the Knights (18-8) in scoring with eight, while Cole Anderson, Ben Bye, and Nas Dotts had eight. Dotts led the team in assists with three, while Jacob Strunk had six steals.

WCA SCORING - Cole Anderson, 18; Jacob Strunk, 13; Bryce Kjesbo, 7; Mitch Dewey, 3; Ben Bye, 2