Basketball roundup: Alex teams dominate in Tuesday games, Osakis teams get back in the win column

For the second time this season, the Alexandria boys basketball team has earned a 41-point victory over the Sauk Rapids-Rice Storm as it won 80-39 on Tuesday to improve to 11-2 (7-0 Section 8AAA) while Sauk Rapids-Rice fell to 7-9 (3-3 Section 8AAA).

Alexandria came into Tuesday’s contest five days removed from a 75-72 overtime loss at Brainerd.

The Cardinals were led by Grayson Grove’s 31 points and Chase Thompson’s 21. Mason Witt scored in double figures as well as finishing with 10 points.

Brayln Steffensmeier and Dawson Roderick were both very active defensively in the Cardinals win.

Steffensmeier had six deflections and seven steals in the win, along with nine points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Roderick had five assists, seven deflections, and four steals, along with two points and five assists on offense.

Alexandria hits the road to face Willmar (6-11, 1-6 Section 8AAA) on Friday at 7:15 p.m.

Alexandria is ranked No. 6 in Class AA by the Minnesota Basketball News poll (as of Jan. 25) and hosts No. 5 Orono (10-5) at 8 p.m. at the Breakdown’s Winter Lakes Classic in Alexandria.

ALEXANDRIA TEAM STATS - FG - 33-65; 3-PT - 7-24; FT - 7-8; Rebounds - 33; Assists - 22; Deflections - 20; Steals - 17; Blocks - 7; Fouls - 12; Turnovers - 7

ALEXANDRIA PLAYER STATS - Walker Hennen - 1 block; Jacob Balcome - 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block; Jaxon Schoenrock - 3 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 deflections; Bralyn Steffensmeier - 9 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 6 deflections, 7 steals; Myles Gray - 1 rebound, 1 block, 1 steal; Bryce Paffrath - 1 deflection; Chase Thompson - 21 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 deflection, 2 steals, 2 blocks; Mason Witt - 10 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists; Talan Witt - 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal; Dawson Roderick - 2 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 7 deflections, 4 steals; Grayson Grove - 31 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 deflection, 1 steal

The Alexandria girls basketball team earned another dominant victory on Tuesday, this time on the road at Moorhead (5-15).

Alexandria won the game 69-30 behind a strong defensive effort and an in sync offense.

Alexandria (15-3) led 47-14 at halftime. MaCee Linow led the scoring for Alexandria with 17 points, while Hadley Thul added 16, Chloe Scholl had 16, Allie Haabala had nine, Ella Steussy had eight, Lauren Beyer had three, and McKinley Hoelscher and Camree Miller finished with two.

Haabala had six rebounds, while Beyer and Kate Hennessy had six. Thul and Scholl each had five. Haabala had six assists, while Steussy and Hennessy had three. Linow had four steals, while Miller had two. Steussy had six deflections.

Alexandria, who is ranked No. 5 in the Minnesota Basketball News poll, hosts Orono (7-9) at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday as a part of the Breakdown’s Winter Lakes Classic in Alexandria.

The Osakis boys earned its 11th win of the season on Tuesday as it defeated Holdingford 68-44 on the road.

“It wasn't always pretty, but we found a way to get through some shooting droughts with good defense,” Osakis head coach Matt Hoelscher said. “Overall, it was a great response to last week's losses, and we need to keep building off it for the rest of the month as we start heading into the postseason.”

The trio of Kyle Mages, Isaac Maddock, and Stewart Jones led the way offensively as they combined for 49 of Osakis 68 points.

Mages had a team-high 21 points while grabbing nine rebounds while Maddock added 15 points along with six assists and Jones had 13 points along with four rebounds.

Seth Staloch had 10 points in the game as well for Osakis (11-4).

“We struggled from the field as guys missed open perimeter shots and around the rim, but Issac got hot from the three and Kyle made some baskets around the rim that started to energize us when we were flat,” Hoelscher said. “Seth did well on the offensive boards, and Stewart got going in the second half in transition. Mekai [Hoelscher] and Drew did not have their best shooting performances, but they did some nice things defensively by getting deflections, forcing tough shots, and rebounding early. Grant [Mages] was playing well until he went out with an injury, and Marcus [Wolf] did a great job filling in for him.”

Osakis is on the road again on Thursday against St. John’s Prep (1-11) at 7:15 p.m.

Osakis also plays in the Winter Lakes Classic on Saturday in Alexandria and is set to face Dilworth-Glydon-Felton (14-3) at Noon.

Osakis - 36 32 - 68 

Holdingford - 21 23 - 44

OSAKIS TEAM STATS - FG - 28-65; 3-PT - 7-21; FT - 5-12; Assists - 20; Blocks - 5; Rebounds - 23; Steals - 11; Deflections - 11; Fouls - 6; Turnovers - 12

OSAKIS PLAYER STATS - Blake Bouldin - 1 steal; Stewart Jones - 13 points, 1 assist, 3 blocks, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 deflections; Ben Berger - 1 rebound; Seth Staloch - 10 points, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 deflections; Isaac Maddock - 15 points, 6 assists, 3 steals, 3 deflections; Austin Dickinson - 1 rebound; Drew Imdieke - 4 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 deflections; Marcus Wolf - 3 rebounds; Mekai Hoelscher - 3 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 deflection

After a 13-3 run to start the second half, the Osakis girls had the cushion it needed to hold on to beat Staples-Motley, 44-40.

Osakis (9-7) led by just one point late in the game, but a big basket by Taylor Dirkes and a big three-pointer by Carlee Muenzhuber kept Staples-Motley (3-13) away.

"We were lucky to hang on to win this game,” Osakis head coach Pat Kalpin said. “We need to keep working the ball offensively for good shots and taking good shots. We had numerous scoring opportunities, but the shots didn't fall, especially around the basket. Being strong with the ball in those situations are going to help us get better. We just need to keep working hard."

Dirkes was all over the floor for Osakis as she finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists, eight deflections, and four steals.

Osakis hosts West Central Area (6-10) on Thursday at 7:15 p.m.

Staples-Motley - 19 21 - 40 

Osakis - 26 18 - 44

OSAKIS TEAM STATS - FG - 20-63; 3-PT - 4-25; FT - 0-2; Rebounds - 39; Assists - 15; Deflections - 14; Steals - 11; Turnovers - 13; Fouls - 7

OSAKIS PLAYER STATS - Hailey Walker - 3 assists; Madeline Anderson - 6 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 deflections, 3 steals; Taylor Dirkes - 18 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 8 deflections, 4 steals; Bella Weisser - 9 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals; Carlee Muenzhuber - 5 points, 6 rebounds, 2 deflections; Kiley Kranz - 6 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 deflections, 2 steals; Maggie Dirkes - 1 rebound, 1 assist

Following a loss to Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley on Monday, the Brandon-Evansville girls had a tilt against the Battle Lake Battlers on Tuesday, which B-E won 60-55.

“We had another slow start, but we found a groove and some attitude at halftime and played much better in the second half,” B-E head coach Steve Schreiber said.

Battle Lake led 28-19 (1-16, 0-13 Section 6A) at halftime, but B-E (6-11, 4-9 Section 6A) rallied with a 41-point second half.

Haddy Baune led B-E in scoring with 19 points, while Kylee Dingwall had 17.

B-E hosts Rothsay (11-7, 9-7 Section 6A) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

Battle Lake - 28 27 - 55

B-E - 19 41 - 60

B-E SCORING - Taylor Dingwall, 3 points; Skylar Bitzan, 5 points; Sydney Schaefer, 12 points; EmmaLee Brethorst, 3 points; Haddy Baune, 19 points; Kylee Dingwall, 17 points; Mia Emter, 1 point

BATTLE LAKE SCORING - Allyson Goodman, 12 points; Sophie Akerman, 8 points; Elane Frost, 2 points; Madison Cameron, 4 points; Morgan Malone, 19 points; Kenady Cameron, 10 points

The Brandon-Evansville boys gave 12-2 (ranked No. 12 in Class A) Browerville-Eagle Valley a good test on Tuesday but lost 67-54 on the road.

“I thought our energy was there; we just made too many mistakes,” B-E head coach Trent Hintermeister said. “We ended the night with 23 turnovers, and you can't win games against quality opponents doing that. We have to value the ball more; we need to play smarter. Our guys are doing a great job of staying positive and continuing to show up and put in the work. I love being around this team each day, and that's always a win.”

Dezmond White had 21 points and 7 rebounds in the game for B-E, while Micah Fuller had 13 points.

B-E is now 4-11 on the season.

B-E plays at Battle Lake (14-3) at 7:15 p.m. on Friday.

Brandon-Evansville - 25 29 - 54

Browerville-Eagle Valley - 38 29 - 67

B-E TEAM STATS - FG - 21-51; 3-PT - 10-29; FT - 2-4; Rebounds - 35; Assists - 12; Deflections - 8; Steals - 7; Blocks - 1; Turnovers - 23; Fouls - 16

B-E PLAYER STATS - Micah Fuller - 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists; Riley Perleberg - 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block; Brady Perleberg - 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 deflections, 2 steals; Tanner Riedel - 5 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals; Carter White - 4 rebounds, 1 steal; Dezmond White - 21 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 deflections; Kian Gackle - 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 deflection; Nathan Anderson - 3 points, 1 assist, 1 deflection; Lucas Fuller - 2 rebounds; Stephen Hamilton - 7 points, 1 rebound; Aaron Gillespie - 2 points, 4 rebounds

The West Central Area girls gave Sauk Centre a run for its money in Barrett on Tuesday, but Sauk Centre came away with a 75-69 win.

This loss dropped WCA to 6-10, while Sauk Centre improved to 13-4.

Addison Staples had a double-double for WCA with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Claire Stark led the WCA offense with 22 points.

Sauk Centre’s Jenna Gapinski-Vogt finished with a double-double, 26 points, and 14 rebounds.

WCA plays at Osakis on Thursday at 7:15 p.m.

WCA PLAYER STATS - Macy Grosz - 2 points, 1 rebound, 6 assists, 1 deflection, 1 steal; Jayden Styba - 12 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 deflections, 2 steals; Addison Staples - 14 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 deflection; Claire Stark - 22 points, 13 rebounds, 2 deflections, 1 block; Mya Foslien - 12 points, 6 assists, 1 deflection, 1 steal; Sydney Ulrich - 3 points, 3 assists, 1 steal

Other areas scores from Tuesday, Jan. 31 -
Boys -
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy (13-2) 79, Ashby (5-9) 57
Border West (13-2) 75, Parkers Prairie (6-7) 68
Montevideo (8-8) 70, Minnewaska (1-17) 47

Girls -
Hancock (15-2) 73, Ashby (1-16) 31
Montevideo (14-2) 48, Minnewaska (5-12) 35