ALEXANDRIA — The Alexandria girls basketball team wrapped up its regular season against the top two programs in the Central Lakes Conference this season as the Cardinals will now take an 11-12 record into the Section 8-3A playoffs.
Brainerd (20-5, 12-2 CLC) and Fergus Falls (20-5, 12-2 CLC) secured a share of the CLC title between them after the Warriors won a 56-45 game on Feb. 28 over Alexandria, and the Otters took a 70-53 game over Alexandria on Monday. It was a tale of two halves on Monday as the Cardinals held a 29-27 lead at the halftime break.
“The Otters came out and proved why they are one of the top-ranked teams in Class AA as their D1 and D2 recruits led the way with 27 and 24 points, respectively,” Alexandria head coach Wendy Kohler said of Ellie Colbeck (South Dakota State recruit) and Tori Ratz (Minnesota State-Moorhead recruit). “The game was closer than the final score indicated as the Lady Cards were within striking distance for a good portion of the second half before succumbing to the talented Otters.”
The Cardinals honored their three seniors who have helped lead the way for a young group this season in Tessa McGrane, Carlie Wolf and Lilly Thul.
Freshmen MaCee Linow (17 points), Hadley Thul (13) and Chloe Scholl (10) all had double figures against the Otters. McGrane (6), Allile Haabala (5) and Lilly Thul (2) rounded out Alexandria's scoring.
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The Cardinals have a first-round bye in the Section 8-3A Tournament after securing the No. 2 seed in the six-team field. They will host the winner of third-seeded Detroit Lakes (11-12) and sixth-seeded Little Falls (5-20) on Saturday night at 6 p.m.
The section title game is scheduled for March 10 at a neutral site yet to be determined.
