Alexandria 62 Sartell 55: Five Things to Know

<p>Sixth ranked Alexandria showed their depth last night defeating Sartell 62-55 in a key road victory.  The Cards won with balance earning a big victory before March Madness begins. Here are Five Things to Know. </p> <p><strong>One. Balance</strong>.  Alexandria scored 62 points on the road in a loud environment and they did it with five players scoring four or more times to earn the victory.  Sartell has athletic forwards with size so Alex had to lean on the guards a bit more for scoring production and Myles Sansted (scored 15 on a rough night shooting from the floor but made 7 foul shots) along with Carter Steffensmeier (scored 10 points on six shots) supplied just enough.  Steffensmeier and Peter Sansted did a nice job of moving the basketball passing out the touches throughout the line-up. [player_tooltip player_id="850732" first="Erik" last="Hedstrom"], Zach Gundberg, and Grayon Grove combined for 28 points points up front. Add in the make from reserve [player_tooltip player_id="1188970" first="Elijah" last="Vanderveer"] ( I think) and the bigs were 13 of 26 from the field.  For the Cards it was all about balance while Sartell had all but ten shots taken by their top three guys. </p> <p><strong>Two.  Moving on Without Hoskins</strong>.  Kris Hoskins decided earlier in the month to focus on training for his career as a Minnesota Gopher football player.  Alex has won six games in a row, and eight of their last nine so they really haven’t skipped a beat.  Next week the CLC is likely on the line when Alex takes on Brainerd as both teams are at the top of the standings with two losses.  The Cards are the overwhelming favorite in 8AAA so not much has changed.  The Sansteds and Steffensmeier give this team guard depth and of course they have a good frontcourt.  The loss of Hoskins would most likely hurt the most at the state tournament when deeper teams with stronger guard play would face Alex. The speed of Hoskins both in lateral steps and first step with the ball was clear at state last year.  But for now, this balanced group of Cardinals has the talent to make the CLC and 8AAAA run they were expected to. </p> <p><strong>Three. Lund in the NSIC</strong>.  Tonight was just another example of why I strongly believe [player_tooltip player_id="958683" first="Mason" last="Lund"] was an outstanding get for Brad Bigler at Southwest Minnesota state.  Mason lists at 6’6, sometimes at 6’7, and at that height his ability to shoot the basketball at an elite level is a special skill.  Not only do I like everything about the lift, the touch, the release, the timing, and the confidence, but the percentages always seem to be there too.  Throw in the size and a solid level of agility/explosive athletic ability and you have a steal of a prospect.  Last night Mason scored a game high 19 points including three threes.  Sartell had a couple sets putting the ball in Lund’s hands on the move into space to catch and hit and those are things Bigler is going to love.  Mason also had nine rebounds and he played a part in forcing Alexandria’s guards having to beat Sartell, not the bigs. </p> <p><strong>Four.  More Prospects</strong>.   [player_tooltip player_id="850732" first="Erik" last="Hedstrom"] from Alexandria looks about 15 pounds of muscle stronger from last spring.  I can see Erik being a nice MIAC four man who face up to hit jumpers but also have the strength to do things around the basket.  He had a team high six boards last night and hit a three.  Scored 11 points on seven shot attempts.</p> <p>I really like the way [player_tooltip player_id="1144114" first="Evan" last="Templin"] passes the basketball.  He put teammates in comfortable spots several times last night to catch and complete.  The assist count was six plus he scored team points.  Logan Clark of Sartell is interesting himself.  He’s about 6’5 with strength and a lot of quickness for his size.  He was quick off his feet to block shots and contest, runs the floor really well, and gets to the cup for double figure scoring.  Had ten points making half his eight attempts.  </p> <p><strong>Five. Underclassmen</strong>. [player_tooltip player_id="1284138" first="Grayson" last="Grove"] is the big name here.  At 6’8 and skilled with reasonable agility, Grayson has had a big year scoring 13/14 points a game grabbing about seven boards a contest.  Grayson also had a team high six boards last night.  Had an off night shooting as the agile 6’6 Sartell seniors got length in front of Grove consistently but he did give his team four field goals. </p>