Alexandria turns away Mankato East, reaches 3A boys basketball semifinals

Alexandria held off fourth-seeded Mankato East 62-57 in the quarterfinals of the Class 3A boys basketball state tournament Tuesday at Williams Arena.

The Cardinals (25-4) made five of their first seven shots, including two of three from beyond the arc, and took a 13-5 lead in the first four minutes.

The Cougars (24-6) never went away. They got to within three with 30 seconds left and had opportunities in the second half to tie the game or take the lead.

"If we can knock a couple of those shots down it may change the outcome," junior Carson Schweim of Mankato East said. "We still had to play defense, but if we could have gotten to the middle a little more then we could have gotten the in-and-out three ball a little bit and maybe attack from the middle. That would have helped us a little more."

The Cardinals' pressure defense forced the Cougars into nine turnovers and 34.6%shooting in the first half.

"We have a lot of size inside," 6-7 sophomore Chase Thompson of Alexandria said about the advantage him and 6-9 junior forward Grayson Grove wield. "Even us two getting out to shooters and getting a hand up. We just focused on getting out and getting a hand up."

Grove led the Cardinals with 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists; Thompson scored 14 points.

Brogan Madson led the Cougars with 16 points and six rebounds, and Ganden Gosch had 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals.