Alexandria is committed to outworking every opponent on its schedule. The Cardinals will often outscore them, too.

Alexandria’s swarming defensive pressure and timely offense produced a 68-34 win over Austin Saturday in the Breakdown Tip Off Classic in Hopkins.

“Whatever you do, do it 100 percent,” Alexandria senior guard Kristen Hoskins said. “Don’t slack, keep a positive attitude.”

The 5-foot-11 Hoskins, who’s committed to the University of Minnesota football team as a wide receiver, paced the Cardinals with 18 points. He hit three-of-four 3-pointers in the first half, while 6-foot-8 sophomore teammate Grayson Grove had 13 of his 15 points in the opening 18 minutes.

Grove electrified the crowd and teammates with two dunks, an alley-oop and a 3-pointer en route to player of the game honors from event organizers.

“I think for Grayson, that was a big effort and a big performance in a big game,” Alexandria coach Forrest Witt said. “We know he’s going to be a very good player and it’ll take some time, but today he was very, very good. He was in good spots and our guards against their trap got the ball to him where he needed it.”

After Austin (1-1), No. 7 in the Minnesota Basketball News Class 3A state ranking, scored the first bucket of the game, No. 4 Alexandria (3-0) quickly seized the lead and dictated the tempo to take a 40-21 advantage into halftime.

It didn’t get any easier for Austin, which struggled to gain traction after defeating Big 9 rival and No. 10 Mankato East by 19 points in its preceding game.

“Obviously it’s a good learning tool,” Austin coach Kris Fadness said. “We were flat. We didn’t have the energy. They were faster than us to every spot on the floor. They were beating us to places. They were ready and we weren’t.”

Alexandria was on the other end of a game like this in the 2021 state title game, an 80-29 loss at the hands of Minnehaha Academy. The Cardinals return a large swath of production from that team, while Minnehaha Academy is absent a future NBA lottery pick like the previous two seasons.

There’s a lot of journey left before it’s time to think about playing at the Target Center, but Hoskins is bullish on the connectivity his team has had since they reconvened in November.

“We have a bond,” Hoskins said. “Since last year, we have a lot of returners so it’s already a bond and we feel so comfortable out there.”

Eleven Cardinals found the score sheet Saturday with even more getting game time. If one player isn’t leaving everything out on the floor, another is waiting in the wings to do so.

“We don’t want to be outworked. That’s the philosophy,” Witt said. “Just play hard, leave everything out there. We’ve got pretty good depth this year, so when you come out, you should be exhausted.”

The Packers were led by 10 points from Victor Idris.

“While I’m frustrated, I’m confident we’ll bounce back,” Fadness said. “We did have a starter missing who wasn’t here. We didn’t practice yesterday due to the snow storm. I’m not going to let this one day decide our season.”