The rivalry between the Becker Bulldogs and the Big Lake Hornets dates back many years and has its roots in the relationships among each school’s athletes.  Because the districts border one another, the rivalry can sometimes feature neighbors or even relatives donning opposing uniforms.  Almost always, there’s a deep friendship between the players on both teams that leads to a little extra incentive on game night.

While the early days of each district surely pitted some good teams competing against one another, it was perhaps the boys basketball contests of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s that postured the rivalry as one of the best in the state.

The year was 1979 and both squads had teams that were ranked in the state.  Big Lake head coach John Bruns said this week that he remembers it well, as the teams had a pair of games scheduled with one another just a few days apart.

“I remember before the first game, standing in the Becker gym in front of a sold out crowd,” says Bruns, who would go on to coach a variety of sports over 50 seasons for the Hornets.  “I used to tell the guys that the game wasn’t just for that night, but would be something they would remember for the rest of their lives.  These are the same guys you will be playing softball with when you are 30 years old.”

Bruns said he and Becker coach Tim Zimmerman were not only competitors, but very good friends who both lived in Big Lake at the time.  After the first win, he remembers thinking about having to do it all over again in just a few days and what changes each team would make.

Big Lake would go on to win both games that year, but it was the packed crowds and boisterous fans that cemented the rivalry between the two towns.

It was something that was obvious to even new students who moved to one of the schools, as Becker’s Justin Hegna experienced as soon as he came to Becker half-way through his eighth grade year in 1986.

“It was almost immediate,” recalls Hegna, who went on to become the leading boys basketball scorer in school history.  “I came from South Dakota where we were built on rivalries so to experience the Becker-Big Lake one right away was something special.  I learned very early that we just didn’t want to lose to Big Lake.”

Hegna can picture the huge crowds in the late 1980’s who would pack the gymnasiums to watch the younger Bulldogs take on the experienced Hornet teams led by Chuck Miller.  It was a rivalry for sure, made better by the friendships established on the court.

“It started when I was only in eighth grade, but the Big Lake guys would come to our open gym and everyone told me I could never be as good as Chuck,” remembers Hegna, who would go on to coach the Becker girls program to their first ever state title in 2007.  

“That was a great motivation for me because we competed against each other so often.”

Hegna also credits the size of the towns and the intense coverage from the local media during those years for leading to the hype around the rivalry, which reached a torrent in 1989.

“Dale Stonehouse [West Sherburne Tribune] wrote a story about the ‘Barn Burner’ that was coming up for our next game with Big Lake and it was a huge crowd,” says Hegna.  “It seemed liked everyone from town was there, along with KMOM radio [Monticello station] and we won a close game and the place was going crazy.”

While the towns have gotten much larger and there is more competition for people’s free time, the rivalry has carried on to today’s generation now that both schools are again in the same conference.

“I feel that one of the main reasons that this game is always important is that the players know each other so well,” says current Bulldog boys coach Josh Ihrke.  “They grew up together and have been playing year after year through travel ball and then into school ball. . . . and this has also allowed the rivalry to come back in full force. It is great to say that you have beat the team down the road from you. It is bragging rights.”

Fifty years later, Coach Bruns would agree.

“We loved to compete against each other, but we were and still are very good friends,” says Bruns, referring to he and Zimmerman’s relationship.  “It was a great rivalry for the kids and the coaches, but also for both of the towns.”

And it lives on today.