It was like throwing ping pong balls through a hula hoop last Friday for the Becker Lady Bulldogs as they hit shot after shot en route to a 93-27 home win over the North Branch Vikings for their second win of the season.

“We had a really nice first game,” said Coach Dan Baird, whose team raced to a 56-11 lead at halftime.  “We shot 53% in this contest and were unselfish, as the girls made the extra pass and were selfless.”

A focus for Baird and his coaching staff during practice so far this year has been on using the entire floor, and it appears their efforts paid off in the offensive explosion.

“Our coaching staff has really focused on spacing and this will  hopefully help us get our turnovers down from 13 to around 11 per game this year,” said Baird.  Becker finished the game with just 10 turnovers, compared to the Vikings’ 35.  This led Becker to a 47-4 advantage in points off of turnovers.

A total of 11 Bulldogs scored points in the game, as the team showed incredible overall balance.

Leading the way was Adeline Kent, who Baird said put constant pressure on the North Branch defense en route to finishing with 18 points, 10 rebounds and six steals, all team highs.

Defensively, he credited Maren Westin (team high +55 in plus/minus) and Ayla Brown (3 steals and 0 turnovers) with having stellar games.

“Ayla played sound defense and put constant pressure on the opponent at both ends,” added Baird.

Overall, the teams combined for just 21 fouls in the game, with Becker committing 14 to the Vikings’ 7.  That led to few chances at the charity stripe, as Becker hit 4-of-5 free throws while the Vikings were 7-for-12.

Offensively, Baird was quick to credit Dani Nuest for a well-rounded game with 12 points, four rebounds and four steals.

“Dani’s confidence continues to grow and she’s had two great weeks of practice,” added Baird.  “She does a nice job running the point and calling out our plays.”

Alayna Lindquist also drew praise from the coach for her play, which included making all her shots (six points total) and grabbing five rebounds and three assists.

“Alayna is always so steady for the Bulldogs,” noted Baird.

While the stats were completely lopsided (Becker had 26 steals to three for North Branch), Baird said the team does have some things to work on, including their fast break.

“We still need to get better at our secondary transition break, but that’s a work in progress,” said Baird.

Although the score wasn’t close, Baird credited North Branch with their team effort, noting that they never gave up during the contest.

“North Branch played really hard and Alison Trampe [Head Coach] does a nice job getting her team to give maximum effort,” noted Baird. 

Bulldog Scoring 

Kent (18), Westin (7),  Courtney Nuest (9), Julia Bengtson (11), Whitney Schug (2), Dani Nuest (12), Megan Gamble (8), Jackie Yoerg (6), Lindquist (6), Lexi Rose (3), Ayla Brown (11).

Becker 94, Monticello 26

Tuesday night, Becker played its first game since being ranked as the number one team in Class AAA in the State of Minnesota and instantly proved worthy of the recognition.  

A total of 10 players scored points in the dominating victory, as Becker’s defense held the Magic to just 11 second half points.  The Bulldogs, meanwhile, racked up 59 points in the first half, including 19 from Julia Bengtson and 15 from Megan Gamble.

Becker Scoring

Adeline Kent 14; Maren Westin 11; Alayna Lindquist 2; Courtney Nuest 2; Bengtson 21; Dani Nuest 12; Gamble 18; Jackie Yoerg 2; Ayla Brown 10; Liz Mackedanz 2.