Wednesday, August 6th, 2025 Church Directory
The Becker Lady Bulldogs basketball team has lofty expectations for a wildly successful season. Pictured (front from left): Liz Mackedanz, Julia Bengtson, Megan Gamble, Ayla Brown, Adeline Kent and Alayna Lindquist. Back: Lexi Rose, Evelyn Kreft, Whitney Schug, Dani Nuest, Courtney Nuest, Jackie Yoerg and Maren Westin. Not pictured: coaches Dan Baird, Dom Squires, Scott Gudmundson, Hokan Bengtson, Alyssa Stevens. (Patriot photo by Mark Kolbinger).

Becker Lady Bulldogs could be offensive juggernaut

Sometimes, a high school coach with a solid team needs to temper expectations to guard against complacency and over-confidence.  Don’t count Becker Bulldog girls basketball coach Dan Baird as one of those coaches.  He’s back for his fifth season in charge and everyone associated with the team knows that there is the potential for this team to be one of the best in the state regardless of class affiliation.

“We are super deep and we are going to be really good,” says Baird, noting that it is not arrogance that leads him to say that, but instead the quality of his players.  “We have 13 quality players and we can utilize our depth to press full court and dictate the style of play.”

One of the most difficult challenges facing Baird will be to find minutes for all of the players, as he believes at least eight are capable of starting.  In fact, Becker’s second team likely is good enough to defeat opponents.

A year ago, Becker was a force on both ends of the floor and despite being a relatively young team, made it all the way to the eve of the state championship before COVID forced the cancelation of the game.  So what does that mean for this year?

“Last year we averaged 78 points per game which was a state record,” says Baird.  “This year, we’re even better and while we would never try to run up the score on an opponent, the girls we bring off the bench are extremely good players as well.”

The depth and talent doesn’t come by accident, but instead because nearly every player on the roster spends a great deal of time working on her game.

Last summer, the girls participated in a variety of basketball events and as a team were able to defeat some of the much larger metro teams, including Wayzata and STMA.  This happened despite the team not having much overall height.

“Our goal is always to try and dictate the tempo of the game,” says Baird.  “This year, we want to be known as a top five team in the state regardless of class.”

In years past, Baird has exposed his team to the top competition in the state by scheduling the best teams he could find, even in Class 4A.  This year, that will be more difficult as the team will miss out on many of the non-conference games and can have a total of 16 games according to MSHSL guidelines. That means the team will play most games against Mississippi 8 Conference opponents, many of whom graduated their top players a year ago.

Baird plans to use the shortened season as the motivation for his players to be ready to play every game.

“We really want to be the best team we can be,” says Baird.  “We also want to win the last game we are allowed to play.”

The girls will open play Friday night at home versus the North Branch Vikings.  Statewide, the basketball community has focused a lot of time debating the new mask mandate for basketball players.  So with just two weeks to prepare and all of the distractions, how does Baird expect it to go? 

“This is not a team that complains and the girls just don’t make excuses,” says Baird.  “As a program, we work on things like a growth mindset, we are goal oriented and I love our work ethic so we are going to focus on playing the best basketball we can.”

If that happens, and the Bulldogs focus on the game and use their depth, it could translate into a performance worthy of the label juggernaut.  The Becker Lady Bulldogs could be an inexorable force that crushes whatever is in its path.