Daniel Baird returns for his second year as head basketball coach for the Becker girls program and he can hardly contain his excitement.
“I think we are gonna be right in the thick of things, maybe winning the conference title and section playoffs,” said Baird. “A lot of teams are looking at us as being a good contender for state.”
Last year, Baird said he was a little tentative in his coaching — just learning the ropes as head coach and feeling his team out. This year, he says he’s learned a lot from that initial year at the helm and is ready to get this team prepared to make a splash.
Returning to the team are seniors Haley Benda, Jalissa Johnson, Kirsten Fitzgerald, Renee Tripp, Payton Bernstrom, McKenna Anderson and Madi Kerzman. These senior players will be looking to make a significant impact on Baird’s team right from the get-go.
The youngsters, freshmen Julia Bengtson and Courtney Nuest, will be providing good ball-handling from the guard position and are excellent shooters and passers.
“Julia had a great summer and was our leading scorer last year,” said Baird. Over the summer she has gone from 11 points a game up to 16.”
“Courtney (Nuest) was on fire towards the end of last year and had a great game against Monticello where she scored 23 points,” Baird said. “Those two give us a great one-two punch from the guard position.”
Baird will also have sophomores Aly Gruenes, Cayla Paumen and Jenna Mittelstaedt providing balance while junior Lexi Masog will be a great outside shooter not afraid to attack the basket. He has 30 girls from grades 9-12 on his teams.
For coaches, Baird has Scott Gudmundson returning to be his assistant and has added Alyssa Stevens and Dominic Squires to handle the lower grade teams.
“The girls’ off-season was an A-,” Baird said. They trained hard and got a lot of valuable experience.”
Baird has Benda and Tripp as his Captains this year. Benda is coming off a crippling injury from last season that saw her sit out the majority of games and the playoffs.
Baird and his coaches are teaching the girls this year to play better in defending the pick-and-roll and good defense.
“Playing man-to-man leads to good zone defense,” said Baird. “We got hurt by that last year and this year we want to get better in that area.”
Baird says he tries to instill a growth mindset in the girls and he tells them in order to get better, they have to work hard each-and-every day to improve.
“We need to be able to handle any setbacks we face and not get down when the other team beats you,” he said. “We are still a very young team and some girls just need to mature in their game.”
Baird has had his girls practicing mornings and after school in preparation for the season and has focused a lot of the practices on conditioning, weights and agility.
“Conditioning is just as important as any other aspect of basketball,” Baird said. “I don’t want the team to think it’s a negative thing.”
The girls’ first eight games are going to be a challenge for the Lady Bulldogs as they face Hopkins, Delano, Willmar, Big Lake, Zimmerman, Albany Sartell-St. Stephen and Little Falls, with just two of those games at home.
The girls will finish off the regular season Feb. 23 with Section 5AAA playoffs beginning late February and early March. The state tournament is March 13-17 at various locations and Baird hopes his team this year is one of the qualifiers.
“We are working everyday to get better,” he said. “It’s great to see such progress. This year is gonna be a lot of fun.”
