Last Friday, the Highway 10 border battle was renewed in boys basketball as Becker fell to the Big Lake Hornets 54-69.

Becker had defeated the Hornets two weeks earlier on the Bulldogs’ court, but this time the Hornets used their homeport advantage to secure the win.

The game was close at half with Big Lake enjoying a four point advantage, 32-28, but in the second half the Hornets asserted themselves offensively to take the game down the stretch.

Becker again was playing without top rebounder and inside presence Brady Paumen and the Hornets used that to their advantage, enjoying a 32 to 22 lead in points scored in the paint.

Becker also committed 19 turnovers to the Hornets’ 11, as Big Lake held a 21-8 advantage in points scored off turnovers.

Becker’s Kyan Blomquist paced his team with 21 points, while Big Lake had four players in double figures - Carson Kunz (15), Mitchell Hill (10), Owen Layton (20) and Trevor Maruska (10).

Layton hit six of 15 shots from the field and went a perfect six-for-six from the FT line.

Becker scoring: Ryan Bengtson 3, Alex Weiss 8 (8 rebounds, 4 assists), Blomquist 21, Kyle Vogl 3, Sawyer Brown 4, Julias Hendricks 13, Mitchell Soltau 2. 

Big Lake scoring: Maruska 10, Kunz 15 (8 rebounds), Connor Stukenholtz 1, Hill 10, Layton 20, Owen Wilczek 3, Isaiah Terlinden 6, Aidan Johnson 4.

STMA

The Bulldogs played last Saturday in the Breakdown Sports’ Community Clash and came out on the short end, 61-75, at STMA.

The Knights ran to a 10 point halftime lead and never looked back, as the Bulldogs shot just 33% from the field in the game.

STMA constantly found themselves with the ball inside the lane and scored an incredible 50 points in the paint, compared to the Bulldogs’ 20.

Becker scoring: Bengtson 8, Weiss 4 (11 rebounds), Blomquist 7, Brown 6, Hendricks 21, Soltau 15.

Magic

Tuesday evening, the Bulldogs shot their way back into the win column with a 92-57 win over the Monticello Magic.

Becker led by 16 at halftime, 46-30, and matched that offensive output in the second stanza.

Becker had four players in double figures, with 8 Bulldogs scoring points in the game.

Julias Hendricks had a monster game, scoring 30 points for the Bulldogs, who ran their M8 record to 5-3 and 8-7 overall.

Becker scoring: Landon Peterson 5, Weiss 10, Blomquist 17, Zach Bengtson 5, Brown 15, Hendricks 30, Tygen Salvevold 2, Soltau 8.