Tuesday night, the Becker boys basketball team broke its Mississippi 8 Conference three-game losing streak by outlasting the St. Francis Saints, 69 to 64.
Becker led comfortably at halftime, 44-30, before the offensive spigot turned off for the Bulldogs in the second half. Becker turned to its defense when the shots stopped falling.
“I was proud of our effort on the defensive end, which was a focus coming into the game,” Coach Cory Nuest said. “The boys played defense with an edge, while giving up a significant size disadvantage but coming down with key defensive rebounds.”
Becker led 60-52 with 5:28 left in the game, but the Saints wouldn’t go away, twice trimming the lead down to just a single point in the final minutes.
A big play came with just one minute left and the Bulldogs leading 64-61, as Nuest called an isolation play for Sawyer Brown. The sophomore answered with an acrobatic drive and basket at the rim for a five point Becker lead. From there, it was defense that sealed it.
“Kyan Blomquist played great defense on their post,” Nuest added. “Josh Groskreutz and Mitch Soltau played great defense on their other leading scorer.”
The Bulldogs improved to 6-3 in the conference and 10-8 overall with the win.
Becker scoring: Groskreutz five, Weiss eight, Blomquist 20, Soltau 11, Zach Bengtson five, Brown 11, Landon Peterson seven, Connor Gass two.
Huskies
Last Saturday, Becker hosted the St. Anthony Huskies as part of the Breakdown Sports Community Clash event, which featured boys and girls teams from across the state.
Becker’s offense was on fire, as the team poured in 88 points, but unfortunately St. Anthony was even hotter, scoring 101 points in their win.
Both teams played wide open in the first half, with Becker trailing just 45-46 going into intermission.
Kyan Blomquist paced the Bulldogs with his 29 points, while Sawyer Brown also found his groove, netting 23 for the Bulldogs.
Nathan Weiss joined his teammates in double figures with 15, followed by Mitch Soltau (four), Zach Bengtson (six), Landon Peterson (seven) and Connor Gass (four).
Wildcats
Last Thursday, Becker hosted the Chisago Lakes Wildcats and dropped its third straight M8 game, 68-77.
“We are a couple of plays away from winning our last three and being undefeated in the conference, but instead we are on a three game losing streak,” Coach Cory Nuest said after the game. “I am fully confident in our boys that they will continue to compete and improve and we will find ourselves winning these close games at year end.”
The Wildcats came into the evening in first place in the conference behind M8 leading scorer, Patrick Rowe. The Bulldogs battled back and forth early on in the first half, claiming a five point lead with just four minutes remaining.
“Connor Gass came off the bench and sparked some incredible play on both ends of the court,”Nuest said. “Connor found himself in all the right places down low and he took advantage of each player that tried to guard him, scoring a season high of 17 points.”
Becker went into halftime with a 42-41 lead before the Wildcats stormed back in the second half.
Becker scoring: Josh Groskreutz four, Weiss six, Blomquist 12, Soltau 10, Bengtson three, Brown 11 (13 rebounds), Bryce Paumen two, Landon Peterson 12, Gass 17.
