It’s a good thing Becker boys basketball coach Josh Ihrke is a math teacher, because finding the correct solution for victory in his team’s latest games has proven to be an exercise in Calculus.
Just last Thursday, he drew up an impressive defensive formula for the team to grind out a 46-41 victory in a road matchup with the Monticello Magic.
Monday evening, Ihrke needed a different equation to guide his team to a wide open, exciting 86-83 overtime win over Zimmerman.
Monticello
“We found ourselves on a cold shooting night,” said Ihrke, referring to the game last week with the Magic. “Monticello did a lot of good things to take away our clean looks at the hoop and they used aggressive man-to-man defense to cause us to miss some shots.”
Coming into the game, Becker had been averaging nearly 70 points per game, while the Magic had been averaging about 55, so it was a bit of a surprise that Monticello held a 19-15 advantage at halftime.
However, Ihrke tinkered with a few things during the intermission and the result was a much better second half, as the Bulldogs used a 31-22 scoring advantage to seal the win.
“We held strong to our defense and did enough on the rebounding side of things,” said Ihrke. “We were in jeopardy of losing, but with three minutes to go we switched our full court press and executed in key late game possessions to get the win.”
The shooting statistics for the Bulldogs told the story of the offensive struggles, as they hit on just 30% of their shots, including a 4-for-24 performance from beyond the arc. While both teams struggled to score in the half court game, the transition game wasn’t much better, although Becker did hold a 10-4 advantage in that statistic. Becker’s margin for victory could be attributed to the free throw line, with the Bulldogs going 10-for-17 while the Magic were 3-for-12.
“I’m proud of how the team rallied and relied on defense to pull out a road win,” added Ihrke.
Scoring: Alex Weiss 2, Nick Knute 5, Hayden Harmoning 9, Eric Seavert 15, Brady Paumen 9, Landen Goebel 6.
Zimmerman
In Monday’s battle with the Thunder, it was a tale of two styles as Becker overcame a big Thunder advantage in the paint to chart a course for victory. Zimmerman dominated in some aspects of the game, including out-rebounding the Bulldogs 55-31 and winning the points in the paint battle 52-34.
However, the Bulldogs shot better from the three-point range (33% to 25%) and from the free throw line (19-for-28 to 8-for-18) to secure the win. In the first half, Becker’s offense was spectacular, as they scored 46 points and held a six point lead at the break.
The Thunder tied it up with a 36-30 advantage in the second half before Becker took the 10-7 scoring advantage in overtime. Despite the high scoring affair, the Bulldogs also did a much better job handling the basketball, committing just nine turnovers while the Thunder had 18.
Scoring: Weiss 14, Nick Berglund 13, Nick Knute 14, Hayden Harmoning 3, Eric Seavert 19, Brady Paumen 14, Landen Goebel 9.
Princeton
Tuesday night against the Princeton Tigers, the Bulldogs couldn’t find the winning formula and came up short in a 91-70 loss.
The first half was fairly even, with Princeton leading 41-35, but Becker’s legs were tired in the second half and they couldn’t keep the pace. It was Becker’s second game in two nights, while the Tigers hadn’t played since Saturday.
The Tigers have been a tremendous offensive team all season, as they average 91 points per game and have eclipsed the century mark three times en route to an 11-1 record.
Becker was led in scoring by Nick Berglund’s season high 26 points, while Brady Paumen chipped in 15. Eric Seavert added 13, Nick Knute had 6 and Landen Goebel scored 4 points, while Alex Weiss, Carson Makarrall and Hayden Harmoning each finished with 2 points.
Becker will take its 8-5 record into Tuesday’s matchup with Cambridge-Isanti.
