It was another successful week for the Becker girls basketball team, as last Friday they knocked off the Princeton Tigers before going on the road Tuesday night and securing a 96-30 win over their Hwy. 10 rivals, the Big Lake Hornets.  

Against the Hornets, the Bulldogs were hitting on all cylinders offensively, including from beyond the three-point arc as they hit 12 long balls in the game.  Defensively, Becker smothered the Hornets all evening, holding Big Lake to just 12 second half points.

The Bulldog bench played heavy minutes in the game and the players responded, with eight total Bulldogs cracking the scoring column.

“As a team, we shot 63% which is best I can ever remember for a game,” coach Dan Baird said. “We were 12-for-20 from the three point line.”

The Bulldogs forced 35 Hornet turnovers, while also amassing a 33-16 edge in the rebounding department.

Baird also sang the praises of several of his players who packed the stats book.

“Maren Westin was close to a quadruple double, with 19 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, and eight steals... this is one of the best individual performances I’ve seen!,” Baird said. “Addy Kent had 23 points, five assists, and eight steals.”

Senior Emily Steen again led the Hornet offense, as she had 14 points in the game.

The win pushed Becker to a perfect 8-90 record in the Mississippi 8 Conference and 11-4 overall.  The very young Hornets, who play just one senior, remained winless on the season.

Becker scoring: Dani Nuest – 16, Maren Westin – 19, Ayla Brown – 17, Madi Bass – three, Adeline Kent – 23, Alexa Voller – two, Lexi Rose – 11, Liz Mackedanz – five.

Big Lake scoring: Lexi Moen – seven, Rylie Sternquist – five, Emily Steen – 14, Abby Polacec – four.

Tigers

Last Friday, the Bulldogs traveled to Princeton and again poured on the offense, claiming a 92-52 victory.

Becker amassed a 49-30 halftime lead behind 23 first half points from Ayla Brown.

“Ayla had 34 points in the game, which was a career high and just five off the school record,” Baird said. “She also shared the ball with seven assists on 13-for-21 shooting and was 4-for-6 from the three point line.”

Baird noted that Brown was being featured as one of the Star Tribune’s players of the week.

Becker’s shooting was impressive at 53% for the game, but they also took care of the ball well.

“As a team we had only six turnovers and played a solid game,” Baird added.

Becker scoring: Nuest  – 18 (six assists), Westin – 17 (eight rebounds), Brown – 34 (seven assists, four steals), Kent – 12 (seven deflections), Rose – 11 (eight rebounds).

Season Check-in

The Bulldogs are past the half-way point of the season and they’ve played one of the most difficult non-conference schedules in the state. Despite the tough competition, Baird is happy with where is team is headed.

“For the Season, we are 11-4 overall and ranked second in the state,” Baird said. “We are starting to play through some early season kinks and we are playing great basketball right now! We are super excited about the rest of the season, and what we can accomplish. This is a fun group of girls to coach, and we’re starting to establish an exciting identity!”