UPDATE: The Becker girls basketball team opened up the state tourney with a 76-52 win over Alexandria Wednesday evening in Perham. Article to appear in next week’s Patriot.

The Becker girls basketball team relied on a stifling defense last Friday to defeat the Big Lake Hornets in the Section 5AAA game, 69-33.  

With the win, Becker advanced to the State Class AAA Tournament for the third year in a row.

“Our All State players came to play,” said Becker coach Dan Baird.  “We went on a great run before halftime and played excellent defense in the second half.”

In fact, after taking a 42-21 halftime lead, Becker held the Hornets to just 12 second half points en route to Bulldogs’ third straight Section title.

In the game, Becker held a significant advantage from beyond the 3-pt. line by hitting 7-of-19 shots, while the Hornets attempted just five and made two.

Becker also held an advantage in the steals department, netting 22 to the Hornets’ seven.

Perhaps the statistic of the game was the turnovers, and while Becker committed a higher than usual 16, they also forced the Hornets into throwing it away 34 times.  Becker used that advantage to score 28 points off turnovers, while the Hornets netted nine.

Baird sang the praises of several of his players for their defensive performances in the game.

“Addy Kent did great job breaking down the defense and holding Mia Huberty to six points,” said Baird.   “Julia Bengtson shut down Caela Tighe and Megan Gamble was a beast on the boards.”  

With the win, Becker advanced to the State Tournament which has a bit of a different format this year with quarterfinal games being played across the state at different high schools.

Becker was seeded #2 in the North section and was scheduled Wednesday night to face #3 seed Alexandria in an 8 p.m. game at Perham High School.

From there, the winner will advance to the state semifinals at the Target Center, April 6.  The Semifinal matchups will cross brackets, with the Becker-Alexandria winner facing a team from the south bracket, the winner of #1 Hill Murray (the Class AAA top overall seed) versus #4 Austin.

The State Championship game is also scheduled for Target Center, April 9 at 6 p.m.

Becker scoring: Adeline Kent 11 (four steals), Maren Westin 7, Courtney Nuest 7, Julia Bengtson 22 (five steals), Dani Nuest 2, Megan Gamble 16 (nine rebounds), Ayla Brown 2, Liz Mackedanz 2.

Big Lake scoring: Hailey Millam 8, Ava Vizenor 4, Mia Huberty 6, Olivia Stockham 2, Emily Steen 5, Caela Tighe 6, Emma Jacobs 2.