Basketball fans across Minnesota tuned in last Thursday, as the #1 ranked Class AAA Becker girls traveled to St. Michael to take on the highly regarded Class AAAA STMA Knights in one of the state’s marquee girls basketball matchups.
After a close first half which saw Becker take a slim, 28-26 lead into halftime, the Bulldogs came out of the locker room with an impressive defensive mindset and dismantled the Knights in the second half en route to a 60-47 victory.
“It took us awhile to get used to a quality opponent that was that strong,” said Coach Dan Baird, noting the experience and athleticism of the Knights.
“STMA’s 3-2 defense gave us fits in the first half, but they [STMA] tired down the stretch which caused them to miss shots, and we made one good run and that’s what we needed.”
Maren Westin continued her strong play for Becker, scoring 18 points in the game in 31 minutes of action.
“Maren hit some huge shots for us,” added Baird.
Baird was also extremely pleased with his team’s defensive effort, holding the Knights nearly 12 points less than their season average.
“Jules [Julia Bengtson] did a nice job of guarding star STMA player Kendal Cox,” said Baird, noting that Cox finished with just eight points, or six shy of her season average.
“Adeline [Kent] really did a nice job of staying in front of STMA speedster Emma Miller.”
A member of the Lake Conference, STMA is battle tested and plays a physical style of play.
“It was a tough, physical game against a good opponent,” said Baird. “Overall it was a good team win.”
The stat line for the game showed the teams nearly even in two point field goals, but Becker shot 5-for-21 on three point shots to the Knights’ 1-for-12 performance.
Becker’s uptempo style resulted in a 16-4 advantage in transition points, while Becker dished out 18 assists to STMA’s seven.
Scoring: Kent 10, Westin 18, Courtney Nuest 9, Julia Bengtson 8, Megan Gamble 10, Ayla Brown 5.
C-I Win
Tuesday night, Becker kept its winning streak alive with a fantastic performance against a quality Mississippi 8 rival in Cambridge-Isanti.
When the final buzzer rang, Becker had raced to an 87-37 victory behind senior Courtney Nuest’s hot shooting hand.
“Courtney was amazing with 15 points, 10 rebounds, four steals, and zero turnovers,” said Baird. “Megan Gamble also had a strong game with 16 points and seven rebounds and these two helped us control the boards against a bigger team.”
Becker used its speed and athleticism to cancel the size advantage enjoyed by the Bluejackets, who are 10-3 on the season with their only losses coming to Becker (twice) and Class AAAA Buffalo.
Becker ran all over the court and ended the game with a 37-4 advantage in transition points, while also winning the rebounding battle 43-26. Becker committed just 11 turnovers to their opponent’s 24.
“This was probably our best game of the year,” added Baird. “The girls listened, competed, and executed so well and I’m super proud of them!”
Thursday night the Bulldogs were scheduled to host St. Francis before taking on #1 ranked Class AAAA Hopkins in an afternoon matinee in Becker. Should the Bulldogs defeat the Saints on Thursday evening, Saturday’s matchup will feature the two teams with the longest current winning streaks in Minnesota.
Scoring: Kent 13, Westin 8, Alayna Lindquist 7, C. Nuest 15, Bengtson 12 (4 assists, 4 steals), Whitney Schug 2, Dani Nuest 6, Megan Gamble 16 (7 rebounds), Jackie Yoerg 4, Ayla Brown 4, Liz Mackedanz 2.
