For the fourth consecutive season under Coach Dan Baird, the Becker girls basketball team is headed back to the MN State Class AAA state tournament.  This year’s trip came after last Thurday’s convincing win in the Section 5AAA Finals over Mississippi 8 Conference foe Monticello by a score of 69 to 32.

“We hit six threes to their one in the first half, which propelled us early and that momentum never stopped,” Baird said after the game.  

The game was played at Forest Lake High School, but the Bulldogs came out of the gate as though they were on their home court as they raced to a 44-15 halftime lead.

Maren Westin put on a clinic in the opening stanza, scoring 16 first half points en route to a team high 21.

“Maren Westin had 21 points and dictated right away she wasn’t going to be denied by the way she attacked the basket,” Baird added. “Ayla Brown did a fantastic job getting to the basket as well.”

Brown had ten first half points and ended the game with 15 to help bolster the Bulldogs’ scoring attack.

In addition to their usual starting five performing admirably, Becker also saw a spark from its bench, which received extended playing time in the second half of the game.

“Evelyn Kreft did a nice job scoring eight points off the bench and made some nice defensive plays too,” Baird said.

With the win, Becker pushed its record to 23-4 on the season, while the Magic finished at 13-16.

Becker scoring: Dani Nuest, nine; Westin, 21; Brown, 15; Adeline Kent, eight; Lexi Rose, five; Evelyn Kreft, eight; Liz Mackedanz, three.

State Bound

For the Bulldogs, the state tournament has been a frequent destination in recent years, with the Bulldogs claiming a title a year ago. They were also slated to appear in the championship game in 2020, but the game was canceled in the hours leading up to the finals because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The previous year, the Bulldogs were runners-up. Becker will enter this year’s tournament with an incredible amount of experience, and the hope that the familiarity with the facilities and the spotlight of the game will work in their favor.

The Class AAA tournament quarterfinals were held Wednesday at Maturi Pavilion on the University of Minnesota campus, with the semifinals (Thursday) and finals (Saturday) moving to Williams Arena.

The state seeding meeting was held last Saturday, with Becker receiving the #1 seed and drawing unseeded Austin as their first round opponent in the first game of the day, a 10 a.m. start time. Also playing each other in Becker’s side of the bracket was #4 Benilde-St. Margaret, who took on Mankato East. In the other side of the bracket, #2 St. Paul Como Park was scheduled to face unseeded Grand Rapids, while #3 Totino-Grace faced unseeded Detroit Lakes.

In facing the Austin Packers, Becker will face a team with a 24-5 record that finished in second place in the Big Nine Conference with a 19-3 record, just behind Mankato East, who finished 20-2.

Becker went into the state tournament averaging 76.2 points per game, led by Dani Nuest’s 15.9 points per game, while Ayla Brown averages 15.1.  Close behind were Adeline Kent (14.8), Lexi Rose (13.2) and Maren Westin (12.6).

State Tournament

(Editor’s Note: Reporter Mark Kolbinger was able to submit this update before our deadline at noon on Wednesday. This covers the girls’ first game Wednesday morning, and complete coverage will appear in next week’s issue of the Patriot.)

The Becker girls basketball team opened Class AAA State Tournament play at Maturi Pavilion at the U of MN campus Wednesday morning with a 53-48 come from behind victory over the Austin Packers.

Becker trailed by seven with approximately five minutes left in the game before going on a 12-0 run to seal the victory.

In the final five minutes, Becker’s Adeline Kent hit a pair of three’s to help pull the Bulldogs to within one point, 48-47.  Becker then took control in the final minute of the game when Ayla Brown broke free for a layup to take a 49-48 lead. From there, Dani Nuest hit a driving layup and finished a three-point play with a free throw for the “and one,” pushing the Bulldog lead to 51-48.  Lexi Rose added a pair of free throws in the final seconds to secure the win.

With the win, Becker advanced to the state semifinals Thursday at noon against either Mankato East or Benilde St. Margarets.

Check out next week’s Patriot for complete state tournament coverage!