With the final regular season game in the books, the Becker girls basketball teem spent the week preparing for the Section 5AAA tournament. The Bulldogs received a first round bye as the top seed and Saturday (today) will play host to the winner of Tuesday night’s contest between #4 Princeton and #5 Zimmerman in matchup at 2 p.m. The Section finals are scheduled for March 10 at 5 p.m. in North Branch.

On the other side of the bracket, Tuesday night’s game featured #2 Chisago Lakes taking on #7 Big Lake, while #3 Monticello faced #6 St. Francis.

As his team looks to defend its Section title, Becker coach Dan Baird has a simple game plan for his Bulldogs.

“Our strategy is no lapses...  any lapse now and you’re going home!” Baird said, referring to the single elimination format of the playoffs from now until the state tournament.

A review of the stats show that the Bulldogs will be heavy favorites in the Section.

The Bulldogs enter the tournament averaging 76.4 points per game and 31.2 rebounds. They are also impressive in assists per game (17.2) and steals (13.9).

“We’ve consistently scored all season even when we’ve had some lapses on defense, we’ve continued to score,” Baird said. “Therefore, we’ve been extremely productive.”

In terms of their record, the Bulldogs were a perfect 14-0 in M8 Conference action, and they sport a 21-4 mark overall against one of the toughest non-conference schedules played in the entire state of Minnesota.

Offensively, Becker has nearly perfect scoring balance, with all five starters averaging well into the double figures.

Dani Nuest leads the pack with 16.4 points per game, followed closely by Ayla Brown (15.2), Adeline Kent (14.9), Alexis Rose (13.6) and Maren Westin (12.2).

“In our section, it is hard for teams to match up with our five starters as we’ve had all five girls go for 28 points or more in a single game this season,” Baird said. “Therefore, we need to exploit the mismatches if possible. Also, continue to work hard on defense, but no team in our section can score with us.”

Saints

Last Thursday, the Bulldogs took on St. Francis in the regular season finale and played incredible defense en route to a 70-17 win over the Saints.

Becker led 42-9 at halftime, as the Bulldogs raced to an impressive lead and were a step faster than the Saints all night, committing just four fouls as a team.

The Bulldogs amassed 22 steals as a team and had just 11 turnovers.

Becker scoring: Dani Nuest, 17; Maren Westin, two (five assists); Ayla Brown, 21 (five steals); Adeline Kent, 13 (five rebounds); Alexa Voller, five; Lauren Croal, three; Alexis Rose, seven; Liz Mackedanz, two.