The hopes of advancing in the Section 5AAA playoff tournament were dashed Saturday as the Becker Lady Bulldogs came up just short in a loss to the Magic, 54-51 in Monticello.
It will be a fourth straight year the Magic girls basketball team will play in the section final for a chance to go to the state tournament.
The Bulldogs finished their season 15-13.
Allison Cieslak led the Bulldogs with 14 points while Alex Johnson had 10 points.
Grace Sawatzke and Emily Gruber each led Monticello with 18 points.
Monticello, the two-time defending section champions, were tested from start to finish in the section semifinal by a young and hungry Becker Bulldogs team. It wasn’t until Becker’s final shot, a two-point attempt, caromed off the rim, that the top-seeded Magic (21-6) were able to walk confidently off the court.
Becker started the game in a funk, going scoreless in the opening two and a half minutes. But over the course of the next four minutes, Becker outscored the Magic 13-9 to take the lead and pushed it to 18-13 with a little over eight minutes left in the first half.
That’s when the Magic turned on the jets.
Sawatzke began to exert her presence, scoring easily on a layup to make it 18-15 and another layup moments later gave the lead back to Monticello. Becker didn’t back down, eventually tying the game at 22, but the Magic closed out the first half with five points to put the home team up 27-22 at the half.
The second half started much like the first, with Becker struggling to score and retain possession and Monticello heating up from the floor. The Magic scored the first six points to extend the lead to 33-22 and it felt like they were ready to put the game in cruise control.
The Bulldogs had other ideas.
While Monticello tallied one basket, Becker tallied four to cut the lead to 35-30 before a three-pointer by Sawatzke pushed it back to eight.
Becker countered, scoring the next five points to put the pressure back on Monticello at 38-35.
Again, Monticello mounted a charge to bring the lead back to 46-35, but over their next four possessions, Becker would hit three threes, cutting the lead down to 52-51 with just seven seconds remaining.
On the ensuing inbounds pass, Becker fouled Melissa Schmitt to stop the clock and the sophomore calmly made both her free throws to go up by three.
The Bulldogs had one last chance and after nearly losing the basketball on the way up the floor, their shooter stepped inside the three point line before attempting their final shot. The two-pointer bounced harmlessly away, giving Monticello yet another section final berth.
