The Becker Bulldog boys basketball team finished off the regular season last week with a big win over Little Falls, then faced Big Lake in the first round of the Section 5AAA tournament Tuesday on the road.

 

 

In the first round of sections Tuesday, the Bulldogs traveled to rival Big Lake and upset the Hornets on their home court.

 

Leading the way for Becker was Dillon Radunz, who had a double-double (13 pts., 12 rebounds). Two others tallied seven points each (Clayton Gallus and Hunter McCalla).

 

Big Lake was led by Brady Vogt, who scored 13.

 

The Bulldogs led the contest at halftime by three and the second half had both teams scoring even (20-20). Head Coach Josh Ihrke was extremely pleased.

 

“I cannot say enough about how our guys stayed with the game plan and found a way to win,” Ihrke said. “Our defense and rebounding kept us in the game.” 

 

Ihrke praised Radunz for his double-digit scoring and rebounding and gave a nod to Andrew Davalos, who did an excellent job on defense and on the boards.

 

“It was fun to see the boys keep mentally in the game when we went down nine points in the second half,” said Ihrke. “They worked hard and clawed their way back into the game and once we gained the lead, we never lost it again”

 

Becker scoring: Radunz 13, Gallus 7, McCalla 7, Davalos 6, Matt Yoerg 5, Jack Conzemius 4 and Jake Fobbe 3.

 

Big Lake scoring: Vogt 13, Mason Miller 11, Austin Miller 10, Tanner Teige 2, Teddy Paulson 2, Drew Rudlong 2, and Nate Sandford 2.

 

 

McCalla had 13 points and Matt Yoerg 12 as the Bulldogs eked out a two-point win against Granite Ridge Conference foe Little Falls last Thursday night on the road.

 

Riley Loukinen had 18 and Noah Jones 17 for the Flyers.

 

Becker shot 20-for-42 (48%) from the floor and added seven free throws and four three-pointers to tally their 51 points. Little Falls had a better shooting percentage in two-pointers, three-pointers and freet throws but the Bulldogs were more efficient in their attempts.

 

Becker Scoring: McCalla 13, Yoerg 12, Radunz 9, Cody Gruenhagen 8, Jack Conzemius 5, Jake Fobbe 2 and Andrew Davalos 2.

 

Little Falls scoring: Loukinen 18, Jones 17, Brandon Kuklok 4, Derek Poser 3, Austin Weisz 3, Wyatt Nelson 2 and Austin Vicker 2.

 

The Bulldogs (13-12) will face Monticello (16-10) in the semi-finals Saturday morning at 10 a.m. at Halenbeck Hall on the campus of SCSU. The Bulldogs lost to Monticello Dec. 17 by a score of 64-61.

 

If the Bulldogs prevail, they will play the winner of the Apollo/Rocori game at 11:30 a.m. at the same location on the same day. Becker lost to Rocori Dec, 29 in St. Cloud by a score of 70-51 and lost to Apollo Jan. 4 by a score of 66-49. Rocori finished the season with a record of 16-10 while Apollo was 14-12.

 

“I am excited for the boys and the program to be going back to the section semi-finals,” said Ihrke.