The Bulldog girls basketball team went 1-1 this week, with a win over Mora and a close loss to Milaca.
Becker 86, Mora 54
The Lady Bulldogs dominated the game from the start and destroyed the Mora Mustangs 86-54 in a Granite Ridge Conference game Tuesday night at home.
The Bulldogs were led by Madi Kerzman, with 17 points.
“Madi displayed excellent low post moves and was aggressive attacking the basket,” said Head Coach Dan Baird.
Mora was led by Peyton Oslin's 13 Points. Faith Nielson contributed 11 points.
Julia Bengtson continued her excellent play with a 16-point performance from the point guard position, doing an excellent job running the team.
Claire Thorn scored 11 points and had another nice game on the boards. Haley Benda showed a lot of poise as she continues to work her way into top form following her knee injury. She finished with 10 points.
“She knocked down a couple threes and did a nice job feeding others,” said Baird of Benda.
Courtney Nuest hit a couple three's in the first half for Becker to keep the offense firing on all cylinders.
“Courtney is a scorer and has the ability to give us instant offense,” Baird said.
Mora’s Rachel Vreeland was 10-10 from the foul line, scoring all her points from the charity stripe. With the loss, Mora fell to 4-14 on the season and 1-9 in the Granite Ridge Conference.
Becker scoring: Kerzman 17, Bengtson 16, Thorn 11, Benda 10, Nuest 8, Alayna Lindquist 6, Renee Tripp 6, Jenna Mittelstaedt 6, Kirsten Fitzgerald 3, Alyssa Gruenes 2 and Lexi Masog 1.
Mora scoring: Oslin 13, Nielson 11, Vreeland 10, Anna Mork 9, Hailey Theilen 5, Alyssa Onasch 4 and Morgan Mann 2.
Milaca 68, Becker 62
“This was a tale of two halves,” said Baird. “We were the aggressor in the first half, doing an excellent job at attacking the basket. It was probably our best half of the year.”
When the two teams heard the buzzer for halftime, the Bulldogs were up 38-27. However, Milaca turned the tables in the second half.
“You have to give Milaca credit in this game,” said Baird. “They answered every Becker run.”
Becker had a chance to go up by 13 and maybe even to 15 in the first half, but could not tame the Wolves as they kept it fairly close.
By the start of period two, the Wolves started chipping away at the Bulldog lead.
“They made plays and shots down the stretch and we didn't,” said Baird. “Our effort was outstanding, but we did give up too many easy buckets in the second half.”
The Bulldogs were led by Bengtson with 13 points. Tripp added 12.
Milaca was led by Caitlin Richardson, who had 11 points and used her strength and speed to attack the basket well for the Wolves.
Sam Puffer added 11 points.
Becker falls to 8-12 on the season while Milaca improved to 11-8.
Becker scoring: Bengtson 13, Tripp 12, Nuest 7, Benda 7, Lindquist 6, Thorn 5, Kerzman 4, Masog 4 and McKenna Anderson 2.
Milaca scoring: Richardson 11, Puffer 11, Kendall Resenbrink 10, Ellie Banks 8, Vanessa Deerberg 6, Jerica Ploeger 6, Miranda Broberg 5, Erika Maalis 5 and Kalysta Katke 4.
Up Next
Becker plays Monday at home against St. Cloud Apollo. It is a “white out” for the Bulldog home fans in which they will be celebrating Claire Thorn's senior night.
