The Becker girls basketball team improved to 4-1 on the year with three big wins against Bloomington Kennedy, St. Cloud Tech and Big Lake.
Becker 56, Kennedy 42
Adeline Kent used her quickness, athleticism and pinpoint shooting to lead the Becker Bulldogs in scoring with 19 points over Bloomington Kennedy in the Tip-Off Classic at Hopkins High School last Saturday.
It was a great point guard matchup in this contest as Julia Bengtson battled Zaraya March. Bengtson scored 13 points and made everything tough for Zaraya, who led Kennedy with 17 points but most were challenged.
“Both girls left everything on the court,” said Head Coach Dan Baird.
Alayna Lindquist hit two huge three-point baskets at critical points in this game. She also played excellent defense.
Courtney Nuest provided all the hustle necessary to help the Lady Bulldogs beat this talented 4A school that includes a future D-1 college recruit in March and others.
With limited size, Becker used its quickness and spread the floor on offense, forcing Bloomington's post players away from the basket. Baird’s team also played full court pressure man defense the entire game in what he calls "55" press.
“It was nice to see the girls dictate tempo against a talented basketball team,” he said. “Our coaching staff was very excited after this important win and are very proud of the girls!”
Becker scoring: Kent 19, Bengtson 13, Nuest 7, Lindquist 6, Megan Gamble 6, Dani Nuest 5.
Kennedy scoring: March 17, Samantha Husting 12, Amaya Graf 5, Linnea Ziebol 4, Victoria Miller 3, Isabelle Miller 1.
Becker 67, Tech 26
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 32-12 lead at halftime Tuesday at home, turned on the gas and never looked back in destroying the St. Cloud Tech Tigers by 41.
The Bulldogs looked nearly flawless as they only committed seven turnovers.
“Our girls spent a lot of time working on their ballhandling in the offseason,” said Coach Baird. “So bravo!”
The Bulldogs out-rebounded Tech 52-44 and had 23 steals while forcing 30 turnovers.
“We need to improve on our 1-for-18 shooting from the three-point line and our season low 58% from the foul line (14-24),” said Baird. “It was nice to get the result we did on a poor shooting effort. The girls just kept working hard.”
Courtney Nuest led the Bulldogs with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and three steals.
“Courtney just worked her tail off and good things happened,” said the head coach. “It’s a nice lesson for young players. Courtney does a fantastic job modeling the effort it takes to succeed.”
Bengtson had 14 points as well, to go with three rebounds and six steals. Megan Gamble scored 11 points and snagged eight rebounds.
“Megan has become a nice post presence for the Bulldogs over the last 10 months,” said Baird.
Adeline Kent continued her excellent play by stuffing the stat sheet with 10 points, six steals, five rebounds and four assists.
Becker scoring: Nuest 14, Bengtson 14, Gamble 11, Kent 10, Dani Nuest 7, Lexi Masog 5, Lindquist 3, Cayla Paumen 2, Aly Gruenes 1.
Tech scoring: Rachael Kaczor 6, Emma Imdieke 5, Hailie Christianson 4, Meya Washington 4, Genaya Murray 3, Sarah Harris 2, Emma Borchert 2.
Becker 63, Big Lake 50
The Bulldogs traveled to Big Lake Thursday for a cross-town rival matchup with the Hornets and came away with a 13-point win. It was a key Section 5AAA, Hwy.10 clash and due to its lateness, full results from the game won’t be posted until next week.
Up Next
Becker improved to 4-1 and travel to Zimmerman Tuesday before coming home for a matchup against St. Cloud Apollo Friday at 7:15 p.m.