The Becker Bulldogs girls basketball team got off to a rough start last Saturday in the second round of the Section 5AAA playoffs in Buffalo and were defeated by the Willmar Cardinals, 60-48.  

 

Becker, seeded #5 was coming off an upset win against #4-seeded St. Cloud Apollo Feb. 27 and made the final four along with #1-seeded Willmar (23-2), #2-seeded Big Lake (13-13) and #3-seeded Zimmerman (18-9).

 

Willmar proved to be too much for the Bulldogs as they were led in scoring by Hannah Johnson and Cayle Hovland, who each scored 18 points.  

 

“Both played very strong, got rebounds and attacked the basket well,” said Becker Head Coach Dan Baird.  

 

Abby Berksow added 13 points for the Cards, connecting on three timely three-pointers. Willmar jumped out to an early lead and built on it and by the time halftime arrived, the Cards had a  commanding 26-13 lead. Willmar also out-rebounded Becker by 23.  

 

The Bulldogs recovered from their dismal first half and matched Willmar’s scoring in the second, but the deficit was too much to overcome. Becker was led in scoring by Courtney Nuest's 17 points.  Julia Bengtson added 13 points.

 

Becker finished the season 15-13 overall.  

 

Willmar moves to 24-2 on the season with the win and carried that momentum over to beat Zimmerman Thursday and will represent Section 5AAA in the state playoffs starting next week. 

 

Becker scoring: Nuest 17, Bengtson 13, Alayna Lindquist 5, Renee Tripp 4, Adeline Kent 4, Haley Benda 3 and Megan Gamble 2.

 

Willmar scoring: Johnson 18, Hovland 18   Beskow 13, Katelyn Murphy 4, Jordyn Swoboda 3, Carly Wedel 2 and Caitlin Ogdahl 2.