In back-to-back nail-biters, the Becker Lady Bulldogs basketball team advanced to the state championship Saturday to take on DeLaSalle. It is Becker’s second trip to the state finals and first time back there since 2007, when a much different Bulldog team beat a much different DeLaSalle team to capture the title.

 

 

The rock band Foreigner has two huge hits in Cold As Ice and Hot Blooded and those two songs perfectly captured the Bulldogs during  Wednesday’s quarterfinal at Maturi Pavillion on the campus of the University of Minnesota.

 

Cold as Ice was exactly how the girls started their state championship run Wednesday as they struggled to put the round ball in the round hole. Shot after shot, Becker came away disappointed as Marshall jumped out to a 12-point lead before Becker finally got one to drop. A short while later, Marshall was up 19-3 and Becker’s hopes to advance looked dismal.

 

However, this young team proved they are Hot Blooded as they climbed back in the game behind great shooting from Julia Bengtson, Adeline Kent and Megan Gamble. Courtney Nuest got in on the fun, but her story is for later.

 

As Becker kept chipping away at Marshall’s lead, the girls appeared to calm down and achieved laser focus. Coach Dan Baird’s girls concentrated on making stops and with that, the shots started falling. Amazingly, by the time the clock ticked out in the first half, Becker had a three point lead at 26-23.

 

The second half was a different game as the Bulldogs continued to pressure the  Tigers and Becker built a pretty comfortable 15-point lead. However, the Tigers didn’t get this far to just roll over and die, so they developed their own kind of full-court pressure that appeared to rattle the Bulldogs. Slowly, Marshall crept back in the game and before you knew it, the game was tied at 61.

 

With a little under two minutes to go, the game went back-and-forth, with Becker taking a slim lead before the Tigers stormed back to take their own lead. With 10.8 seconds to go, Becker was behind by one and Marshall’s top scorer,   Jordyn Hilgemann, was standing at the free-throw line waiting to take two free throws. She missed the first, but sank the second to give the Tigers a two-point lead as Becker inbounded the ball.

 

Bengtson took command and quickly headed up court. She dribbled some then found a wide open Courtney Nuest beyond the arch for a shot.

 

 

Nuest drained the three as the horn sounded and the Lady Bulldogs stormed the court in jubilation. The shot was checked by the referees to ensure it was good and the signal came that Becker had won in a most remarkable way.

 

The win sent Becker to the semi-finals to play #2-seeded Robbinsdale Cooper at Williams Arena Thursday.

 

C. Nuest was Becker's top scorer with 18 followed by Bengtson’s 15 and Kent’s 13. Marshall was led by Jordyn Hilgemann’s 26.

 

 

How much can one’s heart take this kind of thing?

 

Thursday, Becker returned to the floor — this time at Williams Arena — to take on defending champion Robbinsdale Cooper in the semis. As fate would dictate, the game came down to the final waning moments in which the young Bulldogs took down the Hawks from Metro West.

 

The Bulldogs continued to astound with their incredible poise, drive and talents as they battled the #2 seed. Bengtson seemed like a seasoned professional as she ball handled and scored from all areas of the floor to guide the blue and white. She finished with a game high 29 points!

 

More of that poise and talent came from Adeline Kent, Megan Gamble, Alan Lindquist and Courtney Nuest. Becker’s deep bench also contributed critical minutes on the floor and tallied important baskets down the stretch.

 

Becker’s toughest assignment was trying to stop the Wheeler sisters. Senior Aja was a dynamo, navigating the Becker defense as she weaved through for numerous layups. Then there was her “little” sister, sophomore Kierra who was a giant amongst lilliputians. Kierra repeatedly was fed the ball underneath and all Becker could do was try and get in the way and hope for a miss.

 

Aja ended up as the Hawks’ leading scorer with 25 while Kierra had 21. They scored 46 of the team’s 66 points. Aja also had 11 rebounds and Kierra had 21.

 

Becker’s Kent — typically a leading scorer in just about every game — had just eight points but it was her defense and her rebounding that benefitting the team Thursday. She shot just three-of-12 from the field, but her nine rebounds were key to Becker’s win. She also had two assists, one steal and one blocked shot while committing just one foul.

 

Bengtson was Becker’s hot hand and she kept delivering. She was nine-of-18 from the floor, six-of-eight from the free throw line and five-of-six from three point land. She also tallied five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

 

Gamble had eight points, seven rebounds, one assist and one blocked shot. 

 

Courtney Nuest — the hero from the previous night — finished with 10 points, eight rebounds, four steals and one blocked shot.

 

The bench contributed seven points as Dani Nuest notched five and Maren Westin two.

 

Go ahead and erase all those numbers and realize the game came down to Bengtson making two FTs with mere seconds left and Kierra Wheeler fielding a pass one foot under the basket — and missing her shot. She rebounded the ball, but by the time she put up another attempt, the horn had sounded and the Bulldogs collapsed in each other’s arms.

 

 

Saturday, the Bulldogs face off against DeLaSalle for the sate title. The Islanders have a 23-5-1 record and have won 14 games in a row. Becker is 27-4-1 and have won 10 in a row.