Tuesday night was a record breaking event for the Becker girls basketball team as they opened Section play with a 103-36 win over the Zimmerman Thunder.  The 103 team points a school record, eclipsing the old record of 101 points scored by the team in 2019 in a win over Como Park.

In addition, with 1:06 left in the first half, Julia Bengtson scored her 19th point of the game which put her over the 2,000 career point mark.  This year marks her 5th straight year as the starting point guard for the team, as she took over the position as an 8th grader and has excelled ever since.

After the game, Bengtson was reflective of how she came to this moment and the role that others, including the fans, have played in her major basketball milestone.

“It felt amazing, and not because of the points, but because I got to see and hear from all of the people who have been so invested and supportive for so many years all in one place,” said Bengtson.  “It was a sweet moment of realizing how blessed I am to live in a town with such a caring community, such loyal and enthusiastic fans, and to be surrounded by such kindhearted, selfless people who are so dear to me.”

She was also complimentary of her teammates and coaches for the role they played in helping her achieve this truly unique scoring mark.

“I couldn’t handpick a better team to be a part of, [I’m] so grateful,” added Bengtson.  “To God all praise and glory!”

Bengtson would finish the game with a team-high 23 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.

Baird had praise for Bengtson and her scoring milestone, in addition to her leadership and the character she has shown over the past five years during her varsity basketball career.

Tuesday’s game was never close, as Becker raced to a 28-10 lead after the first 9 minutes of the game and never looked back.  The Bulldogs led 62-21 at halftime and held Zimmerman to just 15 points in the second half.

Both teams prefer to play an uptempo game and on Tuesday, the Bulldogs were simply much better at it.

They shot a respectable 10-for-26 (39%) from three point range, while holding Zimmerman to a 1-for-18 performance from beyond the arc.

The Bulldogs had an enormous advantage in points scored off of turnovers, as they collected 45 and the Thunder had just 9.

Not only was the win a great tune up for the Bulldogs as they strive to earn a return trip to the state tournament, but it also means they will face rival Big Lake in the Section Finals at 7 p.m. on Friday night (March 26) in Becker.  The #3 seeded Hornets reached the title game with a Tuesday night upset of #2 seed Willmar, 49-46.

Neutral sites were eliminated for this year’s Section tournament, meaning the #1 seed will give Becker the home court advantage over the Hornets. The two teams did play once during the regular season, as the Bulldogs played host in late January and came away with a 93-39 win.

Becker will enter the Section Finals with a record of 15-3, while the Hornets are 13-4 and finished in third place in the Mississippi8 Conference under first year coach Rey Robinson, a Becker alum.

Becker scoring vs. Zimmerman: Adeline Kent 15, Maren Westin 12, Alayna Lindquist 6, Courtney Nuest 9, Bengtson 23, Dani Nuest 13, Megan Gamble 13, Ayla Brown 8, Evelyn Kreft 4.

State Awards

Baird was proud to announce this week that a total of five players received Class AAA recognition as All-State.  Julia Bengtson, Adeline Kent and Megan Gamble were recognized as members of the team, while teammates Courtney Nuest and Maren Westin received Honorable Mention All-State status.

The team was also designated at the Section 5AAA Academic Champions with an overall team GPA of 3.87.  That mark was good enough for third place overall in the State in Class AAA, barely behind overall champion St. Peter (3.93) and St. Croix Lutheran (3.90).  

The Bulldogs were also named Academic All-State as a team, as well as Mississippi8 Conference Academic Champions for girls basketball.