Last Saturday, the Becker Lady Bulldogs dropped Willmar in the semi-finals of Section 5AAA play, then sealed their second-straight section title by beating Monticello Thursday in Buffalo to advance to state.
Becker 64, Willmar 59
In a game that was no where near the blowout of last year, the Bulldogs eked out a close win over rival Willmar by five.
The entire contest featured solid play from both schools and neither team was able to really go on a run to pull away from the other section foe. That was until late in the second half when Becker found themselves down by six with just over five minutes to go.
They rattled off nine straight points to take the lead and create little (very little) breathing room.
Behind Courtney Nuest’s 17 points, seven rebounds, six assists and one steal, the Bulldogs prevailed at the end when — up by three, Adeline Kent inbounded the ball to Nuest who converted an easy layup to put the Bulldogs up by five in the waning seconds.
Kent finished with 16 points, one rebound, one assist and three steals and was instrumental in converting several, pressure-filled in-bounders to retain the basketball.
Megan Gamble also had a great game, as she scored 15 points, had two rebounds, two assists and three steals. Julia Bengtson garnered 10 points, three rebounds, seven assists and one steal.
Willmar was led by Madi Linbo, who had 17 points.
Becker held the halftime lead at 27-26, then outscored the Cardinals in the final frame, 37-33.
Becker scoring: C. Nuest 17, Kent 16, Gamble 15, Bengtson 10, Ayla Brown 4, Maren Westin 2.
Willmar scoring: Linbo 17, Mackenzie Jones 14, Jaida Reiman 7, Sadie Raitz 6, Callie Slagter 6, Katelyn Murphy 4, Ashley Prahl 3, Ella Shinn 2.
Bulldogs 71, Magic 44
Becker once again proved they are a second-half team as they turned a close contest into a drubbing of Monticello at Buffalo Thursday night.
For the first half of the first half, Becker seemed to labor trying to get the ball to the net as Monticello utilized their height and bulk to frustrate the Bulldogs from the onset.
The game went the way of a boxing match, with the Bulldogs throwing some of their best punches and Monticello’s stars deflecting the rounds with their rope-a-dope. But as in most fights where an opponent goes all-in early, the champion will emerge at the end as their opponent gets weary.
That’s the thing with these Lady Bulldogs, they never get weary. Their tenacious defense, selflessness and confidence cannot be overlooked. They wear teams down and frustrate them and in a blink of an eye, the scoreboard changes from a single-digit lead to double-digits.
Bengtson was a perfect example as she appeared to be “off” a little at the onset — missing a couple jumpers and a few short layups. But she never let that take away from her focus and little-by-little her touch came back.
And that weariness in the Magic began to surface.
By the time halftime came around, Bengtson was the leading scorer and by the final buzzer, she had 21 of Becker’s 71 points.
The Magic have two “skyscrapers” in Cat Terres and Anna Olson and a point guard (Lauran Zwack) worthy of some looks from college basketball teams. They also have Morgynn Spears, who was a handful for the Bulldogs early on as she took command of the paint and scored all 10 of her points from within two feet of the basket.
Terres finished with four and was in foul trouble most of the night and Olson had 15, as she was instrumental in Monticello’s early success around the basket.
Becker got great production from their bench as Dani Nuest, Westin, Jackie Yoerg, Jenna Mittelstaedt and Brown contributed 21 points.
Becker scoring: Bengtson 21, Alayna Lindquist 9, Westin 8, Kent 8, D. Nuest 7, Gamble 7, C. Nuest 5, Mittelstaedt 3, Brown 2, Yoerg 1.
Monticello scoring: Olson 15, Spears 10, Alayna Manning 4, Terres 4, Katelyn Lindberg 3, Madison Katzenberger 3, Zwack 2, Olivia Hanson 2, Sophia Haase 1.
Up Next
The Bulldogs head to the University of Minnesota next week (March 11-14) with info on opponent and times still to be determined.
