WORTHINGTON -- After trailing by their biggest margin of the season in the first half Saturday, the Becker Bulldogs responded with a performance every bit as worthy of the second-ranked team in Class AAA girls' basketball.
Becker scored 26 of the final 31 points of the first half, and Brianna Mastey scored 25 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as the Bulldogs pulled away for a 70-52 victory over the Worthington Trojans.
The loss for Worthington is just its second in the last 14 games, bringing its record to 13-5 on the season.
Becker, meanwhile, is now 19-1, having won 18 straight, including its third game in as many nights.
"We wanted to come down here, play against two very good basketball teams that would actually push us, and we were pushed to the very limit in both games," Becker head coach Justin Hegna said.
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Worthington challenged Mastey early on, using a box-and-one defense to limit her effectiveness in the first half. While she did score 11 points in the half, it was the shooting of Alex Crapser that helped get the Bulldogs back into the game, and ultimately take command of it.
Coming out of a timeout with Worthington ahead 19-12, Crapser hit two straight 3-point baskets, her first field goals of the game, to cut the deficit to one point. Just a short time later, Crapser hit another 3-pointer to give the Bulldogs a 25-21 lead, pushing the Trojans to call a timeout.
"She's a kid that a lot of people don't a lot of put emphasis on, and she's a back-breaker," Hegna said. "She opened up that game."
It was a sentiment Worthington head coach Eric Lindner agreed with.
"We were trying to take away (Mastey). And, I thought we did a pretty good job of it in the first half," he said. "Then (Crapser) came off the bench and hit some critical 3s."
From there, the Bulldogs took control, pushing the lead up to 56-32 midway through the second half before the Trojans closed within 13 points -- the closest they'd come to the lead -- with just under five minutes left.
As for Worthington, the Trojans' simply started to fall off their strong start against the Becker defense. WHS shot 9-for-23 in the first half and turned the ball over 15 times in the first 18 minutes, and was left standing flat-footed on offense when motion was needed.
"When we had the lead in the first half, we didn't do the things we did to get the lead," Lindner said. "We went complacent, we were not doing the things that made us successful to get the lead."
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Holli Aggen was a bright spot for the Trojans' offense. She hit four 3-pointers in the contest and finished with 15 points, showing a hunger for the basketball that was very positive for Lindner.
"I saw her want the shot, and that was encouraging," he noted. "She's progressing each game. If she plays like that and gives us that kind of effort, that's going to help us."
On defense, the Trojans did have some positive moments, forcing 27 turnovers in the game. However, the taller Bulldogs hit just 51 percent from the field (28 of 55) and were able to hit the offensive glass against the smaller Worthington lineup.
Mastey was the main player on the offensive glass for Becker. Of her 11 rebounds, seven came off Bulldog misses.
Gabby Boever was the only other player for the Trojans to hit double figures in scoring, netting 10 points. She also had four steals.
Sarah Boever added nine points and eight rebounds.
As for Becker, Shelly Stemper chipped in 15 points, and Rey Robinson hit for 11 points and dished out six assists.
Worthington returns to the homecourt Tuesday against Redwood Valley.
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Becker 38 32 -- 70
WHS 24 28 -- 52
Becker (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Gilbert 0-1-2-4, Robinson 1-3-2-11, Crapser 3-0-0-9, Mastey 0-11-3-25, Stemper 1-6-0-15, Althoff 0-2-2-6. Totals: 5-23-9-70.
WHS (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): S.Boever 0-4-1-9, H.Aggen 4-0-3-15, A.Aggen 1-2-2-9, Pavelko 0-0-1-1, G.Boever 0-4-2-10, Smith 0-2-0-4, Wetering 0-2-0-4. Totals: 5-14-9-52.
