There will be no state tournament for the Bagley boys basketball team this season.
The Flyers postseason came to an end with a 78-49 loss to Crosby-Ironton in the Section 8AA tournament quarterfinal Thursday night at BSU Gymnasium.
The Rangers brought their undefeated record (28-0), a No. 1 state ranking in Class AA and a spirited crowd to Bemidji and pulled away from the Flyers with a strong second half.
Bagley, which won Section 8AA last season, had more height than Crosby-Ironton, but could not beat the Rangers consistently under the basket or match their speed.
Crosby-Ironton had five players reach double figures scoring and were led by Trevor Dickie's 19 points.
ADVERTISEMENT
Leading Bagley in scoring was Alex Beck's 14 points and Eric Fasthorse's 12.
Crosby-Ironton, the No. 1 seed in the subsection tournament, advances to face No. 2 Warroad Saturday at 7 p.m. at BSU Gymnasium. The winner moves on to next week's section championship game.
Warroad defeated No. 6 Park Rapids 53-35 Thursday at BSU Gymnasium and was led by Mitch Wilmer's 20 points. Park Rapids' Tom Juberian led the Panthers with 11 points.
Bagley played with a solid effort in what felt like a road game, with a sea of Mesabi maroon flooding nearly one full side of the bleacher seats inside the gym.
The Rangers led early, taking a 14-7 lead through the first eight minutes of the game.
Bagley was able to keep up with Crosby-Ironton through turnovers, rebounding and timely shooting. The Flyers found their shooting touch and cut the Rangers lead to 24-20 with four minutes remaining in the first half.
After a timeout, the Rangers dominated the final four minutes with a 13-7 run to take a 35-27 lead into halftime.
Dickey scored 11 of his points in the first half while Beck's 7 led the Flyers.
ADVERTISEMENT
What looked like a promising second half fizzled away quickly for Bagley as the Crosby-Ironton defense forced the Flyers to shoot from the outside.
Those missed shots allowed Crosby-Ironton to pad their lead.
Four minutes into the second half, the Rangers led 42-30 and with seven minutes remaining, the game was out of reach as the Rangers held a 63-39 advantage.
Crosby-Ironton hit six three-pointers in the game, Bagley had three three-pointers.
Bagley finished the season with a 16-12 overall record, which included a strong finish in the second half of the season and a 69-62 victory over Pequot Lakes Tuesday in the first round of the section tournament.
After a difficult 3-9 start, the Flyers turned their season around with an 80-66 victory over Walker-Hackensack-Akeley on Jan. 22. Bagley ended the regular season on a 12-2 run, which included two separate win streaks of six games.
Rounding out Bagley scoring in Thursday's game was Jordan Nelson and Tim LaFerriere with 6 points, Keaton Fontaine 5, Even Klema 4 and Tyler Lewis 2.
Rounding out Crosby-Ironton scoring was Kody Bartels 14, Bryce Tesdahl 13, Derek Swanhorst 11, Joe McLaughlin 10, Mark Hoge 9 and Peter Vukelich 2.
ADVERTISEMENT
In the two other Section 8AA subsection games Thursday at Minnesota State University, Moorhead, No. 4 seed East Grand Forks toppled No. 1 Hawley 70-62 and No. 2 Pelican Rapids defeated No. 3 Perham 52-46. EGF and Pelican Rapids meet Friday night at Concordia-Moorhead, the winner advancing to face the winner of the Crosby-Ironton-Warroad game in the Section 8AA championship next Tuesday at 7 p.m. at BSU Gymnasium.
