The Bemidji Lumberjacks basketball team wasted another good defensive effort Thursday with weak scoring, falling to Duluth Central 54-41 in its last regular season game.
The Jacks ended 6-19, their lowest number of victories since going 5-16 in 1985.
Bemidji will now move into the Section 8-4A tournament, probably heading to Buffalo or Moorhead for its opener.
Central upped its record to 15-8.
Bemidji played nose to nose with the Trojans through most of the game, trailing 41-36 late in the contest when the visitors ripped off seven straight points to take command.
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They played almost the entire game with only six players, substituting a seventh in the final period only when one player fouled out.
Bemidji used 10 and had three reach double figures with Alex Muller netting 12 and Doug Bender and Alex Hengel 10.
But after an early start that established a 6-5 lead, the Jacks never led again.
The Trojans ran the next seven to go ahead and after a Hengel bucket, ran nine more to go ahead 21-8.
Treys by Hengel and Muller helped take the lead down to 26-17 late in the period but two free throws closed the half for a 28-17 Central lead.
The two teams exchanged baskets through the first eight possessions of the second half before buckets by David Sand and Hengel and two more by Jeff Schaper and Mike Erpelding cut the margin to 38-34. That was as close as the Jacks would get.
Andy Roberts' free throw opened the Central run and buckets by Rob Correia, Trevon Taylor and Vince Ohaju followed for a 48-36 lead.
Bemidji came no closer than 10 the rest of the way.
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The left-handed Taylor led the winners with 17. Andy Stukel had 11, Correia 10 and Noah Pauley 9 in a well balanced attack.
Central proved highly patient in the early stages against the Jacks 2-3 zone, content to make 8-10 passes to get an open shot.
Except for the late spurt, the Jacks were somewhat more effective when they switched to a man to man.
But it's hard to win with 41 points. That was the second lowest total of the year, only the 38 in the Apollo rout lower.
Bemidji held a 32-28 boards edge with Bender grabbing nine. Correia paced the winners with eight.
Bemidji had 19 turnovers, 13 in the first half. Central ended with only11.
The B Team played one of its finest games, closing with a 70-61 setback in a well played contest. It ended 5-20.
Husky Garth Heikkonen gave Bemidji a lesson on low post play, roaming the baseline for 28 points, 20 in the first half, to control play. But his teammates hit 10-9-9-8-6. Ryan Rude gave a preview of better days ahead with 22 for Bemidji including six treys. Ryan Telander had 19 but their teammates made only 20 more.
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The freshmen snapped a seven-game losing skid with a 67-56 decision,
Dan Frost matched his season high with 17 while Jordan Koepp added 13 and Pete Humeniuk 10 with nine players scoring.
Bemidji led 32-30 at the half but pulled away down the stretch.
Chris Lehmann's forces ended 8-13.
BEMIDJI (41) Bender 4 2-2 2 10; . Baker 0 0-1 5 0; Schaper 1 1-2 2 3;T. Baker 1 0-0 4 2; Muller 3 3-4 2 12; Marty 0 0-0 2 0; Sand 1 0-0 1 2; Hengel 4 1-2 1 10; Erpelding 1 0-0 1 2; Bretschneider 0 0-0 2 0;Totals: 15 7-11 22 41
DULUTH CENTRAL (54) Ohaju 3 0-0 5 6; Stukel 4 3-4 2 11; Correia 4 2-4 2 10. Pauley 3 2-4 2 9; Taylor 5 7-14 1 17; Roberts 0 1-4 1 1; Chapman 0 0-0 0 0; Totals: 19 15-30 13 54
Halftime score; Central 28, Bemidji 17
Three point field goals: Bemidji 4 (Muller 3, Hengel); Central 1-Pauley
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Rebounds: Bemidji 32, Central 28
Turnovers, Bemidji 19, Central 11
Officials: Chris, Brady and Cody Baxter
B Team Game
BEMIDJI (61) Heinle 0 0-0 2 0; Telander 5 8-11 2 19, Anderson 2 0-1 5 4; Woods 2 3-3 4 7; Rude 8 0-0 5 22; Sadek 2 5-8 3 9; Walker 0 0-1 1 0; Hengel 0 0-0 0 0; Jahner 0 0-4 2 0; Baumgartner 0 0-0 0 0; Adams 0 0- 0-0 1 0; Erickson 0 0-0 0 0; Weaver 0 0-0 0 0; Totals: 19 16-28 25 61
DULUTH CENTRAL (70) Kerr 3 3-6 3 10; Michalicek 4 1-2 5 9; Heikkonen 11 6-6 4 28; Chapman 3 3-4 0 9; Nord 2 4-6 3 8; Sharp 0 0-1 1 0; Brakke 1 4-8 2 6; Nelson 0 0-0 1 0; Roberts 0 0-0 3 0; Totals: 24 21-33 23 70
Halftime score; Central 40, Bemidji 29
Three point field goals; Bemidji 7 (Rude 6, Telander); Central 1-Kerr
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Rebounds: Bemidji 30, Central 35
Turnovers: Bemidji 17, Central 18
Officials: Chris, Cody and Brady Baxter
C Team Game
BEMIDJI (67) Frost 17, Koepp 13. Humeniuk 10, Dahl 7, Kane 6, Smith 5, Hanson 4, Krabbenhoft 3, Neft 2; Folstrom, Martell 0
DULUTH CENTRAL (58) Individual scoring unavailable
Halftime score: Bemidji 32, Duluth 30
Three point field goals: Bemdji1-Frost
