The third-seeded Blooming Prairie boys' basketball team overcame a sluggish start Friday night to notch a convincing 48-35 win over Bethany Academy to advance to the Section 1A West Sub-Section semifinals.

Bethany jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead, but Blooming Prairie (16-7) responded with an 11-0 run of its own in the second quarter that put them up to stay at 22-20 going into halftime.

The game stayed close throughout the third quarter, but a strong Blooming Prairie fourth quarter put Bethany away.

"We made our free-throws down the stretch," said BP head coach John Bruns, "and that really sealed it for us."

Kraig Olson led the way for Blooming Prairie with 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Lynn Chheang and David Kramer added eight points apiece.

Bethany finishes their season with a record of 15-13, despite an 11-point effort from Luke Wiersma.

Blooming Prairie earns a date next Tuesday with second-seeded Bethlehem Academy, who knocked off Randolph 55-42. B.A. is the defending Section 1 champion. Game time is 8 p.m. at Mayo Civic Arena in Rochester.

The Blossoms lost to Bethlehem Academy 41-34 in Faribault in the two teams' only regular-season meeting Jan. 31 in Gopher Conference cross-divisional play.

Boxscore:

BLOOMING PRAIRIE (48) -- David Kramer 8, Blake Symes 2, Lynn Chheang 8, Kraig Olson 26, Jon Peterson 4.

BETHANY ACADEMY (35) -- Brent Babcock 3, Kevin Warren 9, David Kleiner 6, Kyle Warren 4, Luke Wiersma 11, Grant Adams 2.

B.Prairie6161016--48

Bethany12887--35

Free-throws--BP 11-15, BA 5-9.

Three-pointers--BP 5 (Olson 4, Kramer); BA 2 (Babcock, Kleiner).