BLOOMING PRAIRIE — When in doubt, the Awesome Blossoms usually go to Cooper Nelson.

That strategy worked perfectly as Blooming Prairie’s boys basketball team closed out its regular season with a 56-50 win over Faribault Bethlehem Academy in BP Thursday.

BP trailed 23-20 after a first half of offensive struggles but Nelson, who finished with 25 points, 14 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 3 steals, scored 13 points in the first nine minutes of the second half to even up the score.

“In the first half I was struggling a little bit and I decided I really wanted to see if I could dominate in the second half,” Nelson, a junior 6-3 center, said. “Robert (Hofius) and Justen (Ingvalson) did a really good job of getting me the ball and I made a few shots.”

After the inside game was established, BP’s shooters did their job as Jeffery Doerhoefer hit a pair of threes and Hofius, who finished with 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists, knocked down a triple to make it 47-41 with 4:19 left in the game.

“We settled for some outside shots early and we just didn’t know how to attack the zone,” BP head coach John Bruns said. “We called a timeout and said we’ve got to get the ball inside and that will set everything else up. We got it inside early in the second half and then Jeffery hit a couple of big threes.”

BP (8-14 overall) led by as many as eight, but FBA (10-14 overall) pulled to within 53-50 after Dominic Trnka hit a late three and the Cardinals had the ball down 54-50 when Nelson picked off a pass for a steal.

Nelson also helped seal the game at the line, where he made four of his last six free throws after missing six of his first seven attempts.

“We were joking about it in the locker room that I missed the free throws to keep the game closer,” Nelson said. “I’ve been struggling from the line all year, but for some reason I seem to hit them when the game’s on the line.”

BP’s defense was able to hold off FBA, by focusing on Jordan Clark, who finished with 15 points.

“We wanted to make him work for all of his points and for the most part we did that,” Bruns said. “We were doubling him and shading back to the open guy.”

Since the Section 1A tournament was seeded on Wednesday, both teams had their postseason spots sealed. But the Blossoms found a big motivator — they hadn’t swept the season series over FBA in all 13 years of Bruns’ tenure at the helm.

“The seedings were already there and it was kind of an exhibition game, so we used the (possibility of a sweep) as motivation,” Nelson said. “Right now we’re playing the best basketball we’ve played all season and its the perfect time to be doing that.”

BP will enter the Subsection tournament as a three-seed and it will host No. 5 Glenville/Emmons March 4 at 7:30 p.m.

FBA 23 27 — 50

BP 20 36 — 56

BP scoring: Cooper Nelson, 25; Robert Hofius, 15; Jeffery Doerhoefer, 9; Luke Hueman, 4; Justen Ingvalson, 2; Isaac Clark, 1; free throws: 54 percent (15-for-28); rebounds: 39 (Nelson, 14); turnovers: 16

FBA scoring: Jordan Clark, 18; Kyle Filzen, 10; Kirk Allen, 7; Dominic Trnka, 6; Anthony Caron, 3; Ryan Slattery, 2; free throws: 40 percent (10-for-25); rebounds: 28; turnovers: 5