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CASS LAKE — Dante Frank and Oliver Stroeing hope they can delay the end of their high school careers a few more weeks.

The Blackduck boys basketball seniors have led the Drakes to a 16-10 regular-season record and likely the No. 5 seed in the Section 8A East playoff tournament.

Regardless of how Blackduck's season ends, Frank and Stroeing etched their names in program history. On Jan. 30, Stroeing crossed the 1,000-point milestone in a 77-56 home win over Walker-Hackensack-Akeley.

"It was never really my goal when I started playing on varsity," Stroeing said. "I think it's a cool accomplishment to get during my senior year, and it was a lot of fun to celebrate that with my team."

Frank joined the 1,000-point club in an 89-38 victory over Northome/Kelliher last Friday.

Madelyn Haasken / Bemidji Pioneer

"For me, it kind of means a lot," Frank said. "My older brother did it when I was younger. I watched him do it, and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. I worked a lot to get good varsity minutes in my sophomore year. From there, I progressed as a scorer."

Frank called it a "dream come true" to hit 1,000 points in a Blackduck uniform after an eight-year hiatus from the Drakes.

"It's pretty cool to do it for your hometown. I didn't think that was always going to be possible," Frank said. "I started (in Blackduck), and then I left. I came back to finish my last two years of my high school career there. It means a lot to get 1,000 on this team.

"I went to Bagley from third grade to 10th grade. I played varsity a little bit during my freshman year and then a lot more sophomore year. I came back here and continued to have a good career."

Stroeing and the Drakes welcomed Frank to the lineup, notching 34 wins over the last two seasons.

"It was really nice to have Dante come back," Stroeing said. "He's just so much more help on the team. When you're young, you look at all of the names on the board of the guys who hit 1,000 points. You look up to those kids. To do it yourself feels pretty good."

After Tuesday's 85-73 regular-season finale loss against Cass Lake-Bena, the Drakes understand there's no more room for error in a competitive Section 8A postseason. However, Frank and Stroeing believe Blackduck has the tools to write a Cinderella story.

Madelyn Haasken / Bemidji Pioneer

"This is how our team works. We have moments where we aren't playing great. But when we click, we really click," Frank said. "We can compete with those top teams. Our problem is we aren't playing with that motor. We aren't playing that game all the way through."

Frank added that their best strategy is just to put it all out there.

"Every game could be our last now because this is our senior year," he left off. "We just have to go out there, put it all out there and things will click. If we go out there, take leads and stay focused like we should, we can show we're a good team."