Back on Dec. 27, the Helias Lady Crusaders defeated St. Joseph Benton in the first round of the Jefferson Bank Holiday Hoops Tournament at Capital City High School. When they meet this afternoon, the stakes, and the gym, will be a lot bigger when Helias (23-7) and Benton (24-5) meet at 4 p.m. in the Class 4 semifinals at Hammons Student Center in Springfield.
It wasn’t the start the Helias Lady Crusaders were looking for Saturday afternoon. Helias had problems on both ends of the floor, allowing the Ava Lady Bears to jump out to an eight-point lead at the end of the first quarter in the Class 4 quarterfinals at Lebanon High School. “If somebody was watching us for the first time, they probably thought we were out of it,” Helias coach Garrett Wiggans said. “But that’s not in our girls’ DNA. They were going to battle back.”
The Helias Lady Crusaders had a plan. They followed it to near perfection. Helias jumped out to a 14-point lead in the first quarter on its way to a 70-55 win Tuesday night against the California Lady Pintos in the Class 4 sectionals at Missouri S&T.
It’s a streak the Helias Lady Crusaders would love to break. The Lady Crusaders have dropped their last three state basketball tournament games at Missouri S&T, scoring 37 points in each contest. Helias gets the chance to snap that skid tonight when the Lady Crusaders (21-7) take on the California Lady Pintos (21-6) in a Class 4 sectional contest in Rolla. Game time is 6 p.m.