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Helias senior Gabrielle Bax has been a superstar all postseason, but she managed to save her best for last. Bax scored a career-high 24 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers that gave the Lady Crusaders the lead for good late in the third quarter. Those six points helped propel Helias to a 51-40 win against the St. James Lady Tigers in the Class 4 girls third-place game Saturday morning at JQH Arena.
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.
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.
It wasn’t a great night at the free-throw line for the Helias Lady Crusaders. But they made them when they needed them the most. The Lady Crusaders hit three of their final four attempts at the line Friday night to hold off the Southern Boone Lady Eagles for a 51-49 victory in a clash of state-ranked teams to win the Class 4 District 9 Tournament title at Blair Oaks.