Helias overcomes early deficit to beat Southern Boone

Emily Harrison (left) congratulates Helias teammate Kylie Bernskoetter after Bernskoetter scored a basket during Monday nights game against Southern Boone at Rackers Fieldhouse.
Emily Harrison (left) congratulates Helias teammate Kylie Bernskoetter after Bernskoetter scored a basket during Monday nights game against Southern Boone at Rackers Fieldhouse.

Down by 10 early in the second quarter Monday night, the Helias Lady Crusaders didn't panic.

"We dug our hole, but we just kept talking about patience and doing what we know we can do to get back in the ballgame," Helias coach Alan Lepper said.

The Lady Crusaders whittled their deficit to four by halftime and used a 16-5 run to start the second half to defeat the Southern Boone Lady Eagles 65-55 at Rackers Fieldhouse.

"We took a little bit of a deep breath at halftime, cleaned up a couple of things," Lepper said. "We felt pretty good about our chances."

A layup by Alisha Berhorst pulled Helias into a tie at 27 with 6:35 to go in the third quarter before a three-point by Kylie Bernskoetter gave the Lady Crusaders their first lead of the night on the ensuing possession.

The Lady Eagles got a three-point play from Mariah Prince to tie it before the Lady Crusaders scored the next seven points to take the lead for good at 37-30 with 3:01 remaining in the quarter.

Helias closed the quarter on a 6-2 run to take a 45-35 advantage.

Rylee Kolb's layup early in the fourth quarter gave Helias its biggest lead of the night at 47-35.

But Southern Boone, ranked No. 4 in Class 3 wasn't going away without a fight.

Gracie Bruce hit three 3-pointers from the same spot on the floor in a two-minute span to key a Southern Boone run that cut the deficit in half to 56-50 with 3:20 remaining.

A layup by Jersee Wren with 1:20 left pulled the Lady Eagles to with four at 60-56.

But Helias went 6-of-8 at the free-throw line the rest of the way to get the 10-point win.

Helias was 8-of-11 at the line in the fourth quarter, led by Lainy Lamb's 7-of-9 effort.

"Lainy is probably our best free-throw shooter, so we've challenged her to get to the line more in the past couple of games," Lepper said. "She wasn't getting there enough, but she did tonight."

Lamb, who celebrated her Senior Night with a game-high 21 points, was 12-of-14 from the stripe in the game as the Lady Crusaders made 26-of-31.

Bernskoetter added 16 points and grabbed a team-high five rebounds for Helias.

"She's been on a roll lately," Lepper said. "She has a very good idea of what she wants to do with the ball when she gets it."

Lindsey Byers chipped in with 11 points for the Lady Crusaders, including seven in the fourth quarter.

Turnovers were a problem for both teams Monday night. Helias committed 18, while Southern Boone had 26.

"We did a good job of getting back on defense, especially in the second half," Lepper said. "Their transition game really scared me, but I don't know if they got a whole lot off that tonight."

Bruce finished with 17 points to lead the Lady Eagles (19-3), while Lexi Ussery added 11.

It's the second 10-point win this season for the Lady Crusaders against a ranked Class 3 team at Rackers Fieldhouse. Last month, Helias defeated No. 1 Strafford 55-45.

"The girls are starting to believe," Lepper said. "We've had such a difficult schedule, even though we are hanging around .500, that competition is going to make us better. And I believe it has."

Helias (10-10) will host Class 5 No. 5 Jefferson City (18-2) tonight in the opener of a girls-boys varsity doubleheader. The girls game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start.

In Monday's JV game, Helias beat Southern Boone 42-36. Ella Meyer led Helias with 13 points, while Brooke Reutter had 10.

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