Helias rolls to 60-24 win against Eldon

Isiah Sykes of Helias leaps into the air to take a shot as Eldon's Josh Jones puts up his arms to defend during Thursday night's game at Rackers Fieldhouse.
Isiah Sykes of Helias leaps into the air to take a shot as Eldon's Josh Jones puts up his arms to defend during Thursday night's game at Rackers Fieldhouse.

It goes without saying, Helias was happy to come out of its home opener with a win.

And while they did so in decisive fashion, the Crusaders know they still have plenty of room to improve.

Collin Caywood scored a game-high 14 points to lead three Helias players in double figures as the Crusaders extended their winning streak to three with a 60-24 victory Thursday against Eldon at Rackers Fieldhouse.

"I felt at times we executed great," Helias head coach Josh Buffington said. "I felt at times we executed very poorly. It's an early season basketball game, so it's hard to put a whole lot of stock in how you're flowing offensively, but we need to be flowing better than this in a week or two.

"There's so much we can take from this."

Isiah Sykes finished with 12 points and Trevor Koelling came off the bench to score 10 after going 5-for-5 from the field to lead Helias, which finished third last season in the Class 4 state tournament.

"Coach tells us to try to get better every single day - just push, push, push and worry about getting better on a daily basis," Caywood said.

Helias (3-1) jumped out to a 19-0 lead five minutes into the contest and the Crusaders didn't look back from there.

The early lead was sparked by a hot shooting performance by Caywood, who scored nine of Helias' first 15 points in the first four minutes of the game.

"Coach said to play freely - just go out there and play," Caywood said. "That's what I did. I was finding shots, guys were finding me. I just happened to be on the good side of the play."

Eldon (2-3) finally got on the board when Gram Baucom delivered with a put-back under the basket with 1:20 to play in the opening period and Chris Hulsey sank a free throw with 22 seconds remaining to give Helias a 19-3 edge entering the second quarter.

"We kind of got our heads down," Eldon coach Damond Lacy said. "We started forcing some shots, but hats off to (Helias). They pressured us into forcing a few shots that we shouldn't have taken and the game kind of got out of hand from the start."

The Mustangs pulled within 17 points early in the second period, but the Crusaders kept cruising, taking a 35-13 halftime lead. Sykes led the attack in the second period with seven points and Helias' defense forced six turnovers to keep the game out of reach.

"This team is built off energy and passion," Buffington said. "That's why we were able to get up so big so quick. Our ball pressure was great, we were out in the passing lanes, we were keeping the ball on one side of the floor and we were running wide lanes and getting to the rim.

"Mentally for us, you want to continue to ride that high and continue to do the things that made them successful up to that point and carry that over through the rest of the game, regardless what the score was."

The Crusaders opened up the third quarter with an 8-0 run, prompting Buffington to go to his bench with his team leading 43-15 with 2:20 to play in the frame.

"We did some really good things tonight where we were able to play a lot of people and we were able to play a lot of different combinations," Buffington said. "Even though we have a great core back, we're still mixing in a couple of new guys. We're sill working on finding our identity."

Helias outscored Eldon 12-5 in the third quarter and 13-6 in the final period.

The Crusaders were 18-of-48 from the field and claimed a 43-23 rebounding advantage - 13-8 on the offensive glass. Adam Bax finished with 11 rebounds - six offensive - to lead Helias in that department.

"That has been a huge point of emphasis for our team," Buffington said. "We struggled a little bit on the boards in our first tournament in Springfield. This game is about possessions and we have a team that can be very dominant on the offensive boards."

Chris Hulsey finished with nine points to lead Eldon, which was just 8-of-42 from the field while committing 17 turnovers.

"We're in the same district as Helias this year, so our kids have to respond in practice," Lacy said. "Helias is a really good team and their coach is a great coach. They execute every thing the way that they should.

"It's good to see where we stand. We've got to practice hard enough to catch up with them at the end of the year or our season will be cut short."