It was a night for learning.
"We learned a lot and we saw some things we need to get better at," Helias coach Doug Light said after the Lady Crusaders finished 1-2 in Jamboree action at Helias. "And that's what this is all about.
"No matter what you do in practice, you're never going to see things like you do in game situations. Then you start finding out."
In the four-team Jamboree, each squad played the other three in a pair of six-minute periods.
Helias opened against the Fatima Lady Comets in a matchup of quarterfinal teams from last season.
The contest was knotted at 12 after the first period. Helias trailed 18-14 midway through the final period before rallying to take a 21-20 lead with :40 remaining on a layup by Darcy Baird. Fatima then got a bucket on a jumper with :25 remaining to take a 21-20 win.
Baird and Ashley Rehagen had six points each for Helias.
Helias then squared off against the Blair Oaks Lady Falcons. Blair Oaks led 6-5 before Helias closed the period on an 8-0 run to take a 13-6 lead.
The Lady Crusaders led by as many as 10 points in the second period, that coming when a jumper by Luci Francka made it 18-8. The Lady Falcons got to within six late before the Lady Crusaders settled for a 22-14 victory.
But after scoring 21 and 22 points, respectively, Helias had problems putting points on the board in its final action against the Jefferson City Lady Jays.
"Jeff City played pretty good defense and we weren't patient enough against it," Light said. "Kudos to them, they played very well."
Jefferson City led 7-2 after the first period and it was 10-3 with 2:29 remaining. Helias battled back to cut the deficit to one at 11-10 on a basket by Francka. But Megan Foster of Jefferson City hit a pair of free throws with :00.9 left to make the final 13-10.
"I like how we played at the end, despite how we had played for those first minutes, we were able to come back," Light said. "Unfortunately, we let the wrong player get the ball at the end and she's not going to miss those free throws."
Helias is slated to open the season Tuesday at Blair Oaks. The junior varsity game will start at 6 p.m., with the varsity contest to follow around 7:30 p.m.