Having lost back-to-back games for the first time this season, the Helias boys basketball team was itching to get back on the court Friday night.
Unfortunately for the Fulton Hornets, they were the ones standing in the Crusaders' way.
The Crusaders got huge efforts from Isiah Sykes and Trevor Koelling while steamrolling the Hornets 73-33 at Rackers Fieldhouse.
Sykes outscored the Hornets during the first half and ended up with a game-high 22 points, while Koelling amassed 10 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks.
Helias coach Josh Buffington said he was happy with the performance from the Crusaders, who are ranked fourth in the state in Class 4.
"We needed to play again, but more than that, we needed the last two practices," Buffington said. "It was gut-check time for our team. Teams battle different types of adversity in a year, and we're at that point right now. I thought the guys did a great job responding to how we challenged them mentally the last couple days."
Part of that challenge included shaking up the starting lineup.
"More than anything it's to let our guys know that we can't get complacent," Buffington said. "We have to keep working, and if we do that, we have another run or two left in us this season."
The game was close for roughly three minutes, before a 9-0 put Helias in the driver's seat. Included in that was a tip-in by Casey McCollum, two free throws for Sykes, a 3-pointer by Sam Husting and a jumper by Koelling.
Helias took a 19-11 lead after the period, by which point Koelling already had two points, seven rebounds and one block.
That was big, as starting center Hale Hentges missed the game while on his official football recruiting visit to the University of Alabama.
"I knew (Hale) wasn't going to be here this game the whole week at practice, so I prepped myself for it," he said. "I just wanted to come out and do whatever the team needed. I wasn't really thinking I would come out and have a good game."
The Crusaders effectively ended the game in the second quarter, as they outscored the Hornets 24-4. They led by as many as 27 points before taking a 43-15 lead into halftime.
Sykes racked up 10 points in the quarter and had 17 at the break.
"He came to play tonight, there's no doubt about that," Buffington said. "He led us on both ends."
While Sykes was outscoring Fulton by himself, Koelling almost outrebounded the Hornets in the half, pulling down 11 to Fulton's 14.
"Trevor's got a ton of potential, we've known that for quite some time now," Buffington said. "He really played possessed tonight. We're very proud of Trevor's efforts and his production."
Koelling had three of his four blocks in the first half, and said he was happy with the way the team played on the defensive end.
"We worked all week at practice at rotating on defense," he said. "Our last two games, our defensive rotations were off and we were giving up a lot of points. This week we worked really hard on defense."
The Crusaders took their biggest lead of the third quarter at 55-22 on a layup by Koelling, and took a 57-27 lead into the fourth quarter.
Most of the final period was played with a running clock due to the mercy rule, and Helias' largest lead was 41 points on two occasions - once on a layup by Landon Harrison and once on a layup by Nathan Bax.
Harrison ended up with seven points in his first varsity action, checking into the game for the first time early in the first quarter. He was a perfect 3-of-3 from the field.
"He's a very talented kid and he practices extremely hard," Buffington said. "He's a very focused, mature freshman. He doesn't look like one when he's out there playing. He did some great things for us tonight."
Weston Porter just missed joining Sykes and Koelling in double figures, as he hit three 3-pointers and ended up with nine points. Adam Bax and Husting chipped in with eight apiece.
Husting finished with a team-high 10 assists.
Ricky Dawson was the only player to reach double figures for Fulton (10-5), as he had 14 points.
Helias (12-4) is now off until Thursday when it plays Republic in the Logan-Rogersville Tournament.
In the JV game, Helias snagged a 62-38 victory. Alex Brandt led the Crusaders (7-3) with 13 points, while Harrison, Drew Boessen and Nathan Bax had nine apiece.