Halftime couldn't have come at a better time for Helias and at a worse time for Jefferson City in Thursday night's crosstown showdown at Fleming Fieldhouse.
After trailing the entire game to that point, the Jays caught fire late in the second quarter with a 9-1 run. When Seth Stegeman drilled a 3-pointer with 1:30 left before halftime, Jefferson City had its first lead at 21-19. And when Kamari Balton put together a three-point play with :48.6 remaining, the Jays had their biggest lead of the game at 24-19.
A short jumper by Helias' Weston Porter got the Crusaders to within 24-21 at halftime, but the Jays still went into the locker room on a roll.
But after an extended intermission, it was the Crusaders who came out red hot, and it altered the course of what turned out to be a 54-47 win for Helias.
"We challenged our guys in the locker room to come out and play with some confidence," Helias coach Josh Buffington said. "At the start of the game, we were up and down with our intensity. We had a big talk at halftime and our guys came out and played with a lot more emotion."
The Crusaders hit their first five shots of the third quarter - from four different players - and took their biggest lead of the night at 33-26.
"Coming out after the half, we came out a little flat and we got on our heels," Jefferson City coach Blair Thompson said. "They hit a couple shots and got a couple easy baskets in the process. We had a few miscommunications in that span and the momentum shifted in their favor."
Landon Harrison started the half with a layup for the Crusaders, while Sam Husting got a jumper in the paint and Adam Bax added a layup. Porter then drilled a 3, as did Husting, but it was the inside production that pleased Buffington the most after the Crusaders had five shots blocked in the first half.
"We had to keep going at them," he said. "Their size has affected a lot of people this season, as has ours.
"One thing we did in the first half is we were looking to draw contact too much, which made us off-balance. The second half we just said, "Play off two feet, square up and take basketball shots.' To win emotional games, to win rivalry games, you have to be able to score in the paint."
The Jays started to come back soon after, as the lead changed hands four times in a span of 38 seconds near the end of the third.
"We fought back," Thompson said. "You knew in this game nobody was going away."
The Crusaders took the lead for good with :49 left in the third on a 3 by Bax and took a 42-40 lead into the final quarter.
"They hit some big shots, a couple key 3s that made it tough on us, so give credit to them," Thompson said.
In the fourth, Helias made just two field goals but salted the game away by making 8-of-10 free throws.
Helias, which started the game up 10-6, led 12-11 after one quarter.
"They really slowed us up when they went to the zone to start the game," Thompson said. "We kind of felt our way through that and did OK with it. I'm proud of the effort, there was just a stretch in there in the third quarter where we made it tough on ourselves."
The Jays came back for that three-point halftime edge, and the Crusaders were a bit lucky to be that close. Husting and Harrison, Helias' top two scorers who average a combined 33 points per game, teamed up for just two in the half.
"We're not going to go into the locker room on too many nights where Landon and Sammy have scored two total points," Buffington said. "We challenged those two, because we needed our playmakers to step it up."
Harrison ended up with 12 points to lead a balanced Helias effort, as Husting and Porter added 11 apiece and Bax had 10.
Balton had a game-high 16 points for the Jays and Stegeman had 12.
Both teams return to action Saturday.
The Crusaders (10-5) will play Waynesville at 1 p.m. in the Camdenton Shootout, while the Jays (10-6) will play Battle at 6 p.m. at Mizzou Arena in the MFA Oil-Break Time Shootout. It will be the second meeting of the season for Jefferson City and Battle, as the Spartans won 49-45 on Dec. 3 in the Marshall Tournament.
Jefferson City won Thursday's JV game 48-33. Garrett Parker had 22 points for Jefferson City (6-1) and Hudson Nilges had 12.
Nick Brandt had 12 for Helias (5-4).
Follow News Tribune sports reporter Tony Hawley on Twitter for updates during games.