The Helias Crusaders brought the pressure Friday night.
Helias forced 22 turnovers against the St. Dominic Crusaders, many coming off its full-court press, to win its season opener 64-32 at Rackers Fieldhouse.
"We talked about having a killer instinct, regardless of what the score was," Helias coach Josh Buffington said. "We really set the tone early in each quarter."
Helias' full-court pressure shut down St. Dominic in the first few minutes of the first three quarters. In the first and second quarters, St. Dominic had turnovers on three of its first four possessions.
In the third quarter, St. Dominic committed a turnover on each of its first four possessions.
"It's a different style than Helias basketball is used to seeing," Buffington said of the full-court press. "We have to do that with the personnel we have this year to be successful. Our kids have bought into it the last five weeks, and they have fun playing that way.
"I think the fans enjoy watching that style as well."
Helias scored the first eight points of the game and never trailed. Nick Brandt and Alex Buschjost made back-to-back 3-pointers on the first two Helias possessions.
Nathan Bax scored Helias' first six points of the second quarter, then added an assist on a pass to Dalton Weaver to extend the lead to 24-10. Bax had 16 points for Helias, which started the second quarter on a 16-2 run.
"We have to play through Nathan as much as we can, especially when the game gets into a half-court setting," Buffington said. "It's got to go through him."
Things continued to go Helias' way. Brandt was driving in transition and began to stumble as he made his way into the lane. He tossed up an awkward shot as he was falling down that somehow managed to make its way into the basket.
"The harder you work, the luckier you get," Buffington said with a laugh.
Helias scored 23 points in the second quarter, getting 10 from Landon Harrison. The junior finished with a game-high 19 points and was 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.
"He has such a feel for the game, especially the flow of the game," Buffington said. "He was in control all night long on both ends of the floor and did a great job leading us."
Helias held a 39-17 lead at halftime and stretched it to 33 points by the end of the third quarter. Bax hit a pair of free throws early in the fourth quarter to give his team a 62-25 advantage, Helias' biggest lead of the game.
St. Dominic had an answer for Helias in the first quarter, getting plenty of production from Jared North, who scored eight of his team-high 17 points in the opening eight minutes. However, he shot 3-of-12 from the field after the first quarter.
No other player from St. Dominic had more than three points.
"We really keyed on (North) in our scouting report," Buffington said. "We lost him a couple of times early and the lead went from eight to four. In the second quarter, we did a great job finding him."
Marcus Anthony came off the bench to score nine points for Helias and Brandt added eight points. Weaver had six points on 3-of-3 shooting.
"I was really proud of the balance of our offensive production tonight," Buffington said. "We really spread it around."
Helias (1-0) will be back in action at noon Sunday, facing Smithville in the Norm Stewart Classic at Columbia College. The game will be the 22nd of 24 games being played consecutively in the around-the-clock, 48-hour affair.
In the JV game, Helias won 55-33 against St. Dominic to start the season 1-0. Nick Rembecki had a team-high 18 points and Jake VanLoo also reached double figures in scoring with 12 points.