As the seconds wound down Tuesday night at Rackers Fieldhouse, the plan was obvious.
The game between Helias and the School of the Osage was tied at 38. The Lady Indians knew where they wanted to get the ball for the last shot, the Lady Crusaders knew where the ball was going.
It was a matter of which team was going to make the play. It turned out to be the Lady Indians as Jordyn Barlett scored on a perfectly executed pick-and-roll with Kerrigan Gamm with 4.3 seconds left to give Osage at 40-38 victory.
"We called the play out from the bench, we just didn't stop it," Helias coach Alan Lepper said.
Helias tied the game at 38 with 1:07 remaining on a layup by Ellie Rockers. Osage then opted to run the clock down before Bartlett's game-winner.
The Lady Crusaders got the ball to midcourt before calling timeout with less than a second remaining, but did not get off a shot before time expired.
"I'm not a coach that worries about wins and losses, the season is a process and this is just part of the process," Lepper said.
It was a tight battle throughout. Osage took its biggest lead of the night in the first quarter, opening the game with an 8-3 run on its way to a 10-7 advantage heading into the second quarter.
Helias then used an 8-2 run to take the lead, the last three points coming on a three-point play by Lauren Alexander midway through the second quarter. Osage scored the only four points the rest of the quarter and took a 16-15 lead into halftime.
The Lady Crusaders never led in the third quarter, but their biggest deficit was three points as the Lady Indians carried a 26-25 advantage into the final quarter.
Helias led by as many as three points on two occasions in the fourth quarter, the last coming after a pair of free throws by Catherine Conley made it 35-32 with 3:52 remaining.
Gamm had 14 points to lead Osage (4-1).
Alexander scored a game-high 15 points for Helias, while Ashley Rehagen added 10. Rockers led the Lady Crusaders with 10 rebounds.
The Lady Crusaders were missing two starters - senior guard Morgan Wieberg and junior forward Erin Wyrick - with ankle injuries.
"A positive about those two being out is it's helping develop our bench, which we need to do," Lepper said.
Lepper said Wyrick is expected to be back in about a week, while Wieberg should be return around the start of January.
Helias (1-3) is back in action next Tuesday at Battle.
In Tuesday's JV game, Helias edged Osage 31-29. Marissa Nienhueser had 12 points for the Lady Crusaders.
In a freshman game, Helias was a 37-14 winner against Osage. Emily Harrison finished with 10 points for the Lady Crusaders (4-0).