It wasn't the ideal home-opening performance Helias boys basketball coach Josh Buffington had in mind.
Tuesday night's contest between the Crusaders and the Camdenton Lakers featured a total of 48 fouls and 48 turnovers, which stunted the flow of the game.
"A win is a win, and we'll take it," Buffington said following Helias' 81-62 victory at Rackers Fieldhouse.
"I'm disappointed with the way we settled at times offensively in the first half," Buffington added. "We were 3-for-17 from three. We had a lot of soft plays defensively. We gave up too many layups, we gave up too many points in the paint."
The 3-point shot wasn't falling for the Crusaders, who finished 5-of-25 beyond the arc for the game.
Nick Brandt accounted for all three 3-pointers in the first half. The junior scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the first quarter, and his third 3-pointer finished off a 10-0 run that gave Helias a 19-10 lead.
"Nick does everything we ask," Buffington said. "Nick's doing a great job of responding to some constructive criticism, which is going to happen a lot early in the season."
The Crusaders led 21-14 after one quarter and were ahead by as many as nine points in the second. While Helias forced nine Camdenton turnovers in the second quarter - and 30 total for the game - the team's shooting struggles prevented it from picking up more points off turnovers.
"This game is about possessions," Buffington said. "You want more good possessions than the other team, and the only way to get more good possessions is to outrebound your opponent and take care of the basketball."
The Lakers trailed 36-31 at halftime. Paxton DeLaurent, who finished with a team-high 17 points for Camdenton, knocked down a three from the left corner on the opening possession of the second half to trim the deficit to two points.
When it became a one-possesion game, Nathan Bax took control of the offense for Helias.
The 6-foot-5 forward began to get the ball 12 feet from the basket and attack the rim, scoring eight straight points for the Crusaders. Bax completed an old-fashioned three-point play, then drove the lane for a layup on Helias' next possession to push the lead to 46-40 with 3:20 remaining in the third quarter.
"We started playing through him," Buffington said of Bax, who finished with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting. "We fell in love with the three in the first half and couldn't get our guys to settle for side-to-side stagnant shots.
"We began playing downhill through our post player. He's got to get touches. Unless we're scoring through the open floor, it's got to go through the paint, somehow, some way."
Helias extended its lead to 55-44 by the end of the third quarter. Landon Harrison put the game away early in the fourth.
The Crusaders' senior point guard started the fourth with back-to-back putbacks on a pair of offensive rebounds. Harrison grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and added a coast-to-coast layup off a steal with 5:35 left to make the score 61-47.
"He was very explosive tonight getting to the rim," Buffington said of Harrison, who finished with 16 points and only attempted one 3-pointer. "The shots will come, his free throws and his threes. We know they'll be there when we need it."
Helias pushed the lead to 21 points when Brandt drove the lane for a layup with 2:14 to play, making the score 74-53.
Kelton Virtue added 16 points and nine rebounds for Camdenton (1-3), which had three starters foul out. Luke Eveland added 11 points off the bench.
After playing three games in five days to begin the season, Helias (3-0) won't play again until Dec. 15, when the Crusaders play at Bolivar (2-2), a team that reached the Class 4 Final Four last season and began the season ranked No. 5, one spot behind Helias.
"We're very inconsistent with just about everything we're doing," Buffington said. "I know we'll get there. Our team focus has to get better in several different areas, and we really just need to focus on the little things."
In Tuesday's JV game, Helias won 65-22 to improve to 4-0.
All nine players scored for the Crusaders, who were led by Brenden Truong with 19 points. Damon Johanns and Isaac Johnson each scored 10 points in the win.