For two quarters and one minute Saturday afternoon, the Helias Lady Crusaders were in it.
The next seven minutes knocked them out of it as the Lebanon Lady Jackets went on a 21-0 run in the third quarter on their way to a 67-50 victory in the Central Bank Shootout at Rackers Fieldhouse in Jefferson City.
"We played a pretty decent first half, but I think our inexperience caught up with us in that run," Helias coach Alan Lepper said. "We had a couple of our experienced kids in foul trouble, we couldn't really stop them.
"There's a reason they're a top-10 team in the state (No. 10 in Class 5)."
After Lebanon's Kelsey Winfrey hit the first basket of the game, Helias scored the next eight points to take an 8-2 lead with 5:45 left in the first quarter.
Lebanon came back to tie it at 10, then closed the quarter with a 6-1 run to take a five-point lead.
The Lady Jackets led by as many as 11 points in the second quarter before the Lady Crusaders cut the deficit to seven at 33-26 at intermission.
A 3-pointer by Helias' Ashley Rehagen opened the scoring in the second half before a steal and a layup from Morgan Wieberg pulled the Lady Crusaders to within 36-31 with seven minutes to play in the third quarter.
Helias then got stuck on 31 for a long time.
There was just one second left in the quarter before the Lady Crusaders got on the board again, with Rachel Schulte's two free throws making it 57-33 heading into the final period.
Winfrey was tough to stop in the third quarter. The University of Missouri recruit hit all five of her shots and all three of her three throws to account for 15 points.
With 3:11 left in the quarter and Lebanon holding a 45-31 lead, Winfrey went down to the floor after being fouled on her way to the basket. She hit the two ensuing free throws and perhaps a little inspired by the foul, got steals and layups on three consecutive possessions for the Lady Jackets.
"She's a player," Lepper said.
Winfrey totaled with 34 points and eight rebounds before leaving the game with Lebanon holding a 64-37 advantage with five minutes to play.
Jenna Glendenning added 11 points for Lebanon (15-5), the only team to defeat Jefferson City this season.
Rehagen paced Helias with 13 points, while Wieberg chipped in with 11.
Helias was missing two starters Saturday. Ellie Rockers missed the game after banging her knee during Thursday night's game at Boonville, while Erin Wyrick sat with a lingering injury.
Lepper said Wyrick could be back this week and the Lady Crusaders did get Sophia Carr back Saturday after she missed the last few weeks with an injured thumb.
"Sooner or later, we're going to get healthy again," Lepper said. "Hopefully, it's before districts."
Helias (7-15) is back in action Tuesday at home against St. Dominic.
"I think if you can take a couple of minutes out of a few games, our record would look a lot better," Lepper said. "The problem is, you can't do that and it's my job to find a way to make sure we don't have those problem minutes.
"The players are frustrated by the losses, but you really can't tell it in practice because they are all still working hard. As much as we preach about basketball being bracket-time, they know the bigger goals are still out there. They have not given up."
The JV game will start at 6 p.m. Tuesday, with the varsity contest to follow around 7:30 p.m.