Erin Wyrick wasn't supposed to play Tuesday night.
The Helias junior, normally a starter, had a heavily bandaged pinkie finger and sat on the bench for the first three quarters in the Lady Crusaders game against the Father Tolton Lady Blazers at Rackers Fieldhouse.
But when the fourth quarter started, Wyrick was on the floor. And she provided a spark, going 4-for-4 from the free-throw line and making a big defensive play late as Helias upended Tolton 44-42.
"For three quarters, she kept looking at her parents to let her play," Helias coach Alan Lepper said. "And they finally said yes."
Tolton, ranked No. 6 in Class 3, held a 38-33 advantage against Helias heading into the fourth quarter. But the Lady Crusaders scored the first seven points of the quarter, four on Wyrick free throws, to take a 40-38 lead with 4:27 to play.
It was a white-knuckle affair the remainder of the contest. Tolton tied it at 40 on the ensuing possession before a putback by Morgan Wieberg with 1:25 left gave Helias a two-point lead.
"Morgan has played so well in the past two games, I think she's finally getting healthy," Lepper said.
Tolton hit one-of-two free throws with 1:07 remaining to make it 42-41 before Ashley Rehagen's free throw pushed Helias lead back to two with :55.5 left.
"Ashley is the player that is calming for us out there," Lepper said. "She did a great job of leading, she was big in the huddle and took charge."
Tolton hit the first of two free throws to make it 43-42 with :37.3 remaining. Helias missed a free throw on its next possession and Tolton got the rebound and a chance to win. But Wyrick was able to knock away an entry pass in the final seconds and Claire Ludwig scooped up the loose ball and was fouled.
The senior hit 1-of-2 free throws to make it 44-42 before Helias intercepted a Tolton pass near midcourt to seal the victory.
"It was a defensive effort, one of the best defensive games we've played start to finish," Lepper said. "We pressed and that took them out of their game a little bit. That made them uncomfortable."
Tolton took the first lead Tuesday without any time running off the clock as Helias was whistled for a technical foul before the opening tap for a scorebook violation.
The game was knotted at 8 midway through the first quarter before the Lady Crusaders closed the with a 7-4 edge to take a 15-12 lead. Helias started its four seniors - Kelsey Schenewerk, Wieberg, Rehagen and Ludwig - on Senior Night.
"We have four girls who have been through three head coaches in four years," Lepper said. "We don't like to play for anyone except the name on the front of the jersey, but I really wanted us to play for the four girls who have been through a lot."
Helias hit two free throws early in the second quarter to make it 17-12. But the Lady Crusaders then went scoreless for the next five-plus minutes as the Lady Blazers took their biggest lead of the game at 27-17.
"We always seem to have a little lull to put ourselves in a hole that we have to work our way out of," Lepper said.
With the game possibly slipping away, Rehagen hit consecutive 3-pointers for the Lady Crusaders as Helias came back to trail by two at 29-27 at the half.
"We responded really well to the challenge," Lepper said.
Points were hard to come by for both teams in the third quarter as Tolton outscored Helias 9-6 to take the 38-33 lead into the final period.
Wieberg and Rehagen finished with 13 points each to pace the Lady Crusaders.
Haleigh Berrey finished with 10 points to lead Tolton (19-5).
Helias (9-15) will wrap up the regular season Thursday, Feb. 23, at home against Rock Bridge.
In Tuesday's JV game, Helias posted a 51-15 victory.