Jefferson City scored 18 points in a span of about 4 minutes against Helias, but managed just 37 in the other 31 minutes during Friday night's basketball Jamboree at Rackers Fieldhouse.
"Except for a little spurt there against Helias, there weren't a lot of positives from it tonight," first-year Jefferson City coach Mark Anderson said. "That may be OK as long as we react and respond to it the right way. We'll see how we do."
The Jays went 0-3 on the night, falling 23-18 to Father Tolton, 25-23 on a buzzer-beater to Helias and 31-14 to Blair Oaks in the three 12-minute scrimmages.
Charlie Wehmeyer sparked the Jays against the Crusaders, scoring a team-high 11 points.
Helias led 6-1 in the first three minutes before Wehmeyer knocked down his first of three 3-pointers.
The Jays trailed 11-5 after the first quarter, but Wehmeyer quickly cut the deficit to three with a 3.
"It was good to see Charlie knock down some shots," Anderson said. "I think we've got the pieces to be pretty good, but we're going to have to get to a couple of different levels than where we are right now."
The Crusaders answered with six straight points but Garrett Parker scored seven consecutive points, including a 3-pointer, to give Jefferson City an 18-17 lead.
With the game tied at 23, Helias was able to hold for the final shot, which Landon Harrison made for the 25-23 defeat of the Jays.
The offense couldn't get much going. The Jays got down 6-1 against the Trailblazers and trailed 21-10 at one point.
Brennan Jeffries and Wehmeyer each hit a 3 in the final minute to make the final score close.
Against Blair Oaks, Jared Cooper scored to get the Jays within 7-6 before the Falcons went on a 22-3 run.
"It's kind of why you plays these things," Anderson said. "You get to play against other teams and kind of see what some of the deficiencies are and we've been talking about a lot of those things in practice.
"We got exposed for a lot of things tonight. We've got a long way to go defensively. We knew we were behind offensively, but I think the defensive effort and rebounding effort was disappointing."
Jefferson City begins the season Tuesday against Sedalia Smith-Cotton at Fleming Fieldhouse.
"Hopefully we'll play better when it counts," Anderson said.