Blair Oaks girls hold off Helias

Lauren Alexander of Helias drives as Halie Rackers of Blair Oaks defends during Tuesday night's game at Rackers Fieldhouse.
Lauren Alexander of Helias drives as Halie Rackers of Blair Oaks defends during Tuesday night's game at Rackers Fieldhouse.

Down by nine points early in the third quarter, the Blair Oaks Lady Falcons didn't think they were out of it.

Down by nine points early in the fourth quarter, the Helias Lady Crusaders didn't think they were out of it either.

They both were right.

In a frantic final few minutes Tuesday night at Rackers Fieldhouse, the Lady Falcons scored just enough points to hold off the Lady Crusaders 47-44.

"It sure got close," Blair Oaks coach Darren Heckman said, who picked up a win in his debut with the Lady Falcons.

On the other side, the Lady Crusaders were left to lament one they felt got away.

"They did the little things," Helias coach Alan Lepper said. "They just executed and we didn't. They just outplayed us in the second half."

Helias used an 8-0 run in the second quarter to take a 19-14 lead into halftime. The Lady Crusaders then opened the third quarter with a 5-1 spurt to take their biggest lead at 24-15.

"We weren't getting back on defense and our offense was really stagnant," Heckman said. "A lot of the time on offense, it was one or two passes and then a shot and we were done."

But that suddenly changed as the Lady Falcons answered with a 16-1 run of their own to take the lead for good. Halie Rackers had six points in the surge for Blair Oaks, capped by a pair of free throws by Kayla Jones.

"We just got better shots," Heckman said

The Lady Falcons, who led 32-27 after three quarters, stretched their advantage to 36-27 with six minutes remaining on a three-point play by Peyton Kusgen.

"We saw it last year, we don't play very well for seven or eight minutes, fall into a hole, and then we have to dig ourselves out of it," Lepper said. "We just have to get to the point as a program where we're not doing that."

Down by nine, Helias started digging. The Lady Crusaders got back to within one at 37-36, then the Lady Falcons scored five unanswered points to push their advantage back to six.

A three-point play by Ellie Rockers pulled Helias back to within a point at 43-42 with :15.1 remaining. Claire Heckman of Blair Oaks then hit two free throws to put the Lady Falcons up by three.

A layup by Lauren Alexander got Helias to within one again in the final seconds before Blair Oaks got a layup from Brooke Boessen at the buzzer to make the final 47-44.

"We just let them dictate what they wanted to do in the second half," Lepper said.

Rebounds played a big role in the game as Blair Oaks finished with a 36-24 edge on the boards.

"Attitude and effort, that's what that was," Heckman said.

The Lady Falcons had five players with at least four rebounds, while the Lady Crusaders had just one.

"They were more physical than we were," Lepper said.

Blair Oaks committed 26 fouls in 36 minutes last Friday night in the Jamboree against Helias and Jefferson City. So Heckman decided to play more zone defense to open the regular season.

"We played a little better defense without fouling," he said. "We were more active in the zone defense tonight for some reason. Helias has so many girls that are quick to the basket, we had some problems staying in front of them last week.

"We tried to make them make baskets over us. We wanted to play defense with our feet instead of our hands."

Rackers paced the Lady Falcons with 11 points. Sydney Wilde had seven rebounds for Blair Oaks, while Kusgen totaled six.

Alexander scored a game-high 16 points for the Lady Crusaders. Rockers had a double-double for Helias, totaling 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Blair Oaks (1-0) will face St. Elizabeth in the opening round of the Eugene Tournament on Monday night. Helias (0-1) is back in action next Tuesday against Camdenton.

In Tuesday night's JV game, Helias edged Blair Oaks 44-43. Emily Harrison had 11 points for the Lady Crusaders. Bailey Rissmiller had a game-high 14 points for Blair Oaks, while Shay Turner added 12.