For eight minutes Tuesday night, the Helias Crusaders did what coach Josh Buffington had wanted them to do all season.
The Crusaders turned their defense into offense in the third quarter against the Southern Boone Eagles, which transformed a 1-point halftime lead into a 56-41 victory on Senior Night at Rackers Fieldhouse.
Helias outscored Southern Boone 25-5 in the third quarter, forcing seven turnovers while holding the Eagles to 2-of-10 shooting in the eight minutes.
"After an intense halftime session in the locker room, I thought we all loosened up a bit in the second half," Buffington said. "We played more to our potential as a team."
Ryan Andrews scored off a nice pass from Seth Mueller on the opening possession of the second half to give Southern Boone a 19-18 lead. It would be the Eagles' last lead of the game, and it would last all of eight seconds.
Helias hurried the ball down the court and Landon Harrison knocked down a 3-pointer - the team's first 3 of the game - from the left wing to give the lead back to the Crusaders. Nick Brandt added another 3 from the right corner to make the score 26-19, leading to a Southern Boone timeout at the 5:51 mark.
The break didn't do much for the Eagles, who turned the ball over five straight times after the timeout. Helias scored 10 points off those turnovers to cap a 15-0 run and stretch its advantage to 35-19 with 3:33 left in the third.
"You look at a quarter like that, and when you turn a team over that many times, you would think we're playing full-court pressure defense, but we weren't," Buffington said. "Our half-court defense has come a long way lately.
"We're confident now that we can turn people over just by playing fundamental team defense."
After Southern Boone snapped Helias' run, Alex Buschjost and Xavier Sykes made back-to-back 3s and Marcus Anthony made a pair of free throws in the final 1:10 of the third quarter to push the Crusaders' lead to 43-22.
The lead wouldn't stay at 21 points for long. Southern Boone opened the fourth quarter on a 10-0 run in the first three minutes.
"The run happened because we got complacent with a 20-point lead," Buffington said. "Defensively, we started to gamble and try to make it a 22- or 24-point lead, instead of just staying in our gaps defensively."
Following a timeout, Buffington made a few substitutions, getting Harrison back in the game. The Helias senior had a 3-point play and added another basket to stretch the lead to 50-32 with 3:32 left.
Southern Boone answered with seven straight points, but Harrison put the game out of reach, banking in a runner with 2:09 left to give him a game-high 21 points.
Prior to the game, Harrison was presented with a ball to commemorate his 1,500th career point scored earlier this month. He finished 9-of-15 from the field Tuesday night.
Helias' three seniors combined to score 36 of the team's 56 points. Bax got into double figures with 1:27 left in the game, finishing with 10 points and seven rebounds, while Buschjost added five points.
"I'd go to war with those three any day of the week," Buffington said. "They're great kids, they've been together a long time. I wish them the best of luck and I know they'll be successful."
Helias trailed 10-8 after one quarter and led 18-17 at halftime. The Crusaders outrebounded Southern Boone 36-26 and Anthony had a game-high 11 boards off the bench.
"We did a much better job on the defensive boards in the second half, and I think where we gained confidence on the defensive glass was because of Marcus Anthony," Buffington said. "The job he was doing, getting to the basketball on the offensive glass, it was contagious."
Rece Gilmore led Southern Boone (16-7) with 13 points. Brady Trammell chipped in 12 points.
Helias (15-8) plays its last two games of the regular season in Columbia, starting with Friday's game at Father Tolton before playing next Friday at Rock Bridge.
"Those two road games are on our schedule for a reason, to prepare us (for districts)," Buffington said.
In Tuesday's JV game, Helias lost 45-36 to Southern Boone to drop to 12-3 this season. Caleb Justice led the Crusaders with eight points.