The Helias Lady Crusaders aren't going to let one bad game put a damper on a good season.
"This is one of the best seasons we've had here in a while," Helias coach Alan Lepper said Thursday night after the Lady Crusaders closed the regular season with a 70-32 loss to the Rock Bridge Bruins at Rackers Fieldhouse.
Helias will take a record of 16-8 into the postseason, which ties the most regular-season wins for the program since the 2012-13 team won 17 games in the regular season.
The Lady Crusaders were never really in Thursday night's game against the Bruins.
Rock Bridge opened with a 4-0 run, then after a 3-pointer by Helias' Meagan Engelbrecht, scored the next 10 points to make it 14-3 midway through the first quarter.
The Bruins led 23-7 after one quarter.
"We were not ready to play that ballgame," Lepper said. "Our intensity and energy was nowhere near where it needed to be."
Helias held Rock Bridge scoreless for the first few minutes of the second quarter and cut its deficit to 23-12. But the Bruins closed the half on a 15-1 run to take a 38-13 advantage into intermission.
"When you get your opportunity on offense, you have to take it," Lepper said. "I don't know if we're worried about missing or what, but we have to find a way to score.
"Our shooters have to shoot."
Rock Bridge was 9-of-11 from the field in the first quarter and 15-of-22 in the half to go along with a 5-of-8 performance at the free-throw line.
"You cannot give good shooters open looks like that," Lepper said. "We weren't rotating correctly, we were a step slow."
Helias was 4-of-18 from the field and 2-of-8 at the line in the first half.
"We missed free throws, we missed seven or eight layups," Lepper said. "It's hard playing from behind against a quality team like Rock Bridge."
The Bruins outscored the Lady Crusaders 26-9 in the third quarter to take a 64-22 lead. The fourth quarter was played with a running clock.
Eryn Puett totaled a game-high 26 points for Rock Bridge (15-9). Biance Stocks added 12.
"Their spacing on offense was good, their ball movement was good," Lepper said. "They had us chasing all night long and when you chase against good teams, this is what's going to happen."
Engelbrecht paced Helias with 16 points and seven rebounds.
The Lady Crusaders are the No. 2 seed in the Class 4 District 9 Tournament at Boonville. Helias will face the winner of third-seeded School of the Osage and sixth-seeded Fulton at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the tournament semifinals. Osage and Fulton will play at 3 p.m. Saturday. Boonville is the No. 1 seed.
"This one is going to hurt tonight, but now we're back to 0-0," Lepper said. "We can't let this ballgame dictate what we do the rest of the season, starting with the district opener."
In Thursday night's JV game, Rock Bridge edged Helias 47-45. Ella Meyer had 13 points for the Lady Crusaders, while Madisyn Hood added 12.