It wasn’t the shot the Helias Lady Crusaders wanted.
But it was Plan B that won it.
Mikah Edwards hit a layup with :02.5 left Wednesday to lift Helias to a 42-41 victory against Staley in the opening round of the Jefferson Bank Holiday Hoops Classic at Capital City High School.
“We were actually trying to get (Adalyn) Koelling the ball for a 3-pointer,” Helias coach Garrett Wiggans said. “But we talked in the timeout, if Ada wasn’t open, Mikah had to get to the rim.”
Staley doubled down on defense against Koelling, so it was up to Edwards. Helias’ lone senior, Edwards drove down the right side, then the baseline to hit the layup.
“She had to get to the rim, if nothing else, to get fouled,” Wiggans said.
It was Edwards’ only two points of the night.
“They came at the best time possible,” Wiggans said.
Both teams struggled offensively for much of the game. The teams combined to go 4-of-20 from the field in the first quarter, including 1-of-12 on 3-pointers, as Staley grabbed an 8-5 lead.
A 3-pointer by Kenadi Harrison with 3:17 left in the second quarter gave Helias its biggest lead of the first half at 15-12. Staley scored the next five points to regain the lead before a short jumper by Koelling with :06 remaining pulled Helias into a tie at 17 at the half.
The Lady Crusaders were standing around too much on the offensive end.
“It was watch-ball,” Wiggans said. “We were standing around watching who had the ball and then we’d try to react.
“We have to be proactive, not reactive.”
A jumper by Koelling gave Helias the lead in the opening minute of the third quarter. But Staley led by as many as five points in the quarter before Helias was able to trim the deficit to 31-29 heading to the fourth.
“I take 100 percent responsibility for the way we played, we probably took too long of a break before this game,” Wiggans said. “We were gassed a little bit, the scouting report probably wasn’t as good as it should have been, I’ll take that one.”
The biggest lead either team had in the fourth quarter was two points, that coming after a layup by London Parker gave Staley a 33-31 advantage with 5:05 to play.
London, a freshman guard, finished with game-high 20 points, 10 in each half.
“I don’t want to say we did the correct things on her defensively every time, but we worked very hard to stay in front of her,” Wiggans said. “She’s good. We have to learn from it and get better.”
A 3-pointer by Claire Galbraith gave the Lady Crusaders a 34-33 lead on the ensuing possession. The teams traded baskets the rest the rest of the way, with a layup by Kaitlyn Davis giving Staley a 40-39 lead with :35 left.
Helias missed a shot on its next possession, but got a Staley turnover to keep the ball on the offensive end of the Lady Crusaders. Helias called a timeout with :10.7 left to set up what turned out to be the game-winner.
“We never felt like we were going to lose the game, we never felt we were out of it,” Wiggans said. “That’s a testament to the attitude of the girls.”
Ava Pickens added 16 points for Staley, which got its other five points from Davis.
“Staley is right up there with anybody we’ve played,” Wiggans said.
Staley (5-3) will take on Fatima (5-3) in the first game today at 2:30 p.m.
Koelling finished with 13 points for Helias (9-0), which moved to No. 1 in Class 5 in the rankings released Wednesday by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association.
“We don’t want the rankings to be a distraction, we just want to play good basketball,” Wiggans said.
Ava Morris had a double-double for the Lady Crusaders, totaling 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Helias will face Central Missouri Activities Conference foe Hickman (8-1) in the semifinals at 7 p.m. today.
“Hickman’s good, we’ve got our hands full,” Wiggans said.
Hickman defeated Fatima 64-28 in the first game Wednesday.