For the third consecutive year, excluding 2020 when the tournament was a four-team round robin, the Helias Crusaders found themselves in the Joe Machens Great 8 Classic third-place game.
And for the third consecutive time, the Crusaders walked away with a win.
“I’m proud for our guys bouncing back after a tough loss yesterday,” Helias coach Joe Rothweiler said.
Helias beat The Webb School, Tenn., Feet 63-53 at Fleming Fieldhouse on Friday, but the game was much closer than 10 points most of the way.
Webb took a 19-13 lead into the break after the first quarter, then led 31-27 at halftime before starting the fourth with a 42-36 advantage.
But Helias was able to make the most of the fourth quarter.
Trey Bexten, who was making his first start of the season in just his third game following a preseason injury, dished an assist to Jacob Rembecki in the post for two of Rembecki’s game-high 15 points, cutting Webb’s lead to 42-38.
Webb responded with a Hector Larsson layup off one of Eli Brown’s five assists, but Helias cut the lead to four once again when Kase Winegar scored on a putback after an offensive rebound.
Bexten then grabbed a defensive rebound and charged down the floor, tossing to Henry Neuenswander on the way before Neuenswander dished back to Bexten charging into the lane from the wing for a traditional three-point play.
Bexten’s free throw made it 44-43 Webb, but Larsson was able to connect on another layup off a Brown assist to widen back to three points.
Bexten grabbed the defensive rebound on a missed free throw, then Neuenswander swung the ball to Bexten at the top of the key for a game-tying 3.
“Trey’s invaluable to us,” Rothweiler said. “He’s our heart and sole. He’s a leader, he’s been playing varsity basketball for three years and he thrives in moments like that. When we need him, he steps up.”
Neuenswander then hit a 3 off one of Sam Lopez’s three assists before Winegar connected on two free throws to make it an 8-0 run and put the Crusaders up 51-46 with 2:11 left to play.
Webb turned consecutive steals into a transition dunk and a layup to tie the game at 51, but Helias had been able to put Webb in foul trouble early and reached the line 10 times in the final minute, hitting all 10 to create an 18-for-19 day at the charity stripe, including six attempts in the final 20 seconds to extend the lead to 10 points.
The lone points Helias scored in the final minute that didn’t come at the line were from Bexten on a layup off a press-breaking assist from Lopez.
“They got really solid and stuck together on defense,” Rothweiler said of Helias’ fourth-quarter run. “They’re hard to guard, so many shooters, they can spread you out and drive and kick. We had trouble getting the shooters early on, we did a much better job of rotating in that fourth quarter and that allowed us to go on our run.”
Part of Helias getting Webb into foul trouble came with creating issues for Webb center Stephen Olowoniyi, who has received multiple Division I offers, getting him to three fouls in the first half and fouling out at the 2:11 mark of the fourth.
“We wanted to try to get a couple charges on him, we thought that could get him in some foul trouble, and we wanted to block him out and get him to go over our back a couple times,” Rothweiler said. “He did that. The last play that fouled him out, Kase Winegar just made an incredible play, having patience to get him off balance. We wanted to be physical with him and frustrate him and bait him a bit.”
Helias held Olowoniyi to only eight points, with all but two coming in a two-minute stretch in the third quarter. Helias had cut the Webb lead to 35-34 after a Bexten layup off a Winegar assist, then Olowoniyi scored on a putback attempt after an offensive board, turned a Jax Howard assist into a two-handed slam, then used one of Arnett Hayes’ game-high eight assists for a one-handed jam to put the Feet up 41-34 with 2:01 left in the third.
Taveon Comage led the Feet early, hitting all four shots he took in the first quarter for nine of the team’s first 19 points.
“It was kind of typical for our team throughout the year,” Rothweiler said. “We go through some bad stretches and then find a way to win at the end. We’ve shown resilience in fourth quarters.”
Rembecki added a game-high six rebounds to his scoring performance for Helias, while Lopez had nine points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Hillman scored 10 points and had five rebounds off the bench, while Neuenswander had eight points, four rebounds and three assists.
Olowoniyi was named to the all-tournament team for Webb, while both Rembecki and Bexten made it for Helias.
Helias (6-4) has a long break before returning to the court Jan. 10 at Lutheran: St. Charles.