Helias girls down Fatima for eighth straight win
By Trevor Hahn
WESTPHALIA -- For the second time this season and the sixth straight time dating to 2014, the Helias Lady Crusaders were able to knock off the Fatima Lady Comets.
Helias, earning its eighth consecutive victory, jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as the Lady Crusaders cruised to a 63-44 win Thursday night against the Lady Comets.
"It feels good," Helias coach Garrett Wiggans said. "I told the girls right after the game that it is really nice when you can see in their faces within the first two minutes of the game that their energy is there. For eight straight games, their energy level has been exactly where it needs to be."
It was easy for Wiggans to see his players energy level was high in the first quarter as the Lady Crusaders came out scorching hot. They made their first seven field-goal attempts and jumped out to a 15-9 lead less than four minutes into the game.
The effort did not stop there. Helias, led by sophomore forward Adalyn Koelling with 15 first-quarter points, rode its momentum and carried a 23-13 lead after the first eight minutes.
"Some nights it is yours and some nights it is theirs," Fatima coach Matt Baker said. "They had a really good first quarter. They scored 23 of their 63 points there in the first, so if you give up a third of their points in the first quarter it is probably not going to end up well. We blew a few weak-side coverages in the first and once Koelling got going we did not do a good job of communicating where she was on the floor. We messed up some of the pretty basic stuff."
Koelling's night did not slow down after her big first quarter, scoring a game-high 30 points. Koelling still has room for growth, which is a scary thought for future Lady Crusaders' opponents.
"She is already really good," Wiggans said. "There is a reason DI schools are already after her and she just proved it tonight. Thirty points in a high-school game is really hard to do. She had some outstanding shooting tonight and is making plays that maybe she didn't last year. She's only a sophomore so the sky is really the limit for her. She's got two-and-a-half years of high school ball left and I am really excited to see them."
Helias and Fatima went back and forth during the second quarter with each team scoring 11 points, allowing Helias to take the same 11-point lead into halftime. The Lady Crusaders were able to cruise through the second half, taking a 47-33 lead into the fourth quarter before winning the final eight minutes 16-11 for the 63-44 final.
The Lady Crusaders were able to take advantage of the Fatima zone defense throughout this one with some impressive ball movement. This led to easy looks from both the perimeter and the paint for Helias, much to the pleasure of Wiggans.
"The passing was phenomenal tonight," he said. "Mikah Edwards has done a really, really good job of running the point for two years now. Claire Manns and Brooke Reutter did well and then you got Jacie and GB coming off the bench with Ava grabbing all the rebounds. It is everybody that is wearing a Helias jersey is clicking at the same time and playing really really good basketball."
The Lady Crusaders have not lost a game since they swept three games to take the Jefferson Bank Holiday Hoops Tournament title at the end of December. The momentum of winning the championship has really helped this young Helias team which starts two juniors and three sophomores.
"That was a huge confidence boost for us," Wiggans said. "Just knowing that we can hang with really good teams and then from then on you have seen the fruits of the girls' labor and it's working."
Helias (14-5) does not have a scheduled game until Feb. 5 when it is set to host the Central Bank Shootout and play Lift for Life Academy Charter. This may be subject to change as Wiggans does not want his team to lose momentum.
"We are trying to find a make-up date with Boonville, hopefully before that Central Bank Shootout," he said. "We will try to get that game in, but if we can't, we are going to have to find one. We have to keep playing basketball games. Practice is going to have to be really competitive and I think me and coach (Chris) Wyrick have a few things up our sleeve to make that happen."
Fatima (11-6) will be back in action Monday night when it travels to Class 1 No. 7 St. Elizabeth (13-3) for a 7:30 p.m. contest.
"You know, I don't know what they have right now," Baker said. "I know they are playing really well and have a good record with a state ranking. I am sure they are solid, but I haven't got a chance to look at them on film yet. We have to go down there and play well before the reigning state champions come to town next Thursday. The schedule is unforgiving this year, so we will have to get on the film in the morning and get back at it."