The Helias Crusaders got out of their shooting funk Friday night.
After back-to-back games of shooting less than 30 percent from the floor as a team, Helias made 51 percent of its shots against the Capital City Cavaliers.
The Crusaders bounced back from their worst loss of the season with their most lopsided win of the year, defeating the Cavaliers 77-52 in Central Missouri Activities Conference play at Rackers Fieldhouse.
“We really needed to feel better about ourselves,” Helias coach Joe Rothweiler said.
Rather than getting back into the gym and work on its shooting after Tuesday’s 65-29 loss to the Jefferson City Jays, Helias tried a different tactic.
And a different sport all together.
“On Wednesday, after we got beat by 36 by Jeff City, we came into practice and just played whiffle ball,” Rothweiler said. “It was varsity against JV and it was a lot of fun.
“We had a similar instance where that helped us. Sometimes you just have to have those days. Maybe we need to have more whiffle ball practices.”
Gallery: Helias Boys Basketball vs. Capital City
Helias began Friday’s game by making its first two attempts from 3-point range, but it was a pair of three-point plays by Trey Bexten and Sam Lopez that helped spark the Crusader offense.
“Those were both off assists,” Rothweiler said. “I thought that was the best we moved the basketball and shared the basketball in a month.”
The Crusaders led 21-13 after one quarter and surpassed Tuesday’s point total by the 4:33 mark of the second quarter on a 3-pointer by Jacob Rembecki to stretch their lead to 30-18.
Capital City coach Darrin Young was pleased with his team’s performance in the first half, but he said there were a couple of missed opportunities by the Cavaliers.
“When you get in the lane -- and Helias does a really good job of playing help defense -- you have to be able to make the extra passes,” Young said. “That’s what I’m going to show them when I break down the film.
“As well as we’ve played, there’s so much that I still have to teach.”
A three-point play by Colby Gates and a drive and a layup by Aman Kesete cut Capital City’s deficit to 34-26 in the final few minutes of the first half.
Rembecki answered with a 3 from the right corner with :03 left on the clock to push Helias’ halftime lead to 37-26.
The 3 was Rembecki’s fifth of the game. He led the Crusaders with 22 points after missing Tuesday’s game against the Jays.
“Not to make excuses, but not having Jacob Rembecki (available to play) is a big deal for us,” Rothweiler said. “With him out of the lineup Tuesday night, we were searching for where we could get offense.”
The third quarter belonged to Helias.
The Crusaders forced 10 Cavalier turnovers in the quarter and used a 14-0 run to push their lead to 60-31.
“In games like that, you have to make plays that are going to stabilize games,” Young said. “We’ve got to get better at understanding what’s needed at certain times. Is this a possession where we need to get a paint touch, or is this a possession where we need a quick basket?”
Trey Bexten, Helias’ starting post player, knocked down a rare 3 from the left wing that helped spark the Crusaders’ third-quarter run. Bexten finished with 10 points.
“That was a big shot,” Rothweiler said. “We had a healthy lead, but he works on that shot every single day, and when he catches it and shoots in rhythm, he’s a good shooter.”
By the end of the third quarter, two of Helias’ three seniors -- Rembecki and Bexten -- were already in double figures in the scoring column. The third senior joined his teammates in the fourth quarter.
Henry Neuenswander knocked down a pair of 3s in the fourth, the second 3 giving Helias its largest lead of the game at 71-40 with 3:38 to play. Neuenswander finished with 11 points, as all three Helias seniors scored 10 or more points on Senior Night.
“That’s awesome and they deserve it,” Rothweiler said of his three seniors, who are all returning starters from last season’s Class 5 state runner-up team.
“Henry was in a major slump the last two games. I’ve never seen him in that bad of a slump, and it was starting to get into his head a little bit. For him to hit some shots in the second half and get his confidence back, that’ll really help us out going forward.”
Sam Lopez also reached double figures for the Crusaders with 11 points, shooting 4-of-4 from the floor and 3-of-3 at the free-throw line.
However, the biggest cheer of the night didn’t involve any of the seniors. The Helias student section erupted when Graham Kauffman entered the game late in the fourth quarter and made a 3 from the right corner in his only shot attempt.
“The student section was awesome,” Rothweiler said. “They were chanting his name in the third quarter.”
Kesete led Capital City with a game-high 25 points, scoring nine points in the fourth quarter to prevent a running clock.
“He shot the ball well,” Young said. “But what I appreciated was there was a time when he turned the ball over, and in the past he would pout or point a finger. Tonight, he said, ‘It’s my fault, and he communicated right away what we were going to be in defensively.
“Seeing that mental development and maturity, that was the biggest victory.”
Gates added 13 points for the Cavaliers.
Helias (8-6, 2-1 CMAC), ranked No. 10 in Class 5, continues conference play Tuesday at Hickman (13-5, 2-0 CMAC), which is receiving votes in Class 6.
Capital City (5-13, 0-4 CMAC) will take a break from conference play Thursday when it hosts Owensville.
In Friday’s JV game, Helias defeated Capital City 45-36 to improve to 6-4.
Alex Wood led the Crusaders with 11 points, followed by Brayden Means with 10 points. Imran Din-Gabisi had a team-high 10 points for the Cavaliers.