BOLIVAR -- The Bolivar Liberators led wire-to-wire Saturday afternoon, defeating the Helias Crusaders 73-59 in the third-place game of the Bolivar Tournament.
Mason Wilson scored a game-high 29 points for the Liberators, while Northern Iowa signee Kyle Pock added 14 points with a pair of dunks.
Bolivar scored the game’s first seven points and made five 3-pointers in the first quarter, jumping out to a 25-14 lead after the first eight minutes. The Liberators led by as many as 23 points in the second quarter and went into the locker room with a 46-29 advantage.
Helias used a 13-0 run in the third quarter to close the gap to 51-44, but that was as close as the Crusaders would get.
Helias scored 23 points in the third quarter to trail 63-52 entering the fourth. A basket by Kase Winegar in the opening seconds of the final quarter cut the Bolivar lead to nine points, but Wilson answered with a basket for the Liberators, who led by double digits the rest of the way.
Trey Bexten finished with a team-high 14 points for the Crusaders, making four 3s. Henry Neuenswander added 13 points and Winegar also reached double figures with 11 points.
Bolivar, ranked No. 9 in Class 5, improves to 14-5 with Saturday’s win.
Helias (9-9), which is receiving votes in the Class 5 state rankings, is off until next Saturday, when it hosts Bishop DuBourg in the Central Bank Shootout. Tip-off is at 8 p.m. at Rackers Fieldhouse.