The Helias Crusaders hit their first four shots, and five of their first six, and never looked back.
The fourth-seeded Crusaders took the lead they would not give up with 6:20 left in the first quarter and built to a 64-49 win Wednesday against the fifth-seeded Union Wildcats in the first round of the Class 5 District 5 Tournament at Capital City High School.
With the win, Helias (15-12) moves on to face top-seeded Jefferson City -- which beat Capital City 79-37 in Wednesday’s opening game -- at 6 p.m. Friday at Capital City.
“It’s gonna be a battle,” Helias coach Joe Rothweiler said. “We have to fight. We have to win the loose-ball battle. We’re gonna have to make some shots. Jeff City is a really good basketball team.”
Gallery: Class 5 District 5 Boys Basketball -- Helias vs. Union
Union ends its season with a record of 16-11.
After Union won the opening tip and used a Ryan Rapert assist for a Liam Hughes layup, two of Hughes’ team-high 11 points, the Crusaders got to work.
Sam Lopez dished one of his game-high five assists to Jacob Rembecki on a backdoor cut for a layup, two of Rembecki’s co-game-high 17 points, then Lopez dished another to Trey Bexten for a 3-pointer from the top of the key, three of Bexten’s 12 points.
Lopez then turned a steal into a layup before Logan Hillman dished one of his four assists to Bexten for a 3 from the left wing to put the Crusaders up 10-2 with 5:16 left in the first.
“That was huge,” Rothweiler said of the hot start. “If you miss five of those six then you’re starting to question things. It was great to have a senior step up and hit two 3s to start the game in Trey Bexten. He’s our emotional leader anyway and kind of got us going.”
Helias connected on 7-of-12 shots in the opening quarter to build a 17-11 lead at the first break.
The Crusader offense slowed slightly in the second quarter, but Hillman was able to take the reins, scoring 11 of the Crusaders’ 13 points, including a fast-break layup off a Lopez assist to give Helias its biggest lead of the first half at 25-13 and a leaping tip-in on an offensive board to put the Crusaders up 30-19 with 11 seconds left.
Haydon Smith hit a coast-to-coast layup with a second on the clock, two of his 10 points, to cut the lead to 30-21 heading to halftime.
“Logan Hillman woke up a bit and carried us through the second quarter,” Rothweiler said. “He helped us keep that lead when Union looked like they were getting back in a little bit.”
The Crusader offense kept rolling to start the second half, opening on a 9-2 run with two points each from Henry Neuenswander, Bexten and Hillman and a left-wing 3 from Rembecki, to create a 39-23 lead with 6:13 left.
Helias maintained at least a 14-point lead until a Hayden Burke 3 off one of Rapert’s four assists cut the lead to 47-35 for the Wildcats.
Rapert then turned an offensive board into a buzzer-beating putback to cut the lead to 49-37 at the final break.
The Crusaders then opened the fourth on a 10-0 run, with the help of three of Hillman’s game-high four steals, to go ahead 59-37 before a Kase Winegar putback gave Helias its biggest lead at 62-39 with 3:36 left.
With the backups in for both teams, Union ended the game on a 10-2 run to create the final margin.
“I thought we got off to a really good start, but got into a bit of a lull and played a little loose with the ball,” Rothweiler said. “Playoff jitters, it’s just different basketball in the playoffs. But I thought we did a good job settling down and we got some good minutes out of some guys who don’t get as many minutes and that helped us pull away.”
Hillman led the Crusaders with 17 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals, while Rembecki had 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Bexten scored 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting, while bringing down five rebounds.