The Jefferson City Jays entered the holiday break with a 10-point loss to Bentonville, Ark.
Even though the Jays have three victories, including two coming on game-winning shots in the final seconds, coach Tony Phillips pointed to that fifth-place game of the Blue Springs Tournament as one that showed the potential of this group.
The Jays took a 31-23 lead before Bentonville scored 26 of the game's next 32 points.
"In the first half, that's as good as Jefferson City's played in several years," Phillips said as the Jays get set to open play in the Joe Machens Great 8 Classic today. "If the Bentonville game is where our ceiling is at, I'm excited with what's going to happen this year."
Jefferson City (3-3) will take on Northmont (Clayton, Ohio) at 7 p.m. at Fleming Fieldhouse to begin the three-day tournament.
The Jays went into the Blue Springs Tournament at 2-1, but fell 81-53 to the host team before defeating Lincoln College Prep 69-68 on Kaidyn Johnson's game-winning 3-pointer.
"We responded well and played pretty well," Phillips said.
The Jays have had 12 days to prepare for the Northmont Thunderbolts, who placed second in their lone appearance in the Great 8 Classic in 2016.
"It let us get our legs back underneath us," Phillips said.
The Thunderbolts are led by 6-foot-3 junior guard Patrick Ivory.
"They've got some athleticism," Phillips said. "They remind me a little bit of Battle."
Other key players for Northmont include forward Jordan Smith, who Phillips called "very athletic", senior Trent Freeman and three-point shooting senior Andrew White.
"We're going to pressure them to see if they can handle the pressure," Phillips said.
Jefferson City has two players averaging double figures in points: senior Brennan Jeffries (16.2) and junior Sterling DeSha (15.3).
The Jays are shooting 129-of-301 (43 percent) for the season.
"They are going to play a zone, so we're going to have to hit some shots," Phillips said.
Johnson, a senior scoring 9.8 points per game, has made a team-high 11 3-pointers on just 16 attempts.
Fellow senior Ben Folz averages 9.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
"When we share the basketball and when we defend and when we play with a lot of energy, we can be really, really good," Phillips said.
Jefferson City and Northmont are grouped with Blair Oaks and Lausanne (Memphis, Tenn.) at the bottom half of the bracket.
"If we take take care of the basketball and we play the way we're capable of playing, we'll be OK," Phillips said.
Father Tolton, Upper Arlington (Ohio), Helias and Oxford, (Miss.) round out the field.
"The team that plays the best three times in a row is going to win this," Phillips said. "It ought to be a great tournament."