HTC boys run streak to four games

KALONA — It will be a while before Holy Trinity’s boys basketball team plays again.

But the Crusaders take plenty of momentum into the break.

Holy Trinity extended its winning streak to four games with Saturday’s 54-36 win over Wapello in an SEI Superconference Shootout game at Hillcrest Academy.

Luke Hellige led Holy Trinity with 23 points. Conner Gehling had 15.

The Crusaders, who finished the regular season at 9-12, don’t play again until opening Class 1A district tournament play on February 13.

“To go without a game for a whole week is a little strange,” Holy Trinity coach John Hellige said. “We’ve just got to bring some energy and effort to practice, keep the toughness going.”

Holy Trinity trailed Wapello 26-22 at halftime, then outscored the Indians 28-3 in the first 11 1/2 minutes of the second half to take control of the game.

The run was a contrast to the first half, when the Crusaders were outscored 12-2 over the final 6:55.

“We just talked to the kids at halftime about being tougher,” Hellige said. “We started off nice, and then we went through a little lull there in the second quarter. But in the second half, we were tough.”

Wapello had just two points in the third quarter off a layup from Carson Belzer with 3:20 left. The Indians wouldn’t get another field goal until Casey Short’s jumper with 2:26 left in the game.

“That’s a pretty good run to have,” Hellige said. “Hat’s off to the kids for stepping up, stepping up their level of toughness.”

Jackson Lanz led Wapello with 20 points.

Hellige said the recent run is a lesson for his team on how it can play in the postseason.

“We told the kids in the locker room that, starting with Monday’s practice, everybody is 0-0,” he said. “If we can put together a complete game like we played there in the second half of this one, we can play with anybody.

“We’ll practice hard. We challenged our (junior varsity) in the locker room after the game to bring their ‘A’ game to practice, to push our varsity as hard as they can, so we can be ready.”