Fulton Hornets head coach Ryan Shaw didn't have to delve too deep when summarizing his team's most lopsided loss of the year.
Fulton tallied a season-low point total and was dominated throughout in a 73-33 thrashing by the state-ranked Helias Crusaders on Friday night at Rackers Fieldhouse.
"I don't think there was a whole of analysis to it, I don't think we can overanalyze it too much," Shaw said. "Helias is really good and we didn't play well, and we didn't have (senior forward) Austin (Wilson) playing, which makes a big difference."
Fulton (10-5) entered the game without the services of Wilson, who sat in street clothes Friday night nursing injured ribs.
The absence of Wilson - the team's leading scorer at 17.1 points per game - forced Shaw to have to reconfigure a good chunk of the Hornets' offensive game plan.
Fulton - shooting 42 percent on the season - converted just 29 percent (12-of-42) from the field against Helias.
"A lot of our offense goes through him, he took a lot of the scoring load with (senior guard) Ricky (Dawson) out," Shaw said. "... When you're doing it against one of the best teams in the state, it's a difficult adjustment to make."
The Crusaders - ranked No. 4 in Class 4 in the latest Missouri Basketball Coaches Association/MOsports.com state poll - took some time to get going, but still led 19-11 after one quarter.
Helias' offensive awakening - coupled with a dreadful drought by the Hornets in the second and third quarters - ended up dictating how the rest of the night would unfold.
The Crusaders crafted a 10-0 run over the first 7 minutes, 14 second of the second quarter to stretch their lead to 29-11. During that stretch, the Hornets were 0-of-5 from the field and missed a pair of free throws.
"We couldn't get a basket to fall and they made shots," Shaw said. "(Helias) didn't shoot really well in the first quarter and shot it extremely well in the second and third quarter, so that made the difference."
By the time the halftime buzzer sounded, Fulton had been outscored 24-4 and was on the brutal end of a 43-15 deficit.
Dawson and senior forward Devin Gibson combined for all 15 first-half points for the Hornets. Dawson - playing in his third game since returning from a broken bone in his hand - paced Fulton with 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range.
"He was able to play without the brace. ... He said it's felt a lot better, but he's still got some weakness when he drives (to the basket)," Shaw said.
The Crusaders followed up by outscoring the Hornets 14-12 in the third quarter to push their advantage to 57-27. Three consecutive 3-pointers keyed a 12-3 spurt to give Helias the 30-point cushion.
The Crusaders flustered Fulton from behind the arc, hitting 11-of-25 3-pointers, while shooting 51 percent (27-of-53) overall.
Helias' lengthy lineup - featuring three players listed at 6-foot-6 - controlled the boards and commanded enough attention to leave its shooters wide open.
The Hornets - outrebounded in three of their five losses this season - lost the battle on the boards to the Crusaders 33-23.
"Everything they do is difficult to overcome," Shaw said. "They're big, they're fast and they shoot the 3; I think their strongest point is they pass the ball extremely well.
"They're unselfish and you can't focus on one guy because they'll swing the ball two or three times and get the open guy; they're a very good team with few weakness to focus on."
Helias senior guard Isiah Sykes logged a game-high 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting, hitting 5-of-8 attempts from 3-point range.
Gibson scored all seven of his points in the first half for Fulton, while senior forward Sam Christensen registered four points and a team-high eight rebounds.
The Hornets (5-2) fell in the junior varsity game 62-38.
Fulton gets some time off before tackling another road test against a state-ranked opponent. The Hornets travel to Moberly - ranked No. 9 in Class 4 - for a North Central Missouri Conference showdown at 6 p.m. this Friday.
Like Helias, Shaw noted that Moberly doesn't present anything too complex.
"There's not a whole lot of science to them; we're going to have to guard them and we're going to have to rebound them," Shaw said. "They're a a very good team and they shoot the ball extremely well."