Fort Madison, IA- The Holy Trinity Catholic boys’ basketball team has enjoyed a renaissance after eight consecutive seasons of 0.500 basketball or worse, as the Crusaders have gone a collective 38-11 the last two years and knocked on the door of a state tournament appearance in both seasons.
A big reason for that is Luke Hellige, who signed his National Letter of Intent at his Senior Awards Ceremony on Tuesday afternoon to continue his basketball career at Cornell College.
The Crusaders had a complete turn of fortune in Hellige’s junior season, going from 9 wins the year previous to a 19-6 record, which included a 10-4 conference record against the SEISC-South division.
The year culminated into a thrilling 70-66 victory for Holy Trinity Catholic over North Mahaska to claim the District Championship. Hellige produced his usual stat line of 24 points, knocking down three three-pointers, collecting eight rebounds, and notching three steals.
However, that game was not his most dominant showing of the season. A road game against Highland on February 6th gets that honor. The then-junior broke the single-game record for points when he cashed in for 45 points on 18 of 27 shooting, while gathering a double-double with 12 rebounds.
Entering his senior season having already reset the career scoring record at Holy Trinity Catholic, Hellige continued his reign over southeast Iowa as he averaged a career high 26.6 points per game to go along with his 8.2 rebounds.
The Crusaders’ last five wins displayed the senior’s long-range skill as he knocked down 30 threes on 59% shooting, including games where he scored 42 and 43 points, respectively, on a combined 18 of 25 shooting from three-point land.
Hellige finished his career with 1,792 points, 706 rebounds, and 238 three-pointers made to finish as the all-time leader in each of those categories. Additionally, he was named to the All-Substate team three times, two 1st Team All-State nods, and invited to the 2025 Pizza Ranch All-Star Games.
Cornell College is coming off a winning season with a 15-10 record overall and a 9-7 record in the Midwest Conference, which was not good enough for the fourth and final spot in the conference tournament.