Redmen ready to stack some wins

BELLEVUE — Bellevue has been knocked around the basketball court in recent years, but the Redmen might be ready to start delivering a little payback. Ed Rich, in his seventh season leading the program, hasn't had a winning season at Bellevue. That could change soon. "We've had some nice athletes the last couple of years who played hard and gave everything they had," Rich said. "This year with some of the younger guys coming up, we have more basketball talent than I've had since my second or third year. "We have really good length, good athletic ability, and we're going to try to take advantage of that." Bellevue's pair of starting junior guards — Tyler Ray and Deegan Horn — led the Redmen in scoring last season at 8.9 points per game each. The two standout football players have been on the varsity since being promoted as freshmen. "Deegan Horn and Tyler Ray were on that 4-19 team (in 2019-20). I think at a lot of places the culture would've been killed with three seasons like that," Rich said. "Surprisingly enough, our culture is pretty dang good. The kids still believe they're gonna get it done. We're still playing hard. "It would be different if we had five, six wins and our kids didn't care, but that's not what we've seen. That's kept me going because it's hard not to win." Ray, who also averaged 3.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, will be the starting point guard. "He's just an all-around good player," Rich said. "He can score it, defends well, handles the ball well. "Deegan is nice slasher, an outstanding athlete. Great instincts." Horn is the team's top returning rebounder at 4.5 per game. The two veteran guards will get some help on the perimeter from sophomore twins Jackson and Ashton Martin, who played in more than half the varsity games as freshmen. Jackson is listed at 6-foot-3, Ashton at 6-4. The Martins started last season on the freshman team before moving up to the JV and then varsity. "We knew they were really good," Rich said. "By the end of the year they were usually on the floor in the fourth quarter for us. Their length and basketball instincts are some of the best I've seen here. They bring a lot to the table." Rich envisions a team that presses a lot, and the Martins will help. "We're going to use their length and athleticism and try to disrupt some people with those guys," he said. "I think our defense will turn into offense. We're gonna get up in you full court. That's what we did all summer and we've been working on it all offseason." In the post, Rich has been impressed with the development of 6-7 senior Ryan Mohr, who helped the JV team finish with a winning record last season. "He's played basketball every day since the spring. We're pretty high on him," Rich said. "Good athlete for how long and tall he is." Rich has four other seniors he can rotate into the lineup: 6-3 Ethan Stewart, 6-2 Mason Treat, 6-1 Ryan Stombaugh and 5-9 Mason Bova. Treat and Bova were standouts on Bellevue's football team, and Treat returns to the team after not playing last season. "We love having Treat around," Rich said. "He is going to do the dirty work and he likes it." Bellevue's basketball players lifted with the football team during the summer. Rich hopes that leads to a more physical team. "This was the first year since I've been here that we did all our lifts with the football team," he said. "All summer long we were with them at 7:30. I think it'll make a big difference." The Redmen lost their first seven games last season, including an overtime setback at Margaretta in the opener, but registered wins over Perkins, Vermilion and a strong South Central team in mid-February. "Getting some early wins would be nice, but it's not going to be easy," Rich said. "I think our guys would start feeling it, like 'we've got it this year.' " ----- No.&emsp;&emsp;Name&emsp;&emsp;Pos.&emsp;&emsp;Ht.&emsp;&emsp;Yr. 1&emsp;&emsp;Jackson Martin&emsp;&emsp;G&emsp;&emsp;6-3&emsp;&emsp;10 3&emsp;&emsp;Ethan Stewart&emsp;&emsp;G-F&emsp;&emsp;6-3&emsp;&emsp;12 5&emsp;&emsp;Ashton Martin&emsp;&emsp;G-F&emsp;&emsp;6-4&emsp;&emsp;10 10&emsp;&emsp;Tyler Ray&emsp;&emsp;G&emsp;&emsp;5-10&emsp;&emsp;11 14&emsp;&emsp;Deegan Horn&emsp;&emsp;G&emsp;&emsp;5-11&emsp;&emsp;11 24&emsp;&emsp;Mason Treat&emsp;&emsp;F-C&emsp;&emsp;6-2&emsp;&emsp;12 30&emsp;&emsp;Ryan Stombaugh&emsp;&emsp;G-F&emsp;&emsp;6-1&emsp;&emsp;12 32&emsp;&emsp;Ryan Mohr&emsp;&emsp;C&emsp;&emsp;6-7&emsp;&emsp;12 34&emsp;&emsp;Mason Bova&emsp;&emsp;G-F&emsp;&emsp;5-9&emsp;&emsp;12