GIRLS BASKETBALL: SBC Lake Division should be competitive

Last winter, Bellevue's girls basketball stranglehold on the SBC Lake Division was loosened slightly. Perkins split with the Lady Red to share the league championship. It's still been 12 consecutive seasons at the top of their various leagues for Bellevue, though, and they'll look to make it lucky number 13 this winter with the Pirates and Norwalk trying to keep up. The Ohio high school girls basketball season tips off Friday night, and the SBC Lake Division is full of storylines. Here's some of what we're watching. Three-team race The 2021-22 championship came down to the final league round of the regular season. Bellevue escaped with a 41-39 win over Norwalk, and Perkins held off Vermilion late. That meant the Lady Red and Pirates each finished 11-1 for the shared Lake crown. Those two teams will be right in the thick of it this year again, and they won't sleep on the Truckers, either. "It's gonna come down to Norwalk, us, Perkins will be right there," Bellevue coach Kory Santoro said. "Any year, the SBC Lake is a tough division, a lot of good coaching." Bellevue will be led by sophomore wing Hailey Rees and senior point guard Dominique Weisz. Rees averaged 11.8 points per game as a freshman and will be the Lady Red's go-to option as a sophomore. Santoro's squad will have to replace the graduated backcourt duo of Emma Bollinger and Brynn Vogel. Sophomore guard Audrey Turner, who showed 3-point prowess as a freshman, will get plenty of minutes on the wing. The wildcard for Bellevue may be freshman forward Kaitlyn Turinsky. The 6-footer already displays shooting range and passing vision to go with a lanky presence in the Lady Red's press defense. Ella Rucker will lend a veteran frontcourt presence alongside Turinsky. The junior Rucker has shown improved offensive skill in the preseason. Perkins returns its top three scorers from a year ago — senior Cameron Kaufman and juniors Kendall Zeiher and Kate Ulery. There's plenty of perimeter depth with players like Camryn VanVlerah and Haylie Brunner around that trio. The frontcourt is less settled after the graduations of Kelley Baker and Chay Chambers. Lefty Maggie Farley will likely step into a big role in the middle. The Pirates will have to learn how to defend without the program's best-ever shotblocker, Baker, behind them. "We think the league is strong," Perkins coach Ryan Orshoski said. "We do bring back a lot of talent, and we expect to be in the mix for an SBC Lake championship." Norwalk couldn't beat either of the Lake winners last season, but they took Perkins to overtime twice and lost by a bucket in the second matchup with Bellevue, and the Truckers have almost everything back. Brooklyn Davis and Summer Moehlman provide the senior leadership and production for Norwalk. Davis averaged 13.6 points and 10.6 rebounds per game as a junior, and Moehlman added 6.7 points per contest. Norwalk will go as far as its sophomore backcourt duo takes it. Kenzie Smith (6.4 points, 2.3 assists) and Abby Koenig (5.4 points, 1.5 assists) both got lots of action as freshmen. Filling big shoes Clyde, Sandusky and Vermilion will all have to replace team leaders this season. The Fliers graduated the backcourt tandem of Kristen Harrah and Kamdyn Taylor and will count on lots of youth to handle the ball. Lexi Carlson got lots of minutes last winter, and sophomore lefty Katie Shiets could step right into a big role. Sandusky graduated a strong guard unit, too, in the form of Myasia Matthews, Quincy Burchett and Devorion Page. The Blue Streaks return perimeter players Emerie Morgan and RaKiya Collier. Abbie Wade will have to play big up front. Vermilion graduated five players who made plays on the perimeter — Marianna and Molly Plas, Hallie Habermehl, Audrey Peterson and Morgan Potts. Marianna Plas was the program's all-time leading scorer. The Sailors have Kaitlin Colahan back in the frontcourt for her senior season after she scored 7.5 points per game as a junior. If you're looking for a Lake darkhorse, maybe it's Tiffin Columbian since the Tornadoes won't have to fill in many spots. Columbian has its top three scorers back from a year ago in Lexi Smith (9.5 ppg), Dallas Poll (8.9) and Mackenzie Davis (7.0), and they're all seniors now. Familiar faces in new seats More than half the Lake teams will play with new head coaches this winter, although they aren't totally new to the area. Orshoski is the new Perkins coach after Brian Heck's departure. Orshoski coached Bellevue prior to Santoro's tenure. Sandusky has John Winborn taking over for Richard Koonce. Winborn coached most recently in the Blue Streaks boys program. Doug Mihalic will lead Vermilion after Jason Sockel stepped down. He was already an assistant on Sockel's staff. Columbian also has a new head coach, Jaycie Foos.