Lady Red aim to keep streak alive

BELLEVUE — The girls basketball players have come and gone in the last decade-plus in Bellevue, but the constant has been their league standing — in each of the last 13 seasons, the Lady Red have finished on top. Keeping that streak alive is the number one goal, of course, with more in mind for this group, too. The difference this winter: There has never been a Bellevue team this tall trying to match their predecessors. "We're gonna be very long this year, which we haven't had in a lot of years," Bellevue coach Kory Santoro said. "... We've had a lot of success with our guards beating people off the dribble and creating havoc. Now we go in the post and play inside-out more." Height alone won't get the job done in the rugged SBC Lake Division, of course. But as the old adage goes, you can't teach it. "We've been young the last few years, and things had to go a certain way for us to be good, and the ball rolled our way, honestly," Santoro said. "This year, our expectations are pretty high with this group." There's 6-foot-3 sophomore Kaitlyn Turinsky, who averaged 6.0 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.0 blocks, 2.1 steals and 1.2 assists per game as a freshman. "She's really grown mentally and physically," Santoro said. "She was committed to the weight room this year… She's even gonna handle the 1-guard spot for us a lot this year, and her post game has gotten really good." Freshman Carrington "C.J." Savage, at 6-0, will step right into the rotation. Bailey Nichols, 5-10 sophomore, adds another potential big to the options. Junior star Hailey Rees, herself 5-9, provides additional height and athleticism. Rees is coming off a sophomore season that included league and district player of the year honors with 15.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 1.8 assists per game. "She's just gotta keep taking her game to that next level, and I think she's ready to do that," Santoro said. "... She's really become more vocal. It was her team last year, but she was still younger. Now she feels like this is her team and she's got to be a great leader." Even potential wing starters Brooke Brown and Audrey Turner are long and athletic. They both can shoot it, having combined to make 38 3-pointers last winter. "Brooke has really grown as a leader," Santoro said. Senior Kyra Henney off the bench is expected to let if fly more often this season, too, after making a small-sample 43% from beyond the arc (9 for 21) as a junior. "She's a pretty good 3-point shooter," Santoro said. "So we've told her that's what her job is, she's gonna fire away." Making it all go will be Bellevue's smallest player, freshman point guard Ellie Freitag, a 5-4 skilled, pass-first player. Between Freitag and Savage, the Lady Red will be relying heavily on a first-year varsity tandem. Both played AAU ball for Jalen Santoro, Kory's son, who runs much of the same system as his father, allowing for an easier transition. "They've come in prepared," Santoro said. "They're gonna be nice freshmen." Last season's league title may have been the closest call yet. Bellevue needed a Rees buzzer-beater just to force overtime in Tiffin, then she won it as time expired with a difficult layup through contact against Norwalk. The clincher, a 39-36 victory at the Truckers, hung in the balance until the final seconds. It'll be a similar grind this winter. Perkins, Norwalk and Bellevue all know so well what each other wants to do. "Each coach knows the plays so well, the personnel so well, it's always a grind," Santoro said. "It's also very fun at times." A young, talented Clyde team could throw its hat into the mix with an upset or two, as well. That means Bellevue will need to be ready from the get go. Tough non-league competition, like an opener against Perrysburg, will force the Lady Red to grow up quickly. They won't have to physically grow much, though. The height is there. And Bellevue expects the wins to follow. "We want to win our league again, for the 14th straight year," Santoro said. "And we want to get to state. That's our expectation. It ain't gonna be easy, but we're gonna keep growing every day in practice and at the end of the year, I think we can make a nice run." No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. 1 Lilly Sosa G 5-5 10 2 Ellie Freitag G 5-4 9 3 Brooke Brown G 5-8 11 4 Hailey Rees F 5-9 11 10 Audrey Turner G 5-8 11 12 Bailey Nichols F 5-10 10 14 CJ Savage F 6-0 9 21 Kyra Henney G 5-6 12 30 Kaitlyn Turinsky F 6-3 10 32 Jersey Mayes G 5-5 10