Lady Red open with 55-49 win

PERRYSBURG — Hailey Rees wasn't letting the season opener get away. Three times in the fourth quarter, Perrysburg pulled within a possession of Bellevue. All three times, the Lady Red junior had an answer. The first was a right-wing 3-pointer. The second, a lefty drive to the hoop. And three Rees free throws down the stretch sealed their first win. "I really just kept looking to score no matter how many I missed," Rees said. Rees finished with 26 points and eight steals as Bellevue held off a pesky Perrysburg squad on Friday night, 55-49. Sophomore Kaitlyn Turinsky added 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and five blocks. That duo and a switch-heavy defensive effort ensured that a rough night on the glass wouldn't derail Bellevue as the Lady Red start 1-0 for the ninth consecutive season. "It feels good to get your first win, especially on the road in a tough environment," Bellevue coach Kory Santoro said. "It's not easy coming over here and playing a bigger school." Perrysburg, which was a bit later on the schedule the last three seasons, hadn't lost to Bellevue since Casey Santoro's senior season in 2019-20. The Yellow Jackets are one of the 50-biggest schools in the state and a consistently excellent girls program that provides one of Bellevue's firmest non-league tests. The Lady Red were up for the challenge. They jumped out to a 5-0 lead on an Audrey Turner 3 and a foul-line jumper from Turinsky. The advantage was 10-4 on a Rees and-1 before Perrysburg made a game of it. The Yellow Jackets found ways to score in transition and off turnovers while grabbing a bunch of offensive rebounds. "You just can't be discouraged about it," Turinsky said. "Some people might keep their heads down, but you can't do that, because that leads to more. You've just got to keep the energy up. Rees scored five consecutive points on a step-through layup and a right-wing 3 to go up 19-16 in the second quarter. Then Kyra Henney assisted a Brooke Brown 3 and hit one of her own before Turinsky pulled up from the foul line for a six-point lead late in the first half. "It's definitely a bunch of practice," Turinsky said. "The more you do it, the more it's second nature. When you start to think about it too much, you miss." Turinsky was assertive offensively all night, scoring twice on up-and-under moves in addition to a lefty hook shot and two mid-range makes. The 6-foot-3 sophomore finished the evening 6-for-8 from the field. "Her game has improved so much," Santoro said. "She's getting really, really good in the post, and we're only scratching the surface of how good she can be." Bellevue took a 33-29 lead to the half on a tough scoop layup from Rees. Perrysburg never went away, but Bellevue never made it easy. The Lady Red's starting five — Rees, Turinsky, Brown, Turner and Henney — gave Bellevue a switching, man-to-man look in the halfcourt that did a great job limiting open lanes to the hoop. "We have really good communication," Rees said. "We always work on talking and switching defense." Perrysburg went up 34-33 in the third on a pair of free throws before Brown drilled a 3 on a Turinsky assist to go back in front. Belleuve knocked down seven 3-pointers on the night. "We want to be able to shoot from the 3-point line consistently, and tonight we did a pretty decent job of that," Santoro said. Bellevue never trailed after the Brown 3, although it stayed tight. Rees scored eight of the Lady Red's 10 fourth-quarter points to help ice it. She finished 8-for-15 from the floor and 7-for-9 from the line. "Hailey had a nice game tonight, and that's what she's expected to do," Santoro said. "When the game is on the line, big players show up, and that's what she did tonight." It wasn't a spotless outing by any means, which gives Santoro plenty to preach to his players in the days ahead. But that's also part of what made it so encouraging. In the past couples seasons, the mistakes Bellevue made against a talented, deep Perrysburg team might've proven too big to overcome. But in this season opener, the Lady Red were good enough to win anyway. If they can solve some of those issues, too, look out. "We bent, but we didn't break," Santoro said. "We dodged a few bullets, but we did enough good things to have a good quality win on the road." BELLEVUE (1-0) Ellie Freitag 1 0-0 2, Brooke Brown 2 0-0 6, Hailey Rees 8 7-9 26, Audrey Turner 2 1-1 6, Kyra Henney 1 0-0 3, Kaitlyn Turinsky 6 0-0 12. TOTALS 20 8-10 55 PERRYSBURG (0-1) Siebenaler 5 0-0 10, Kilbride 1 2-4 4, Griggs 5 2-2 14, Byrne 2 0-0 5, Turk 1 2-4 4, Mitchell 1 0-0 2, Thames 3 2-4 10. TOTALS 18 8-14 49 Bellevue 14 19 12 10 — 55Perrysburg 14 15 11 9 — 49 3-point goals — Bellevue 7 (Rees 3, Brown 2, Turner 1, Henney 1); Perrysburg 5 (Griggs 2, Thames 2, Byrne 1)