Undefeated Bellevue storms past Sandusky

SANDUSKY — Bellevue's depth was tested. With Kaitlyn Turinsky and Hailey Rees both in foul trouble in the first half, others from the Lady Red stepped up. Bellevue had six girls with at least six points in the first half and took it to Sandusky, 73-31, in Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division action Monday. "Normally we're coming in here wanting to make a track meet out of it," Bellevue coach Kory Santoro said. "Tonight, we wanted to slow the game down and just execute offensively and defensively and make them work for every shot they take. I thought we did that. I thought we clogged up driving lanes and made them shoot the ball from the outside." Ellie Freitag and Turinsky each scored 14 points for the Lady Red (8-0, 3-0 SBC Lake). Freitag nailed four of Bellevue's nine 3s. She was coming off a 25-point game Friday in a win over Tiffin Columbian. "I said at the beginning of the year that she could be one of the top point guards in the area when it's all said and done," Santoro said of the sophomore. "She's starting to do that. She's a great ballhandler and has a high basketball IQ." The Lady Red scored the first seven points of the game and extended the lead to 14-1 after Turinsky scored off of an offensive rebound and CJ Savage hit a triple. Bellevue led 22-8 after one quarter as the Blue Streaks (3-4, 1-2) were overwhelmed from the get-go. "It feels like in the first quarter they hit eight or nine 3s," said Sandusky coach John Winborn, who was coaching in just his second game this season while battling illness. "Especially in high school basketball when you come out and hit that many in a quarter or a half, it's demoralizing. After that, we just couldn't get in a rhythm. "We started forcing the issue offensively and forced up some bad shots." The Lady Red kept going in the second quarter. Audrey Turner opened the scoring with a 3-pointer before Turinsky scored down low. Two free throws by Turinsky extended the lead to 33-12. Sandusky showed a little bit of life as Mae Rameau and Ra'Kiya Collier scored, but the relentless push from Bellevue kept the pace at a frantic level. Mazie Gracemyer and Freitag connected on 3s as the Lady Red went into halftime up 40-21 despite the foul woes. Bellevue dominated the third quarter. Turinsky and Brooke Brown opened the quarter with buckets and the Lady Red used an 8-0 run to go up 54-24. Freitag picked a steal and scored before knocking down a corner triple in front of the Bellevue bench to enforce a running clock with Bellevue ahead 61-26 late in the quarter. "This is a learning experience for us," Winborn said. "We have to learn it because it was one of those old-fashioned backyard butt whoopins. I think every now and then a team needs that, but hopefully it's the first and only time we take a loss like this." Sandusky was aggressive, getting to the line 18 times — compared to 14 for Bellevue — but made just six free throws. "The free throw has always been a thorn in our side," Winborn said. "Some days we shoot great from the free throw line and some days we have a day like this. When you're demoralized, it shows in other ways and today it was our free throws." Rees and Gracemyer each added 11 points for Bellevue while Turner scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds. The Lady Red are back in action Thursday at Perkins (2-4, 0-1). "When you get your top eight girls in the game and they're all producing, that's a good sign," Santoro said. "You can't just pick on Hailey and KT anymore because CJ Savage has shown she can go off for 25 (points). Ellie Freitag just showed she can go off for 25. "I just think we have girls that can play and are gaining confidence as we're going on." BELLEVUE (8-0, 2-0)Ellie Freitag 5 0-0 14, Brooke Brown 1 0-0 2, Hailey Rees 4 3-4 11, Audrey Turner 4 0-0 9, Kaitlyn Turinsky 6 2-2 14, Mazie Gracemyer 3 3-4 11, CJ Savage 2 0-0 6, Bailey Nichols 1 1-3 3, Ava Hirt 1 1-1 3. TOTALS 27 10-14 73SANDUSKY (3-4, 1-2)Mae Rameau 4 0-2 8, Maddie Peugeot 0 2-6 2, Ra'Kiya Collier 4 0-3 8, Denasia Coy 1 3-4 5, Amari Prentice 0 1-3 1, Cassidy Stovall 1 0-0 2, Brooklyen Slater 1 0-0 3, Brooklyn Long 1 0-0 3. TOTALS 12 6-18 31Bellevue 22 18 23 10 — 73Sandusky 8 13 5 5 — 31Three-point goals: Bellevue 9 (Freitag 4, Gracemyer 2, Savage 2, Turner); Sandusky 1 (Long)