Bellevue girls fall to D-I powers at Midwest Live

SANDUSKY — Bellevue got off to a rough start Friday. The defending Division IV state champions were challenged right out of the gate against Division I heavyweights Olentangy and Kettering Fairmont at Midwest Live at Cedar Point Sports Center. The Lady Red have a lot to learn, falling 50-33 to Olentangy and 52-30 to Kettering Fairmont. "We're not last year's team yet," Bellevue coach Kory Santoro said. "This is good because it's humbling. These girls need to see what's out there. That's why you come here. You need to see what's out there and see what other programs are doing to get to that state level." Both teams the Lady Red faced won 22 games last year before making tournament runs. Olentangy was a regional finalist while Kettering Fairmont lost in the regional semifinals to state runner-up Cincinnati Princeton. "These two teams are probably going to make a run at a state title next year," Santoro said. "They're both very good teams. But, we have work to do and that's why we come here." Olentangy was hot from deep against Bellevue. The Braves knocked in eight 3-pointers in the first half and 10 for the game. The first 18 points Olentangy scored were from 3. "We don't have a lot of our stuff or defenses in," Santoro said. "Having new kids, we haven't had a whole lot of practice on the floor. Olentangy is a good team. They're just flat out better than us. It is what it is. We'll learn from it and get better from it." Olentangy led 30-18 at halftime before pulling away in the second half. Bellevue was led in scoring by freshman Ava Jakubcin-Theis, who transferred to the school from New Riegel in May. She finished with nine points. "She'll understand the physicality of the varsity game," Santoro said. "It's going to take time for us to gel and get that chemistry together." Bellevue battled with Fairmont in the first half, never taking a lead. With the game even at 16, the Firebirds used an 11-1 run over the last couple minutes of the half to take a double-digit lead into the break. "Against Fairmont, we played a pretty good first 16 1/2 minutes," Santoro said. "That final minute and a half, they ran away with it. That's where I thought we lost the game." Bellevue only got as close as eight points (30-22) in the second half. Kaitlyn Turinsky registered a team-high 11 points for the Lady Red while Jakubcin-Theis and CJ Savage each chipped in six points. Bellevue is looking to replace key pieces Hailey Rees, Audrey Turner and Brooke Brown from last season's state title team. "We're very young and inexperienced at spots," Santoro said. "We lost three very good seniors who had been through a lot of battles with us. They played a lot of varsity minutes from their freshmen to senior years. We have new girls that we're going to try to bring along." Bellevue has no rest for the weary. The Lady Red take on Wheeling Central and Newark on Saturday. Santoro's message to his squad after the two games was simple. "We can't play like we did today," he said. "Honestly, I just didn't think we had the fight in us today. The message was either we can stay the same or get better. Tomorrow, we've got to come in here ready because it doesn't get any easier." In later action, Norwalk lost to Solon 60-43 and Genoa 39-38. Margaretta picked up a pair of wins, topping Westerville Central 32-24 and Canton Central Catholic 33-28.