Bellevue's state champs honored, cruise in opener

BELLEVUE — Bellevue coach Kory Santoro couldn't remember the last time all four of his children were in attendance for a Lady Red basketball game. Saturday was a special one for the Bellevue community as the 2025 Division IV state champion Lady Red team was honored with championship rings. Each of the four Santoro children — Jalen, Carly, Casey and Cory — as well as a throng of family members were there for the big day. After each player, team manager and coach received their ring, Bellevue took care of business on the floor. The Lady Red, ranked No. 3 in Division IV in SheHoop's preseason poll, forced 19 first-half turnovers and dominated Carey 62-25 in non-league action. "I thought our high school administration, (athletic director) Cody Cramer and (high school principal) Nate (Artino) did an excellent job of doing this," said Santoro of the ring ceremony that included graduates Brooke Brown and Audrey Turner. "We wanted to do it earlier in the football season, but they said this would be more special. I'm glad we waited." Freshman Ava Jakubcin-Theis topped Bellevue with 19 points in her first varsity game. Jakubcin-Theis wears No. 14 for the Lady Red. That number is synonymous with some of the great Bellevue athletes and best players in school history. She said she grabbed the jersey out of a pile over the summer, not realizing the magnitude of the number. She looked the part, knocking down all four 3-pointers she attempted. Jakubcin-Theis transferred to Bellevue from New Riegel. It's been a smooth transition. "I've been thinking about this since I knew the date of our first game," she said. "I've been ready and prepared. I'm so happy to play for this team, honestly. I'm lucky to be able to play with all of these great girls. They're all so amazing. They've helped me fit in." Mazie Gracemyer opened the game with a 3 for the Lady Red (1-0) as Bellevue led 6-0 more than two minutes in. After Rylie Stoops split two free throws for Carey, the Lady Red went on a tear. Kaitlyn Turinsky and Ellie Freitag scored before a triple and two free throws from Jakubcin-Theis made it 15-1. Turinsky knocked down a 3-pointer, Jakubcin-Theis picked a steal and scored and Bailey Nichols canned a 3 for a 23-1 edge. It was all part of a 27-1 start for the Lady Red, who pushed the advantage to 32-5 after eight minutes. "I think we were able to play hard from the start," said Turinsky, who used a variety of moves to get from the top of the key to the rim with ease. "We were able to move fast and cut fast. There was no reason to let up. We wanted to play to our level, not their level." Bellevue didn't let down from there. Jakubcin-Theis opened the second quarter with a 3 before Turinsky made it 37-5. Turinsky, who signed to play collegiately at Division I Youngstown State, finished with 11 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks. "We have a 6-foot-3 Division I post player and she's going to draw a lot of attention," Santoro said. "They're going to try to double team, but it's going to be hard to do that with the players she has around her that can shoot the ball like we do. I thought inside-out we played very well." Ellie Freitag's score increased the advantage to 41-8. Jakubcin-Theis added back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead to 47-8. The Lady Red press was in midseason form. Carey (0-1) had nine turnovers in the first quarter and 10 more in the second. "That's just something we do," Santoro said. "We like to let our defense create our offense a lot of times. It just so happened that tonight everything was working." Bellevue shot well throughout the game, making 5 of 7 3-pointers in the first half and 10 of 16 through three quarters. Freitag finished with 11 points while CJ Savage made a pair of triples for Bellevue. "I think we got off to a good start," Santoro said. "That's one thing we want to do... and maintain that level of play. I thought they did that for the first half. We got a lot of kids in the game. It was a good opening win." CAREY (0-1) McKinley Kessler 0 0-0 0, Bella Phoenix 2 0-0 5, Rylie Stoops 2 2-8 6, Emily Brodman 3 2-6 8, Bayah Harsanje 0 0-0 0, Adalynn Ritter 3 0-2 6. TOTALS 10 4-16 25 BELLEVUE (1-0) Ellie Freitag 5 0-0 11, Ava Jakubcin-Theis 6 3-4 19, CJ Savage 2 0-0 6, Kaitlyn Turinsky 5 0-1 11, Mazie Gracemyer 1 2-6 5, Ava Hirt 0 3-4 3, Bailey Nichols 2 0-0 5, Alaynna Lenthe 0 2-2 2. TOTALS 21 10-17 62 Carey 5 5 6 9 — 25Bellevue 32 19 9 2 — 62 Three-point goals: Carey 1 (Phoenix); Bellevue 10 (Jakubcin-Theis 4, Savage 2, Freitag, Turinsky, Gracemyer, Nichols)