Bellevue dominates Columbian, moves to 5-0

TIFFIN — Hard work can beat talent unless talent works hard. Bellevue defeated Tiffin Columbian 62-22 in Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division action Friday. It was the Lady Red's 30th straight win against Columbian. "I felt our overall team defense played very well," Bellevue coach Kory Santoro said. "I thought we guarded full-court man to man most of the game. I thought our girls did a great job staying out of foul trouble for the most part." The Lady Red (5-0, 2-0 SBC Lake) took advantage of poor ball handling by the Tornadoes (4-2, 0-2) when they scored on three back-to-back steals in the third quarter. "We told them that we were happy with their defensive effort and that we would hit the shots eventually," Santoro said. "Keep playing team basketball is what we told them and that the shots would fall, which they did in the second half." Ava Jakubcin-Theis stole the ball within 15 seconds of the quarter starting and drove the ball to the hoop for two points. Less than 10 seconds later, Ellie Freitag stole the ball to drill it in the paint for two, and less than a minute later, Carrington Savage stole and canned it for three. Kaitlyn Turinsky finished off the 11-0 run. Her four-point run was when she was fouled by Maddie Richie and was sent to the charity strip where she made the pair. Her other bucket came on an offensive rebound. "We knew we had to make them in the second half," said Turinsky about the shooting difference between the first and second halves. TC managed to break in for a moment on a Richie bucket, but Bellevue took possession of the ball once again. Gracemyer scored on a Tornado turnover, Turnisky scored on a putback and Jakubcin-Theis swished one after causing a turnover. "I think collectively as a group, we set a good pace at the beginning and then really kicked it off so our non-starters could come in," Turnisky said. "Sometimes the shots don't fall and you have to play solid defense for when they don't fall." It was 46-16 with 2:48 remaining. After TC stole the ball, Madi Shriver found herself on the charity strip, but split her free throws. Lexi Beaston was fouled and she made both of her free throws at the end of the quarter, making it 53-20. The Lady Red went on a 9-1 run in the fourth, with the only interruption being from Marissa Allen, who was fouled and made both of her free throws. The Lady Red was 50 percent from the field as they scored on four out of eight free throws in the first quarter. "In the first half, we weren't knocking down shots for whatever reason," Santoro said. "In the second half, we started knocking down shots." The leading scorer for Bellevue was Turnisky with 18 points, five rebounds and three steals. "My goal is to hit 18 to 20 points a night," Turnisky said. "Normally I only get 14, so if I can 18 consistently, I'll be happy." So far, Santoro has been impressed with Jakubcin-Theis' performance. She had 16 points on the night with four steals. "She fits right into the Bellevue mold," Santoro said. "We have blue-collar kids that really work and dedicate themselves to their craft. She came in, fit right in and has been a great fit for us." Looking down the road and at opponents, Santoro continues to see growth in the program. "We are going to continue growing as a team," Santoro said. "We have a lot of young kids. We aren't a veteran squad. We only have two seniors on the whole roster. The young kids have to develop too, and that's what we are doing. "We hope we keep climbing the ladder and by the end of the season peak at the right time." BELLEVUE (5-0, 2-0) Ellie Freitag 2 0-0 4, Lexie Easterwood 1 0-0 2, Brooklyn Kaufman 1 2-2 4, Bailey Nichols 3 0-0 3, Ava Jakubcin-Theis 5 4-4 16, Reese Meacham 3 0-0 3, Carrington Savage 5 0-0 5, Kaitlyn Turinsky 6 5-10 18, Mazie Gracemyer 3 0-0 7. TOTALS 22 11-16 62 COLUMBIAN (4-2, 0-2) Madi Shriver 0 1-2 1, Mia Zeis 1 0-0 2, Marissa Allen 0 2-2 2, Kenzie Felske 0 1-2 1, Lexi Beaston 1 6-6 9, Chloe Heyman 0 0-2 0, Maddie Richie 1 5-6 7. TOTALS 3 15-20 22 Bellevue 16 11 26 9 – 62 Tiffin Columbian 7 5 8 2 – 22 Three-point goals: Bellevue 7 (Jakubcin-Theis 2, Nichols, Meacham, Savage, Turinsky, Gracemyer); Tiffin Columbian 1 (Beaston)