Turinsky hits 1,000 career points in Bellevue win

BELLEVUE — Kaitlyn Turinsky has made a name for herself at Bellevue. Not only does she hold the school record for rebounds, she holds the record for career blocks. She reached one more milestone on Senior Night: 1,000 career points. Turinsky was at six points at the end of the first quarter and knew the moment was one play away. With 35 seconds gone off the clock in the second quarter, Turinsky went up for a shot surrounded by Kenzie Felske and Mia Zeis. After it went in for 1,000 and as she was coming down from the jump, a foul was called against Tiffin Columbian. Bellevue defeated Columbian 63-25 on Friday in Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division play. "We did what we had to do to win tonight," Bellevue coach Kory Santoro said. "The first few minutes of the first quarter, we turned the ball over more than we like to, and then things started to click for us team wise. It was nice to have the full team play tonight." just after the foul was called, Turinsky was sent to the foul line and sank her bonus shot. "I have been super excited for this. I knew a couple of games ago that it was going to happen," Turinsky said. "The end shot was cool. To have the records, it has taught me a lot and that basketball is more than just basketball. It's not just defense and offense, it's everything." Knowing that they needed to win, Bailey Nichols wanted to keep going and winning. "We have had a lot of dominating players here over the course of my coaching career, " Santoro said. "KT dominates in a different way. With defense and is the top post player that I have coached in my time here. She is a Division I player and she deserves everything she gets." Turinsky is committed to Division I Youngstown State University for basketball. This game marked 30 straight wins for the Lady Red as well, and the second time this season they have defeated Columbian. The teams met Dec. 12 and Bellevue won that one 62-22. The majority of the points for Bellevue came in the second quarter. After Turinsky hit her mark, the Lady Red kept the Tornadoes at 11 points until the 5:40 mark when Mia Zeis scored a basket. From there, Bellevue raced out to put another 14 points on the board. WIth 4:20 left in the half, Ava Jakubein-Theis was sent to the free throw line and made her pair. Ellie Freitag stole the ball from TC with four minutes left and went in for a basket, and less then 10 seconds later, Lexie Easterwood scored on an inbound pass from Freitag, who caused TC to turn it over. TC called a time out, but it was not useful as the last points for TC that quarter was from Lexi Beaston on two free throws. The rest was Bellevue as they finished the quarter out with a seven point run. The other senior that was celebrated was Bailey Nichols. "She has been loyal, dedicated, a great force for us," said Santoro of Nichols' contributions to the team. "She has been a great captain for us, as well as a great leader. When all is said and done, I'm going to miss those two a lot." Leading the Lady Red to victory was Savage with 17 points, Jakubcin-Theis with 13, Turinsky with 12, and Mazie Gracemyer with 10. "Standards are high and keep toughing it out," said Nichols about being coached by Santoro. "I don't know any other way. He's tough, but it works." COLUMBIAN (12-5, 3-4) Madi Shriver 1 1-2 3, Mia Zeis 3 0-0 6, Kenzie Felske 1 0-0 2, Lexi Beaston 3 4-4 12, Maddy Richie 0 2-4 2. TOTALS 8 7-10 25 BELLEVUE (14-0, 5-0) Ellie Freitag 3 0-0 7, Lexie Easterwood 2 0-0 4, Ava Jakubcin-Theis 4 3-4 13, CJ Savage 6 1-2 17, Kaitlyn Turinsky 4 3-7 12, Mazie Gracemyer 4 0-0 10. TOTALS 23 7-11 63 Columbian 9 6 2 8 — 25 Bellevue 20 33 10 0 — 63 Three-point goals: Columbian 0; Bellevue 10 (Savage 4, Gracemyer 2, Jakubcin-Theis 2, Freitag, Turinsky)