Bellevue uses fast starts to defeat Lutheran East

BLUFFTON — Bellevue emphasizes 12 specific minutes of every game. The Lady Red like to control the first four minutes of the game, the first four minutes of the second half and the final four minutes of the game. Check, check and check. No. 2 Bellevue dominated the first quarter then opened the second half on a run, defeating No. 6 Lutheran East 60-39 in a Division IV regional semifinal at Bluffton University on Wednesday. "I think we got off to a great start," Santoro said. "I don't know what it is with this group, but we get off to tremendous starts. It kills other teams' momentum." The Lady Red improved to 27-0 and will face No. 10 Genoa (20-6) at 3 p.m. Saturday in a regional final back at Bluffton University. The Comets are led by sisters Addisyn and Makenna Moritz. Genoa defeated London 49-42 in the night's first semifinal. "Genoa is playing very well right now," Santoro said. "They have some nice players with the two sisters. They go through them. They're going to be ready. They're going to scout us hard. We scrimmaged them in the summer, so we know them well. We're going to be ready to go." Against the Falcons (12-7), Bellevue was scorching hot early. Mazie Gracemyer hit a 3 before Ava Jakubcin-Theis picked a steal and scored. Two buckets from Kaitlyn Turinsky increased the lead to 9-0. After a Lutheran East timeout, CJ Savage canned a 3 and Jakubcin-Theis turned a Falcons turnover into a basket. Bellevue led 14-0 before Lutheran East even attempted a shot. "I thought overall our team played very well defensively tonight," said Santoro of his team that forced 11 turnovers in the first quarter. "To hold that team under 40 points? They concerned me a lot. Of all the teams we played on our schedule this year, they were a team that can cause a lot of problems." Dakota Porter made two free throws for the Falcons, but the Lady Red kept coming. Savage scored before Gracemyer made a triple. Gracemyer and Jakubcin-Theis each scored again as Bellevue led 23-2 after eight points. Tallies from Turinsky and Freitag early in the second quarter furthered the lead. But then, Lutheran East settled in. The Falcons outscored Bellevue 13-7 the final 7:07 of the second quarter. "I think the middle couple quarters we got away from what we were doing," Santoro said. "We started rushing shots, but their high school kids. They're trying to make plays, so I can't fault them for that." The Lady Red kicked it up a notch again early in the third quarter. Ahead 34-15 at halftime, Jakubcin-Theis scored twice to open the second half. Savage knocked down another triple and buckets from Lexie Easterwood and Jakubcin-Theis extended the lead to 45-17. Bellevue was victorious over the Falcons in last year's regional semifinal, as well. The Lady Red slipped past Lutheran East at Norwalk High School en route to a Division IV state championship. "I thought they played us a lot like last year's team," Santoro said. "We were putting seven or eight girls on the floor for the last two days in practice to get ready for that practice. I thought we handled that pressure well." Bellevue was able to control the game the rest of the way. The Lady Red committed just 11 turnovers on the night and shot eight of their 17 free throws in the fourth quarter. "If you go back, we got off to a tremendous start and came out of halftime with another good start," Santoro said. "We finished up the last four minutes doing what we do in controlling the ball and getting fouls. Those 12 minutes are key. If you can control those 12 minutes, you've got a pretty good chance of winning." Lutheran East finished with 22 turnovers. Jakubcin-Theis led Bellevue with 16 points while Savage and Turinsky each added 14 points. Turinsky added 12 rebounds for the double-double. "Tonight, those chose not to double team KT," Santoro said. "We have four girls averaging double figures. That is dangerous. Ellie isn't far off and she's our point guard. "You can try to take away someone from our offense, but someone is going to make you pay." LUTHERAN EAST (12-7) Jordynn Jackson 0 0-0 0, Maliona Martin 1 0-0 3, Taliyah Pollard 3 1-2 9, Dakota Porter 4 3-4 12, Janae Smith 4 0-0 8, Bella Guidugli 2 0-0 4, Anahla Williams 1 0-0 3. TOTALS 15 4-6 39 BELLEVUE (27-0) Ellie Freitag 1 1-2 3, Ava Jakubcin-Theis 6 4-4 16, CJ Savage 5 0-0 14, Kaitlyn Turinsky 6 2-9 14, Mazie Gracemyer 3 0-0 8, Lexie Easterwood 1 0-0 2, Bailey Nichols 1 1-2 3. TOTALS 23 8-17 60 Lutheran East 2 13 12 12 — 39 Bellevue 23 11 15 11 — 60 Three-point goals: Lutheran East 5 (Pollard 2, Martin, Porter, Williams); Bellevue 6 (Savage 4, Gracemyer 2)