Bellevue rolls to 2nd straight regional title

BLUFFTON — Different place, same result. Last season, Bellevue won its first-ever girls basketball regional championship with a convincing win at Norwalk High School. This year, the No. 2-ranked Lady Red had to wait a bit, but made it two regional titles in a row. Freshman Ava Jakubcin-Theis scored 16 points, Kaitlyn Turinsky added 13 points and 10 rebounds and Bellevue rolled to a 59-31 Division IV win over Genoa at Bluffton University. The Lady Red improved to 28-0 and will face No. 5 Circleville (23-4) at 2 p.m. Thursday at University of Dayton Arena in a state semifinal. "We had a good nucleus coming back from last year's state title team and then we added in someone like Ava Jakubcin-Theis," Bellevue coach Kory Santoro said. "We had a lot of girls last year that were very good underclassmen. They stepped up over the summer. This is the result of hard work. "Not to sound arrogant or anything like that, but we wanted to be back and expected to be." Bellevue's day got a little longer when condensation on the court during a Division VII regional final earlier in the day halted play. The contest between Ottoville and Stryker was ultimately suspended and the start of the Lady Red's game against Genoa (20-7) was delayed a hour. "A lot of people make a big deal out of it, but we don't like stuff like that bother us," Santoro said. "We can play anywhere and anytime. That stuff doesn't bother us. We did what they told us to do and it was business as usual." Santoro was right. Bellevue was unfazed by the distractions. Mazie Gracemyer knocked down two free throws before Carrington Savage canned a 3 to open the game. Makenna Moritz scored for the Comets, but Jakubcin-Theis made two free throws and a putback by Gracemyer made it 9-2. Jakubcin-Theis scored on a driving layup and Ellie Freitag's bucket made it 13-5 after one quarter. Bellevue's defense was even more stingy in the second quarter. The Lady Red didn't allow a field goal as Genoa missed all nine shots it attempted. "We always say defense is going to travel," Santoro said. "That's been something we want to hang our hat on. Last year, that's what we focused on. I feel like this year, our defense is just as good." Bellevue went up 20-7 following scores from Turinsky and Jakubcin-Theis. "She's tough to handle one-on-one with the ball in her hands because she's got such a quick first step," said Santoro of Jakubcin-Theis. "A couple times in our 'Michigan,' which is coming downhill, that was our first read. We want to drive to the rim and force people to sag. "I thought she exploded through that and got a few layups because of that." After Moritz went to the bench with three fouls, the Lady Red pounced. Turinsky pushed the advantage further before Freitag made a 3-pointer after a Genoa turnover. Freitag gave Bellevue a 27-7 lead at the half when she scored off of an assist from Turinsky. Freitag, who runs the Lady Red offense from her point guard position and isn't always counted on to score, had 10 points for Bellevue. "It feels great to score some because I know I'm not always a scorer," Freitag said. "It's important for me to add that scoring piece when maybe other girls aren't." Not much slowed Bellevue down in the third quarter. Freitag fed Turinsky for a bucket before Savage made a 3. Jakubcin-Thies made it 34-8 and scores from Jakubcin-Theis and Turinsky extended the margin to 38-10. Savage followed with a 3 and Freitag's drive, score and free throw make on the foul pushed the Lady Red ahead 46-14. The game never got into a running clock, but Bellevue was dominant was ever. The Lady Red limited Genoa to a 10-for-34 effort from the field. "We pride ourselves on defense the most," Freitag said. "We ran over a lot of different things to throw at them in practice. We want to be unpredictable in what we do, but we always play tough." Moritz led Genoa with 14 points, but the Lady Red made it difficult on her. "We know she likes to get to the rim," said Santoro of Makenna Moritz. "She's a strong kid. She played well, but I thought KT defended her well. The other Moritz girl (Addisyn), we wanted to shut her down. She didn't even score a point all game." Bellevue outrebounded Genoa 35-23. Jakubcin-Theis and Savage each had five rebounds while Freitag added four. "Kaitlyn takes a lot of rebounds from a lot of girls, but I thought tonight we had a lot of girls crash the boards," Santoro said. "That's what it is going to take to win another state title." That pursuit of a second straight state championship continues against Circleville, which has won 11 games in a row. "Last year was different because you had one state semifinal and then you had a whole week off," said Santoro of a different state format last season. "This year, it's back to back. There's going to be a lot of stuff happen for them and I know our community will step up for them. "They've done a lot of great things for these girls. It's exciting times." BELLEVUE (28-0) Ellie Freitag 4 1-1 10, Ava Jakubcin-Theis 7 2-2 16, Carrington Savage 3 0-0 9, Kaitlyn Turinsky 6 1-3 13, Mazie Gracemyer 1 2-2 4, Bailey Nichols 0 1-2 1, Ava Hirt 1 1-1 3, Calie Cramer 1 0-0 3. TOTALS 23-51 8-10 59 GENOA (20-7) Adrianna Williams 1 0-0 2, Kylie Pennington 0 0-0 0, Addisyn Moritz 0 0-0 0, Keira Combs 0 3-6 3, Makenna Moritz 5 3-6 14, Lucy Schlageter 1 3-4 5, Avery Henneman 0 1-2 1, Josie Downhour 1 0-0 2, Allie Antry 2 0-0 4. TOTALS 10-34 10-17 31 Bellevue 13 14 21 11 — 59 Genoa 5 2 9 15 — 31 Three-point goals: Bellevue 5 (Savage 3, Freitag, Cramer); Genoa 1 (M. Moritz)