Bellevue falls 60-58 to Laurel in Div. IV title game

DAYTON — Not every story ends in a fairytale. No. 2 Bellevue played significantly better than it did in Thursday's state semifinal win over Circleville, but Laurel kept pace. The Gators went toe-to-toe with the defending state champions, answering every time Bellevue had a bit of separation. Senior Tristan Williams made two free throws with 4.2 seconds left, lifting No. 1 Laurel to a 60-58 win over Bellevue in the Division IV state championship game at University of Dayton Arena on Friday afternoon. "We told the girls in the locker room how special the two-year run we've had," Bellevue coach Kory Santoro said. "It's not easy to do. There are 130 teams in Division IV. Obviously no one likes to lose, but it happens. "I told them before the game started that if I got their best effort out there, then we'll leave with the results. The effort was there. It just came down that they made one more play than us." The Lady Red finished the season with a record of 29-1. Bellevue has won 16 straight league championships and is 57-2 since the beginning of last season. "To win 45 straight games and lose two games in a two-year span and all the stuff they've done over the years, they are pretty special girls," Santoro said. "I get to see it first-hand behind closed doors what these girls bring to the table night in and night out. "They're exceptional basketball players, but they're better people. They're kind of like my daughters. I'm that close to them." With 29 seconds to go, Kaitlyn Turinsky tied the game at 58 with a score in the lane. Bellevue then used its last timeout to reset. Laurel (22-4) ran the clock down before using a timeout with 7.6 seconds left. Bellevue nearly forced a five-second call on the inbounds play, but the Gators used another timeout to keep possession. Out of the second timeout, Williams inbounded it and immediately took the pass back. She cut through the lane and was fouled from behind. She calmly made two free throws for a 60-58 lead. "We had to make a tough decision," Santoro said. "We were trying to get a foul earlier than that. It just so happened that we got her in the shooting motion and let her get free." In Thursday's state semifinal win, Williams missed two free throws near the end of regulation that would have given Laurel the win in regulation. The Gators rebounded to knock off four-time state champion Purcell-Marian in overtime. "Jordyn (Meyer) went wide and we wanted to see if Jordyn could suck somebody out there," Laurel coach David Meyer said of the last play. "They kind of followed Jordyn out there and left the lane open for Tristan. She got two hands on her back and she was able to make the free throws today." Laurel used a timeout, giving Bellevue an opportunity to line up something. Ava Jakubcin-Theis heaved the inbounds pass toward the front court, but it was intercepted by Meyer and the final seconds ticked away. "I was out of timeouts and we thought they were going to try to foul us because they had some fouls to give," Santoro said. "We were going to try to get the ball to Kaitlyn. We had cutters coming off. It's one of our last-second plays. "I saw what they came out in and we couldn't communicate fast enough to change it." Laurel intended to use its fouls to give. "We knew we had four or five fouls to give," coach Meyer said. "The plan was to foul them, hopefully getting them on a dribble. Get them on a dribble, foul them again. Get it down to one second and give them something they didn't want. "Turns out, we didn't have to do that. They went for something long, which we also anticipated that." Jordyn Meyer proved to be the difference in the second half for Laurel. After just five points and one 3-pointer in the first half, she heated up over the final 16 minutes. She opened the second half with a score and later hit a 3 to bring Laurel within 34-32. In the final 45 seconds of the third quarter, she scored to tie the game at 42 and then hit a go-ahead 3. Carrington Savage pushed Bellevue ahead 52-49 on a triple with 6:21 to go, but Meyer answered with one herself to even the game at 52. Jakubcin-Theis answered that bucket with a driving layup, but Meyer's triple with 2:32 to go pushed Laurel ahead 55-54. Jakucbin-Theis scored for Bellevue, but once again, Meyer canned a 3, giving the Gators a 58-56 lead with 54 seconds to go. "You know Tristan is going to get hers," said Santoro of the guard headed to UNLV next season. "She's a heck of a player. You just try to contain her. Meyer scored more than her average. That was not supposed to happen from our scout. To her credit, she hit some shots." Bellevue jumped out to an 11-4 lead following a Savage 3-pointer and bucket from Mazie Gracemyer. Laurel answered behind Williams, getting within 14-12 after one quarter. The Lady Red pushed ahead 19-14 on a Savage triple, but Laurel used an 8-2 run to go up 22-21. The Gators led 24-23, but Bellevue locked down the Laurel offense the final 3:27 of the first half. On the other end, Turinsky scored, Ellie Freitag nailed a 3 and two free throws from Jakubcin-Theis gave Bellevue a 30-24 halftime lead. Jakubcin-Theis continued her great play in the third quarter. She made two more free throws — two of her 10-for-10 effort at the line — for a 34-29 lead. She added two more free throws and two buckets as Bellevue kept pace. "I knew we had to come out and make a statement," Jakubcin-Theis said. "That's what we've been preaching on the whole season — coming out and trying to get that first punch and go from there. We knew that's what had to be done. I think we all executed well in the third." Meyer finished with 26 points and three steals for Laurel while Williams had 19 points, eight assists, five rebounds and five steals. Bellevue eliminated the Gators last year in a state semifinal. The teams are one win apiece over the last 12 months. "Bellevue is a great team," Williams said. "I love what they're building over there. Well-coached. But, we're good over here. We were prepared and I think our experience helped us. It was definitely a bit of pride and motivation and inspiration from last year and how that ended." Jakubcin-Theis tallied 20 points and eight rebounds for Bellevue. Savage added 15 points and Turinsky totaled 14 points and 10 rebounds. The game brought an end to the high school careers of Turinsky and Bailey Nichols. "I was so excited this year to come in with these girls," Turinsky said. "The summertime was awesome and I knew we were going to be good. I saw the chemistry. It was amazing to play with these girls. We wanted it so much on and off the court. Getting here and executing, at least up until this point, was so fun." BELLEVUE (29-1) Ellie Freitag 1 0-0 3, Ava Jakubcin-Theis 5 10-10 20, Carrington Savage 5 0-0 15, Kaitlyn Turinsky 7 0-1 14, Mazie Gracemyer 2 0-0 4, Lexie Easterwood 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 21 10-11 58 LAUREL (22-4) Reese Grammes 0 0-0 0, Liv Schneider 3 2-3 9, Jordyn Meyer 10 0-0 26, Tristan Williams 6 7-8 19, Sydnee Robinson 3 0-2 6. TOTALS 22 9-13 60 Bellevue 14 16 14 14 — 58 Laurel 12 12 21 15 — 60 Three-point goals: Bellevue 6 (Savage 5, Freitag); Laurel 7 (Meyer 6, Schneider)