Bellevue's press stifles Tornadoes

Bellevue's full-court press wasn't a surprise for Columbian, but it surely was effective. With 6-foot-3 Kaitlyn Turinsky at the head of the press, Columbian had a tough time throwing overhead passes, which led to turnovers early and a 19-8 Bellevue lead after one quarter Friday night in Tiffin.As a result of the smothering press, TC was sped up all game. Even when the Tornadoes got the ball up court, it took quick, ineffective shots most of the game, which allowed Bellevue to get some runouts and easy looks down at the other end. Bellevue outscored the Tornadoes 32-11 in the second half to run away with a 58-26 SBC Lake victory."That's how we play. That's what makes us go," Lady Red coach Kory Santoro said about his team's pressure defense. "We're gearing up to win a league title … we have to play to our strengths and to what Bellevue does, so we got goals and we got a good group of girls that play really good defense. "I thought we played great defense all night. We played great defense and then hit some timely shots. Yes, (Columbian) were a little aggressive tonight, but they're trying to win the game too and change the culture here, so I can't fault them. They played hard."TC (10-6, 4-3 SBC Lake) actually led 5-2 early after a Marissa Allen 3-pointer, but Bellevue countered with consecutive triples from Brooke Brown and Hailey Rees, which spearheaded a 15-0 run for the Lady Red.Columbian battled all game with energy and hustle plays, but just didn't get enough offense or any easy looks of its own to stay in it in the second half. Despite 15 first-half turnovers, TC was down just 26-15 at the half."I feel like we started off making some silly mistakes and then those started to compile, but I was proud of the effort we played with," TC coach Morgan Harrigan said. "We didn't get down on each other … but we didn't execute offensively like we wanted to and we were sped up a lot. "We're battling sickness, battling injuries and battling foul trouble a lot in that game and I don't want to make excuses, but they kept their heads. For a team to still be pressing us with a running clock, I thought it was classless. But we have people coming up that are ready, we're building our future here and setting our foundation and I'm just proud that our girls didn't react to the poor behavior that was on the court. Give credit to Bellevue, they have a lot of talent … but I'm looking forward to seeing them in the future."Turinsky led Bellevue (17-1, 7-1) with 14 points, while Ellie Freitag added 12, Rees had 11 and Brown ended with eight.The Bellevue defense held Columbian to just six field goals and it forced 27 turnovers. "We knew coming in – it was a 12-point win at our place the first time – we knew they were 10-5 and they're improved and they play hard and get after it, so we had to match them," Santoro said. "We had to match that intensity and do what we do. I thought we did a good job of that tonight."Allen paced the Tornadoes with 10 points.We're not going to hold our heads on this loss by any means," Harrigan said. "The goals we set at the beginning of the year are still achievable, we're focused on that and building our program and our team." Bellevue 58, Columbian 26Bellevue (17-1, 7-1 SBC Lake): Ellie Freitag 4-2-12; Brooke Brown 2-2-8; Hailey Rees 3-4-11; Audrey Turner 0-3-3; Bailey Nicholas 1-0-2; Ava Hirt 1-0-3; Carrington Savage 1-0-3; Kaitlyn Turinsky 5-4-14; Lexie Easterwood 0-0-0; Mariah Kistler 0-0-0. Totals: 18-15-58.Columbian (10-6, 4-3): Mia Zeis 1-0-2; Marissa Allen 1-7-10; Maggie Rannigan 0-0-0; Mackenzie Felske 0-0-0; Abbie Felske 2-1-5; Lexi Beaston 1-4-7; Maddy Richie 1-0-2; Chloe Heyman 1-0-2. Totals: 6-12-26.Bellevue&emsp;&emsp;19&emsp;&emsp;7&emsp;&emsp;16&emsp;&emsp;16&emsp;&emsp;– 58Columbian&emsp;&emsp;8&emsp;&emsp;7&emsp;&emsp;5&emsp;&emsp;6&emsp;&emsp;– 263-point goals: Bellevue 7 (Freitag 2, Brown 2, Rees, Hirt, Savage); Columbian 2 (Allen, Beaston)Foul shots: Bellevue 15-20; Columbian 12-15Turnovers: Bellevue 15; Columbian 27