Tornadoes, Lady Red off to slow starts at Midwest Live

SANDUSKY — Morgan Harrigan saw improvement.The Columbian coach watched her Tornadoes limp to one point in the second half of their first game of Midwest Live on Friday.In the second game, TC went toe to toe with Sandusky Bay Conference River Division champion Gibsonburg, coming up just short 37-35."Our second game was better than our first game," Harrigan said. "Our team chemistry is getting a little bit better. We have to get our legs under us. I think definitely improvement as the day went on."The Tornadoes had opportunities late, but couldn't cash in.Harrigan wasn't upset about that, as good competition in the summer can be hard to come by."It's great to come and show up and play quality opponents," Harrigan said. "For us, the summer is exposing what we need to work on and being able to figure that stuff out."The Tornadoes struggled defensively in the first half against Gibsonburg guard Elly Evarts.The junior guard had 16 points in the 18-minute running clock first half as the Golden Bears took a 21-18 lead into halftime.Columbian snatched a brief 25-23 advantage in the second half on two free throws by Marissa Allen, but couldn't maintain it.Gibsonburg used a run to surge ahead 35-29.The Tornadoes made it close late, but a few missed opportunities prevented TC from going 1-1 on the day."Any time we can get quality opponents in the summer, especially people we haven't seen and make our girls step up — we had to make pressure free throws down the stretch," Harrigan said. "We had to make decisions, so I can't ask for anything better for our team."Evarts finished with just five points in the second half, tallying 21 for the game.Columbian was led by Mia Zeis' 16 points. Allen added 11 points."I feel like in the second half we actually focused more on Evarts," Harrigan said. "We knew she was a great player. We wanted to control her a little bit better. We had a better second half with that."In the opener, Columbian came up short against Strasburg-Franklin 33-17.The Tornadoes were within 21-16 at halftime, but didn't make a field goal in the second half.Tyanna Zeigler split two free throws with 38 seconds to play for TC's only points of the second half."We got winded and couldn't make a basket," Harrigan said. "This is the first week we've really had everyone together because everyone is playing other sports. We've got to get our chemistry back and get back in shape."Columbian is right back in action today against Dayton Chaminade-Jullienne and Rocky River."Our theme this year is developing some toughness," Harrigan said. "This is putting us in that type of situation — being able to get some rest, come back and get your legs ready to go. Playing four games in two days is tough. We're working on that toughness and we challenge them all the time to show up and be ready to go."Bellevue goes 0-2The defending Division IV state champions got off to a rough start as well Friday.Bellevue was on the wrong end of a 50-33 loss to Olentangy and 52-30 defeat to Kettering Fairmont."We're not last year's team yet," Bellevue coach Kory Santoro said. "This is good because it's humbling. These girls need to see what's out there. That's why you come here. You need to see what's out there and see what other programs are doing to get to that state level."Both teams the Lady Red faced are Division I heavyweights. Each squad won 22 games last year before making tournament runs."These two teams are probably going to make a run at a state title next year," Santoro said. "They're both very good teams. But, we have work to do and that's why we come here."Olentangy was hot from deep against Bellevue. The Braves knocked in eight 3-pointers in the first half and 10 for the game.The first 18 points Olentangy scored were from 3."We don't have a lot of our stuff or defenses in," Santoro said. "Having new kids, we haven't had a whole lot of practice on the floor. Olentangy is a good team. They're just flat out better than us. It is what it is. We'll learn from it and get better from it."Olentangy led 30-18 at halftime before pulling away in the second half.Bellevue was led in scoring by freshman Ava Jakubcin-Theis, who transferred to the school from New Riegel in May.She finished with nine points."She'll understand the physicality of the varsity game," Santoro said. "It's going to take time for us to gel and get that chemistry together."Bellevue battled with Fairmont in the first half, never taking a lead. With the game even at 16, the Firebirds used an 11-1 run over the last couple minutes of the half to take a double-digit lead into the break."Against Fairmont, we played a pretty good first 16 1/2 minutes," Santoro said. "That final minute and a half, they ran away with it. That's where I thought we lost the game."Bellevue only got as close as eight points (30-22) in the second half.Kaitlyn Turinsky registered a team-high 11 points for the Lady Red while Jakubcin-Theis and C.J. Savage each chipped in six.Bellevue seeks to replace key pieces Hailey Rees, Audrey Turner and Brooke Brown from last season's state title team."We're very young and inexperienced at spots," Santoro said. "We lost three very good seniors who had been through a lot of battles with us. They played a lot of varsity minutes from their freshmen to senior years. We have new girls that we're going to try to bring along."Bellevue has no rest for the weary. The Lady Red take on Wheeling Central and Newark today.Santoro's message to his squad after the two games was simple."We can't play like we did today," he said. "Honestly, I just didn't think we had the fight in us today. The message was either we can stay the same or get better. Tomorrow, we've got to come in here ready because it doesn't get any easier."