Tornadoes snag big rivalry win

BELLEVUE – Columbian had to dig deep. The Tornadoes limited Bellevue to just eight points in the first half, but the Redmen pushed and tied the game in the third quarter. But, TC answered with the next seven points and powered through from there. The Tornadoes' defense was stout throughout, topping Bellevue 43-39 in Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division action Friday. "It was a big win for our guys," Tornadoes coach Jac Alexander said. "We came in here and it was Senior Night for them. There were a ton of people here and it was an exciting game down the stretch. It was gutsy by our guys. I thought we did a good job of taking away their tendencies and playing as hard as we could defensively." Down 16-8 early in the third quarter, the Redmen offense got going. Reid Claus scored before a free throw and bucket from Ike Brown. Sam Bollinger scored later before a 3-pointer from JJ Vogel tied the game at 19. Blake Miller scored for the Tornadoes (8-9, 3-4 SBC Lake), but Brown knocked down two free throws for Bellevue.That's when Columbian sped away. DaZarius Russell made two free throws before a score from Blake Tucker. Then, Nolan Miller drove to the hoop, scored and was fouled. He made the free throw for a 28-21 lead with 1:20 to go in the third quarter. "We knew they would go on a run," Alexander said. "I told the guys at halftime that they were going to make shots. They weren't going to miss shots forever. We had to weather the storm, keep playing and doing what everything we could to stop them. We made some nice plays down the stretch." Bellevue (11-6, 4-3) had one more push in it during the fourth quarter. Bollinger hit a jumper before picking a steal. He got to the rim, scored and was fouled. He made the free throw to bring Bellevue within 28-26 just 47 seconds into the fourth quarter. Logan Gooding had the answer on the other end, nailing his fifth 3-pointer of the night. Reid Claus scored for Bellevue, but a triple from Miller gave Columbian a 34-28 advantage. Bellevue got within one point after a triple from Elijah Turinsky and tally by Bollinger, but never seized the lead. Instead, buckets from Tucker and Blake Miller put the Redmen behind 38-33 with 2:19 to play. Bollinger again scored for Bellevue and the Redmen forced a turnover with 57.6 seconds left. But, Bellevue gave it right back as Gooding picked the steal and turned it into a three-point play with 47.2 seconds remaining. "It's back-to-back games where we gave up 43 points and lost," Bellevue coach Ed Rich said. "I think we were 2 of 22 from 3 and 13 of 26 from 2. You can't win that way. That's the bottom line. We defended extremely well. I think Gooding had 14 at half, but we did a really good job on him all the way up until the end of the third and we lost him a couple times." Columbian was able to play spoiler on a night where Bellevue honored three seniors: Claus, Caden Lindsey and Owen Hancock. "It was a carryover of exactly what we looked like Saturday against Lexington," said Rich of Bellevue's 43-40 loss to the Minutemen. "We played with much more urgency tonight, which was great to see. I can't fault our effort. We played hard. We just couldn't do it." Both teams were sloppy for most of the first half. Bellevue had just one field goal in the first quarter and trailed 5-2 after eight minutes. The Redmen didn't hit their second field goal until Claus scored off of an offensive rebound with 3:59 to go in the first half. "Our offense is really, really bad right now," Rich said. "It's a shot confidence thing. We are 6 of 46 from 3 in our last two games. You can't beat anybody that way. We have to keep working on our confidence. The good thing is we have some games left before the tournament. We have to start hitting some shots." Gooding carried the Columbian offense in the first half, hitting four 3-pointers. He scored 12 of the Tornadoes' first 14 points. "He's a really good player," said Alexander of the junior. "When you have a really good player, he might miss a couple shots here and there. But, I always say water always finds its level. That was true with them. Bellevue went cold, but then they hit some shots in the second half." Bollinger led Bellevue with 18 points, scoring 11 of those in the fourth quarter. The Redmen have a week to prepare for a trip to Norwalk (0-15, 0-7). "We have to hit a couple shots early," Rich said. "The good thing is we have a whole week to prep. We'll be at Norwalk on Friday and it's never easy to play there. I don't care if they're 0-16 or not. If we play like this, it'll be a dog fight. If we see some go in, we'll be fine. If not, we'll have to grind it out." Gooding finished with 22 points and nine rebounds on the night while Blake Tucker had seven points. The Tornadoes are back in action next Friday when they travel to Sandusky (10-7, 6-1), who defeated Perkins on Friday to pull into a first-place tie with the Pirates. "We have to go to their place," Alexander said. "We have a young team, so it's another chance to prove and see how hard they can play against a really good team." Columbian 43, Bellevue 39COLUMBIAN (8-9, 3-4)Blake Miller 3 1-2 7, Logan Gooding 7 3-3 22, DaShawn Russell 0 0-0 0, Blake Tucker 2 0-0 4, Kyle Hepp 0 0-0 0, Parker Nye 1 0-0 2, Nolan Miller 2 1-1 6, DaZarius Russell 0 2-2 2. TOTALS 15 7-8 43BELLEVUE (11-6, 4-3): Sam Bollinger 8 2-2 18, Ike Brown 2 4-6 8, Reid Claus 3 0-1 6, Caden Lindsey 0 0-0 0, Owen Hancock 0 0-0 0, JJ Vogel 1 0-0 3, Elijah Turinsky 1 0-0 3, Hudson Smith 0 1-2 1. TOTALS 15 7-11 39Columbian 5 11 12 15 — 43Bellevue 2 6 13 18 — 39Three-point goals: Columbian 6/17 (Gooding 5, N. Miller); Bellevue 2/22 (Vogel, Turinsky)Rebounds: Columbian 27 (Gooding 9); Bellevue 30 (Bollinger 8)Turnovers: Columbian 15; Bellevue 12Total FG: Columbian 15/36; Bellevue 15/48