Bellevue offense sputters in key loss to Willard

BELLEVUE - Bellevue never seemed to be in the right rhythm on Saturday in a key Northern Ohio League matchup with Willard.

The Crimson Flashes had four girls score in double digits with Gabi Baldridge and Maddy Crawford each recording a double-double as Willard topped Bellevue, 52-38.

Bellevue coach Kory Santoro opted to start four seniors on Senior Day with junior Jenna Strayer.

Despite a score from Olivia Baptista to take an early lead in the second quarter, the Lady Red were just a step out of sync for the day.

"We just didn't play well, to tell you the truth," Santoro said. "We just have too many turnovers in key situations. Defensively, we had some mental breakdowns on that side of the ball. Our post play, I thought, was good."

The win, coupled with Shelby's road win at Norwalk, muddled up the NOL race even more. Each of the four schools have three league losses heading into the final week of the regular season. Bellevue travels to Shelby next Saturday to finish its league schedule.

"We told the girls that we know the loss stings but as bad as it looks, all of our goals are still intact," Santoro said. "We have a chance to win the NOL and make a deep tournament run. We're not doing it the easy way but it's there."

Coupled with losses to Ontario last week and Tuesday's loss to Upper Sandusky, it is Bellevue's first three-game losing streak since Dec. 22, 2011 to Jan. 3, 2012.

"Over here at Bellevue is always crazy," Willard coach Jon Dawson said. "We knew we had to handle the press and we had to defend the 3-point line."

Willard (17-3 overall, 8-3 NOL) scored eight straight points for a 17-10 lead in the second quarter. The Lady Red (15-5, 8-3) got a score from Shalee Weider, but Madie Secor scored to send Willard into halftime up, 19-12.

"In the first half, to hold a team like Bellevue to 12 points was a great job," Dawson said. "They came out in the second half and they shot a little better. All of a sudden they're driving to the hoop, but I thought our rotation and help defense was really good. We moved the basketball and took advantage of their scrambles and got the ball inside."

The Flashes continued their momentum into the third quarter. Scores by Maddie Branham and Crawford boosted the lead to 30-19 as the Bellevue offense sputtered.

Bellevue made just 12-of-40 (30 percent) shots and committed 19 turnovers.

"I just thought our guard play wasn't good," Santoro said. "We didn't shoot the ball well and we didn't handle the ball well. Willard is a good team and they're a tough matchup for us."

Not to go down on their home floor without a fight, the Lady Red got some offense going in the final two minutes of the third quarter. Lauren Turner scored before Payton Vogel grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to end the third quarter.

"Absolutely," said Dawson if he thought Bellevue would make a run. "They're too good of a team not to. We were up seven at halftime and we talked about trying to get it up double digits. We were able to do that and I thought that's when we had the chance to go up more on them. Credit to them though because they kept fighting. We just couldn't pull away."

Turner smacked a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter to draw Bellevue within 30-26. The Lady Red got within three when Laini Carlson scored her only points of the night on a 3-point play but Willard tightened up its defense even more, and went on a 8-2 run for a 42-34 lead.

Bellevue was forced to foul for most of the final three minutes of the game. Willard hit 14-of-21 free throws in the fourth quarter and 18-of-26 for the game.

"We were forced to start fouling and to their credit, Willard hit some free throws," Santoro said. "They had girls that don't shoot well that hit some free throws. They did their job and hit free throws in crunch time."

Ashlee Tuttle scored 11 points for Willard while Madie Secor had 10 points. Baldridge had 10 points and 13 rebounds, and Crawford registered 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Vogel topped Bellevue with 11 points while Strayer, who missed Tuesday's loss to Upper Sandusky and fouled out against Willard, had nine points.

"We've got to get girls 100 percent healthy," said Santoro, who noted Turner also turned an ankle in practice on Friday and was questionable heading into Saturday. "We're a team that needs girls 100 percent healthy. Hopefully in the next week, we get everyone healthy and gear up for the tournaments."

Willard 9-10-11-22 - 52

Bellevue 8-4-11-15 - 28

Willard: 16-35 FG, 18-26 FT, 2-5 3pt (Secor, Tuttle), 30 rebounds (Baldridge 13, Crawford 11), 18 turnovers. Scoring: Ashlee Tuttle 3 4-8 11, Madie Secor 3 3-4 10, Lydia Wiers 3 1-2 7, Maddy Crawford 2 6-8 10, Gabi Baldridge 3 4-4 10, Felicia Rosvanis 0 0-0 0, Maddie Branham 2 0-0 4.

Bellevue: 12-40 FG, 13-18 FT, 1-9 3pt (Turner), 25 rebounds (Turner 8), 19 turnovers. Scoring: Lauren Raifsnider 0 0-0 0, Ali Thomas 0 0-0 0, Shalee Weider 2 0-0 4, Jenna Strayer 3 3-5 9, Delaney Davis 0 0-0 0, Payton Vogel 3 6-8 11, Lauren Turner 2 1-2 6, Laini Carlson 1 1-1 3, Olivia Baptista 1 2-2 4, Liz Ish 0 0-0 0.