Perrysburg sophomore guard Kallie Thames (35) heads full steam toward the hoop during a 55-49 loss to Bellevue at Perrysburg High School. (Drake Harlett/Sentinel-Tribune)
PERRYSBURG — In their season opener, Perrysburg girls basketball had a chance to defeat Division II perennial powerhouse Bellevue, if the Yellow Jackets could make a free throw.
In the fourth quarter, the Yellow Jackets missed six straight free throws on their way to losing to the visiting Redmen, 55-49.
Matter of fact, it was not just field goals, but the Yellow Jackets were 4-for-18 from the field (22%) in the final quarter with the game on the line.
“We missed six straight free throws and had back-to-back turnovers, and we don’t need that,” Perrysburg coach Todd Sims said.
“We’re young in a lot of spots, but we are experienced. I mean, some of these people played varsity as a freshman. That can’t happen. Not at home. We have to get much better at that stuff.”
Perrysburg had 14 offensive rebounds over the final eight minutes, including three off their own missed free throws, but could not find the basket in their own field house.
Still, Perrysburg junior guard Hayley Griggs got a steal and scored on a reverse layup with 1:04 remaining to keep it a one-possession game with the Jackets trailing, 52-49, but that was the final time Perrysburg put boards on the board.
The Yellow Jackets out rebounded Bellevue, 39-20, and had 17 more shots from the field, but Perrysburg finished 18-for-56 (32%) from the floor while Bellevue shot 49% (19-for-39).
“Effort is not our problem, creating shots is not our problem, it isn’t getting to the offensive boards — we killed them on the offensive boards, but we couldn’t make anything,” Sims said.
“And you have to — it’s a shot makers’ game. You can run the coolest plays but you have to be able to make shots.”
Junior guard Hailey Rees led Bellevue with 26 points, four rebounds, and seven steals and 6-foot-3 sophomore forward Kaitlyn Turinsky had 12 points and five rebounds.
Rees and Turinsky lead a talented Bellevue team that follows in the footsteps of a program that has won 13 straight Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division (big school) championships.
Rees has been involved in the last three and Turinsky in the last two championships, and the Redmen only graduated one senior last year. Bellevue is the obvious preseason pick to win a 14th straight SBC title.
“We have a lot of kids coming back from last year’s team and honestly, we’re still pretty young,” Bellevue coach Kory Santoro said.
“We’ve got one senior and a lot of juniors and sophomores and freshmen playing. So, we are excited about the year and to open up with Perrysburg is always a tough, tough game, but we’re happy to come out of here with a win.”
Griggs led Perrysburg with 11 points, five rebounds and five steals, sophomore forward Hailey Siebenaler had 11 points and nine rebounds, and sophomore Kallie Thames had 10 points, seven rebounds, and five steals.
Perrysburg sophomore guard Addy Byrne scored eight points, including two first quarter three-point goals and junior guard Chloe Kilbride had four points and six rebounds.
Junior guard Ayla Turk scored four points and sophomore forward Sophie Mitchell added two points for the Yellow Jackets.
Junior guard Brooke Brown had six points and five rebounds, junior guard Audrey Turner scored six points, senior guard Kyra Henney had three points and two steals, and freshman guard Ellie Freitag added two points for the Redmen.
Perrysburg was 8-for-14 from the free throw line, Bellevue was 8-for-9, and the Yellow Jackets had 16 turnovers to the Redmens’ 15.
