Bellevue edges Willard to end regular season

WILLARD — Entering Friday, it had been a rough six weeks for Bellevue. The Redmen entered a Jan. 8 game against Perkins with a record of 9-2. But, including that double-overtime loss to the Pirates, Bellevue was just 3-7 since. The Redmen picked up maybe their biggest win of the season, topping Division V No. 13 Willard 56-52 in Sandusky Bay Conference crossover action. While it won't erase some tough losses recently, it sure felt good for Bellevue. The Redmen entered the game following an embarrassing 70-44 home loss to Sandusky on Wednesday. "That's a heck of a good team we just beat," Bellevue coach Ed Rich said. "Our kids played so good. We challenged them quite a bit. Probably the toughest I've been on them this entire year was (Thursday). I laid it all out, where we were and what I thought of our play." Bellevue (13-9) executed extremely well in the final 90 seconds of the game. Ahead 51-50 following a Reid Claus triple, the Redmen had to fend off a Willard offensive possession that lasted more than a minute. Bellevue forced a turnover and that led to JJ Vogel scoring. Jaxson Hall responded for the Crimson Flashes (18-4), bringing Willard within 53-52 with 49 seconds left. The Redmen committed one of their three turnovers on the night, but Bellevue was able to force a tough shot from Willard freshman JJ Bedingfield. The Redmen grabbed the rebound and forced the Flashes to foul. With just one team foul to that point in the quarter, it took Willard a few hacks to get Bellevue to the line. When the Redmen got there, Elijah Turinsky was as cool as can be. He nailed two shots with 15.6 seconds left, pushing Bellevue ahead 55-52. Willard used a timeout in between the free throws, its last. Once Turinsky sank the second attempt, the Flashes had to go. A look from Mason Dawson, who had both of Willard's 3-pointers on the night, was no good. "I thought JJ had a better look and missed it," Willard coach Joe Bedingfield said. "He's shooting 47 percent from 3 and didn't have a single 3 tonight. That hurts. He had four points. Not really a bad look (by Dawson), but we never should have been in that position and we were. I think down the stretch we didn't make enough plays." Ike Brown snatched the rebound and was fouled. He missed the first free throw, but made the second to seal the much-needed win for Bellevue. That wasn't the first time Turinsky made two big free throws for the Redmen. He knocked down a key pair late in a win over Old Fort in December. Willard scored the final seven points of the first quarter and a thee-point play from Hall gave Willard a 19-10 lead in the second quarter. From there, Bellevue got hot from deep. Owen Hancock scored before triples from Claus and Sam Bollinger cut the deficit to 19-18. Bollinger and Vogel went back-to-back before a 3 near the half from Claus gave Bellevue a 29-27 lead at halftime. "Early on, we got complacent up nine," coach Bedingfield said. "We didn't take care of the ball and they did a good job of hitting open shooters. We tried to switch defenses like we normally do and we didn't adjust. Credit to Bellevue. They were the tougher team tonight." Bellevue took a 39-38 lead into the fourth quarter. A banked-in 3-pointer from Claus kept the Redmen ahead 44-40. Dawson topped Willard with 17 points while Hall added 12. The Flashes have a week off before hosting Findlay Liberty-Benton (15-7) in a Division V tournament opener. "We told our kids that Bellevue has played a tough schedule and they're a good team," coach Bedingfield said. "In the last three games, it was Ottawa-Glandorf, Sandusky and Perkins. But we put our non-league schedule that's pretty competitive. We're 18-4 with a lot of guys that aren't experienced. That's no excuse." Brown led Bellevue with 15 points while Bollinger added 14. Claus' four triples accounted for 12 points for the Redmen, who host Vermilion in a Division IV tournament opener next Thursday. BELLEVUE (13-9) Sam Bollinger 4-2—14, Ike Brown 6-3—15, JJ Vogel 2-0—5, Reid Claus 4-0—12, Elijah Turinsky 1-2—4, Hudson Smith 1-0—2, Owen Hancock 1-0—2, Caden Lindsey 1-0—2. TOTALS 20-7—56. WILLARD (18-4) Kaleb Weaver 4-1—9, Jaxson Hall 4-4—12, Mason Dawson 5-5—17, Matt Santana 1-0—2, JJ Bedingfield 1-2—4, Gage Stover 3-0—6, Jacob Beamer 1-0—2. TOTALS 19-12—52. Bellevue 10 19 10 17 — 56 Willard 14 13 11 14 — 52 Three-point FGs: (B) Bollinger 4, Claus 4, Vogel; (W) Dawson 2.