DAYTON, Ohio — Bellevue claimed its first state championship by beating Kettering Archbishop Alter 40-29 in the OHSAA Division IV girls’ basketball state championship game at UD Arena on Friday.
Despite holding the Knights to 1-of-21 shooting in the first half, which saw Kettering Archbishop Alter begin the game 0-of-19 from the field until Maddie Moody made a jumper to bring the Knights within seven with 1:31 left, Bellevue (28-1) had just a 13-6 halftime lead behind seven points from Audrey Turner.
Both teams shot at least 36.1% in the third quarter, and Bellevue built a 12-point lead — its largest of the game — after Hailey Rees hit a 3-point shot with 5:57 left in the period.
Da’Shai Shepard made back-to-back layups with less than a minute to go in the fourth quarter, but the Redmen wouldn’t let Kettering Archbishop Alter within seven to hold onto their first state title in school history. Bellevue also became the first Sandusky County school to win a girls basketball state championship.
“I’m extremely excited for this group of girls. This was a goal from day one,” Bellevue head coach Kory Santoro said. “To have that goal and live it was pretty amazing, pretty special. But I thought the game, you know, they’re a good team. They play very good defense too, got some very nice players, but I just thought we, offensively, it kind of showed. But I think defense wins championships, and they know that.”
Rees led all scorers with 16 points and went 9-for-11 at the free throw line, including knocking down 8 of 9 in the fourth quarter.
Turner contributed 11 points and Kaitlyn Turinsky added eight on 3-of-3 shooting in the win.
“I think it feels amazing for us girls to come through and do this,” Turner said. “I mean, we’ve gone through the Lady Red program. We’ve gone through all the drills, whatever it takes, and I think we’ve just trusted in each other. I think it’s important for us teammates to be close, and so I think the relationship that we’ve built with us players and our coaches has definitely helped us to be able to get this far.”
Kettering Archbishop Alter (19-9) finished shooting 22% from the field including going 1-of-11 from beyond the arc.
Moody led the Knights with 12 points.
“We’re disappointed with the fact that we’re state runners-up and not state champions. Anybody would be. We are so proud of what they accomplished all year long. There was obviously a learning curve for us, especially with four freshmen on the roster, but they handled themselves with grace all year and we improved all season long.”