ONTARIO – Bellevue coach Brad Scheiber knew unbeaten Ontario had some great athletes. He may not have known just how many.
The Warriors, with a rotation of eight to nine players, came at the Redmen in waves, pressing defensively and pushing the attack en route to a 77-44 route in a Northern Ohio League boys’ basketball game Friday night.
The win at the O-Rena improved Ontario’s record to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in its first season in the NOL. Bellevue fell to 0-4 and 0-2 with all four games on the road.
Senior forward Cameron Mack led the balanced Ontario offense with 20 points, eight of which came after the powerful 6-2 senior pulled down offensive rebounds. Senior Brandon Wagner added 15 points with the silky smooth 6-3 forward knocking down a pair of triples.
“We knew from watching Ontario during football season they had some great athletes,” Scheiber said. “We knew Mack would take it into the lane against our big men and he did exactly what he wanted to do. They worked harder than we did.
“They are athletic as heck and they will be one of the strongest teams in our league this season,” he added.
Mack and Wagner were the only Warriors in double figures, though junior Lenell Shelby added nine and seniors Tyler Boatwright and Josh Plieninger each added seven.
The Ontario offense keyed off a defense that created 22 Bellevue turnovers, 11 in each half. The Warriors, after building a 19-7 first quarter lead, shut out the Redmen for the first 4:17 of the second period, extending the lead to 26-7.
“We talked with the kids about the importance of getting off to a good start tonight and imposing our will on them,” said veteran coach Joe Balogh, with more than 450 career victories. “We wanted to be aggressive and not let them do what they wanted to do. I was pleased with the kids’ effort tonight.”
Mack scored eight of his points in the first quarter. It set up a diverse attack the remainder of the game. “They started keying on me so some other guys on our team started making plays,” Mack said. “We have a lot of threats, a lot of open options, on this team.”
In addition to an effective full court press, the Warriors were aggressive on the offensive end, taking the ball to the basket. Ontario made baskets and/or drew contact, hitting 14 of 22 free throws. Bellevue had just six foul shots, hitting five.
“We think our foul shooting will be a strength on this team,” Balogh said. “Our goal is to make more free throws than our opponent has attempts. We accomplished that tonight.”
Scheiber said his team failed in its attempts to go strong to the basket. “We had zero foul shots in the first half. We were taking the ball to the basket, but we shied away from contact when they challenged us.”
Despite the early deficit, Bellevue did battle back in the third quarter, closing the gap to 39-29 with three minutes left in the period. But the Warriors outscored the Redmen 14-9 the rest of the way, including a key triple by Boatwright with two seconds left.
“We kind of let up in the third period and lost a little bit of our effort. But we managed to get the pressure back, create some turnovers and some easy transition baskets,” Balogh said. “We know in this league we are going to have to be ready every night.”
Dylan Dewitt was the only Bellevue player in double figures as the 6-0 junior guard finished with 13. Senior Ross Gerwin added eight and sophomore Seth Linder added seven.
Ontario shot 55 percent from the field (28 of 51) and had a 32-30 edge on the boards. The Warriors committed just 10 turnovers. Bellevue hit just 33 percent from the field (16 of 49).
Ontario’s JV team also remained unbeaten with a 51-41 win. Sophomore Griffin Ness led the Warriors with 11 while sophomore Corey Thomas added 10. Sophomore Kyle Geary led Bellevue with 15.
Ontario hosts Clear Fork Saturday night in a non-league game. Bellevue has its home opener tonight against Edison.
