
RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
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The Bellmont Braves made it look easy Friday at the Teepee as they overwhelmed the Leo Lions, 53-22, to complete an undefeated run through the NE8 and claim their first conference title since 2019. The win also gave the Braves a 20-2 regular-season record, the best in coach Andy Heim’s fourteen years at the helm of the program.

Senior Emily Bleke added some individual splendor to the night by becoming the fourth girl in Bellmont history to score 1,000 points. She needed 12 points going into the game to reach the milestone, and she came close in the first half, scoring nine. She took care of business in a hurry in the third quarter, knocking down a three-pointer from the right wing at the 7:34 mark. The game was stopped briefly to commemorate the occasion. Bleke’s teammates swarmed her on the floor as the crowd cheered and several students held up placards reading “1,000 points.”
Heim had high praise for Bleke’s overall brilliance. “A thousand points is awesome, and after her freshman year we thought that there was a possibility if she kept the numbers up, she could do it,” he said. “But not only is it a thousand; she’s really close to 500 rebounds, she’s really close to 200 steals, she’s a little bit further but within reach of 200 assists. Those numbers are wild.”
“It’s a testament to her,” he continued. “She’s always the hardest worker out there, or one of the hardest workers. She’s willing to get on the ground. She’s willing to do the dirty work to get the steal. She’s willing to get her teammates involved.”
Grace Hunter, a 2019 graduate, holds the school and county records with 1,571 points.
The title-clinching game was never in doubt. Leo (11-11, 1-6 NE8) took a very brief 5-2 lead on Mackenzie Collins’ three-point play with 6:20 left in the first quarter, but Bellmont freshman Ashley Bleke tied it on the Braves’ next possession with a three-pointer. Just 13 seconds later, after a Leo turnover—one of 24 for the Lions—she made a fast break layup. Kate Kitson hit a layup on the right side, and then Emily Bleke converted an old-fashioned three-point play. Ashley capped the rally with another layup off a Leo turnover. The 12-0 run took just 90 seconds and ended with the Braves holding a 14-5 lead.

Grace Busch finally scored for the Lions, on an out-of-bounds play, but the Braves responded by scoring the last seven points of the quarter to lead 21-7.
Emily Bleke hit a pair of twos and Lanie French hit a three to help the Braves to a 10-5 advantage in the second quarter, putting Bellmont up 31-12 at the half.

If the Lions were going to get back into the game, the Braves’ icy 2-for-13 shooting in the third quarter opened a window of opportunity. But Bellmont’s relentless and dynamic man-to-man defensive pressure slammed the window shut on the Lions’ fingers, forcing them into six turnovers and holding them to 2-for-8 shooting. The Braves hit four free throws in addition to Emily Bleke’s three-pointer and Lanie French’s two-pointer to win the quarter 9-5 and go up by a 40-16 score. In the fourth quarter, even with bench players getting lots of minutes, the Braves tripped the running clock by taking a 35-point lead, 53-18, on Kaitlyn Barton’s second three of the game with 3:19 left.

“This is obviously one of the goals we put down at the beginning of the year,” Heim said of the conference title. “Some years it’s more realistic than others, and honestly, I’m not sure if you had asked me if this was a realistic goal at the beginning of the year if I’d have agreed with that. We had to go through, obviously, a lot of tough opponents in our conference. We handled different things really, really well. That’s pretty impressive with the group of freshmen we have. That says more about them than anything else. This is huge for us.”

During the title run, the Braves had two single-digit wins (by three over Norwell and four over Huntington North) and a 12-point win on the road over the tough Columbia City Eagles. The other four conference wins were lopsided, the Braves winning by an average of 28 points.
The Braves made 13-of-30 twos (43%), 6-of-17 threes (35%), and 9-of-15 free throws (60%). The Lions were 9-of-22 on twos (41%), 0-of-10 on threes, and 4-of-11 on free throws (36%).

Bellmont scoring: Emily Bleke 17, Ashley Bleke 10, French 8, Barton 7, Gwen Laurent 4, Mary Bleke 3, Kitson 2, Oni Krueckeberg 2.
Leo scoring: Leah Shappell 7, Collins 7, Malina Lape 2, Stella Schelm 2, Luci Schott 2, Busch 2.
Bellmont won the JV game, 32-19.
Next Friday, February 7, the Braves will play the winner of the New Haven/Heritage game in the Norwell Sectional. Game time is 6:00 P.M.