It’s nearly tournament time for the Bellevue High School girls basketball team.
The Tigers host seven schools at the annual Stephanie Wilson Memorial Tournament, played over three days Dec. 28-30 on Mike Swauger Court at Ben Flora Gymnasium. Bellevue opens against the Cincinnati Home School Trailblazers in the first day’s fourth and final game beginning at 7 pm. The winner plays the Dayton-Augusta winner Dec. 29 at 7 pm. The winner advances to the Dec. 30 tournament final also at 7 pm. All losers move to the consolation bracket with a chance to finish no better than third place
“The girls are looking forward to it,” said coach Tommy Sorrell, a Bellevue graduate. “It’s their home tournament. And right now, they’re playing well.”
Bellevue (7-2) won six of its first seven games on the strength of a five-game winning streak which was snapped last week with a home loss to 36th District rival Highlands. The Tigers bounced back to beat Holmes before embarking on tournament action.
Following the completion of the Stephanie Wilson Memorial Tournament, Bellevue begins play at the 9th Region All “A” Classic Tournament Jan. 2 against St. Henry at Newport Central Catholic.
The two events are catching the Tigers at a good time.
“I think we’re doing great, especially since we decided to play faster,” said forward Jayda Dowell, one-half of Bellevue’s all-star sister tandem along with guard Jaylah Dowell.
Jayda Dowell was leading the Tigers with 13.6 points per game and was second in rebounding (7.7) over the first seven games. Jaylah Dowell was third in scoring (10.9 ppg) and third in rebounding (6.4). Both players were all-Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference Division III selections last season along with guard Sydni Massey, who was second on the team in scoring (12.6 ppg). All three are on pace for 1,000 career points. Jayda Dowell pulled down her 500th career rebound Thursday against Highlands.
“We’re a pretty hard-working team,” Massey said. “We hustle. We play as a team and we stay together.”
Jayda Dowell and Massey are two-time all-NKAC Division III selections with a chance to make it four each before they are done. The Tigers have had 15 all-conference selections over the past five years. Jayda Dowell and Massey are two of seven juniors on the Tigers along with Jaylah Dowell, Paulina Long, Ally MacPherson, Courtney McCarty and Taytem Sorrell, the coach’s daughter. There are no seniors. The rest of the team is comprised of sophomores and freshmen.
“We have a deeper bench, and a lot of girls are contributing. We play nine girls every game,” said Sorrell, last season’s NKAC Division III coach of the year. “The great thing this year is how balanced we are. We have five girls averaging between seven and 14 points a game. It makes us harder to guard. We have six girls with at least three rebounds a game.”
The Tigers are also getting solid production from Long who was leading the team with an average of 8.6 rebounds while averaging 7.9 points. MacPherson was averaging 7.3 points and 3.3 rebounds over the first seven games. McCarty averaged 3.0 points and 5.4 rebounds.
Jayda Dowell was leading the team in free throw shooting at 81.5%. Jaylah Dowell was the 3-point shooting leader at 41.7%. Neither sister cares who gets the spotlight. They just want to win a bunch of games and have a lot of fun.
“We’re very positive,” Jaylah Dowell said. “We support each other and we never give up.”
Such determination while facing the myriad obstacles that annually challenge small-school programs is a hallmark of Bellevue girls basketball.
“A lot of small schools have a good team maybe every three or four years, but we want to be competitive every year,” said Sorrell, who earned his 200th career win last season and has endured just two losing seasons in the last 11 years. “The junior group we have now has always been competitive. They’ve played basketball together almost their entire lives. They have great chemistry.”
The Tigers’ can-do attitude is reminiscent of the home tournament’s namesake.
Stephanie Wilson graduated from Bellevue in 2003 as a well-decorated, all-around student-athlete. She lettered in several sports, serving as team captain in some, and also was a manager for the football and basketball teams. She was an all-conference performer. She was a one-time local slow-pitch softball player of the year and ended her Bellevue career with the most pitching wins in program history. Her double-zero uniform number was retired in 2004. The right-field foul pole at the Tigers’ softball field has “00” etched on it.
Wilson was a Bellevue Honor Roll student all four years in high school and was a member of the National Honor Society. She was NHS president her senior year. She was also a member of the Bellevue student council. She was a Girls State selection and was involved in several other school organizations including B-Club and Future Business Leaders of America.
Wilson, by any measure, was a Bellevue superstar, despite dealing with epilepsy. But she didn’t allow the condition to hold her back. She never had a driver’s license because of her epileptic seizures yet she was able to get around to all of her activities. She died during an epileptic seizure in 2004 at the age of 19. Twelve years later, she was inducted into the Bellevue High School Athletic Hall of Fame, joining brothers Ben Wilson (class of 1997) and Nick Wilson (class of 1999). Their parents were also Bellevue graduates.
The Stephanie Wilson Memorial Basketball Tournament has been played during the Christmas holiday season since 2005. The event is in its 19th year. Half the proceeds from the tournament go to the Stephanie Wilson Memorial Scholarship Fund, which annually awards students like Wilson who wish to pursue a college education. One of the recent winners was coach Sorrell’s niece, Greer Hayes, now studying at the University of Cincinnati.
Good crowds at each game of the Stephanie Wilson Memorial Basketball Tournament are crucial for the continuation of the Stephanie Wilson Memorial Scholarship Fund. As many fans as possible are encouraged to attend the games and see some spirited small-school competition.
“Beechwood, Lloyd, Ludlow and Newport Central Catholic will be there, too,” coach Sorrell said. “It should be a very competitive tournament. And it’s for a great cause.”
Other first-day action Dec. 28 features Beechwood vs. Lloyd at 1 pm, Ludlow vs. Newport Central Catholic at 3 pm, and Augusta vs. Dayton at 5 pm. Contests on Dec. 29 and Dec. 30 begin at 1 pm. A total of 12 games will be played at the Stephanie Wilson Memorial Tournament.