Photo by Nick Henthorn Bellaire’s Zara Harveth goes up for a reverse lay-in Wednesday during the Big Reds’ home victory over Shadyside in the OHSAA Division VII sectionals.

BELLAIRE — The OHSAA girls basketball playoffs are kicking off around the state, and inside the ‘House of Champions’ on Wednesday, the Bellaire Big Reds began their postseason play with a 66-41 victory over familiar foe Shadyside in the Division VII sectionals.

Bellaire led by just two, 28-26, at halftime, but extended the lead to double digits by the end of the third quarter to speed away with the game in the second half.

“It’s always tough when you’re playing a familiar opponent that you’ve played a couple times in the regular season,” Bellaire head coach John Farrier said. “It maybe doesn’t feel quite like the tournament, per se, when you’re playing a team that you have played several times already. So we came out with not a whole lot of energy, but I thought we picked it up defensively in the second half which leads to better production on the offensive end.”

Bellaire’s Zara Harveth led all scorers with 25 points to go with 11 rebounds for a double-double. Harveth’s driving ability helped spark Bellaire in the second half.

“I think she only shot one or two 3’s, she can shoot the 3 really well but today she got it going driving to the hoop,” Farrier said of Harveth. “She does a great job getting in there and finding a bucket. She’s our leading assist person too, she does a good job of finding some people if she gets doubled or tripled down there, she finds Tamaya [Morgan] on the other block or finds someone else. She does a good job of getting buckets for herself and getting buckets for others.”

Shadyside’s Kaci Tsoras scored 24 points, 15 coming in the first half. The Tigers trailed 20-11 after the first quarter but battled back into the game in the second.

“Kaci Tsoras came out and played her butt off, a heck of a game, a heck of a first half, made a lot of shots and kept them around it and made it difficult for us.”

Tsoras made five 3-pointers in the game.

Three other Big Reds scored in double digits, Morgan with 12, Eliana Mason with 11, and Kayla Egar with 12. Playing without senior guard Rhyan O’Grady, Edgar and fellow sophomore Aubree Hines had a bit more responsibility Wednesday.

“Those two are sophomores and they’ve been growing throughout the year, some really nice moments throughout the year as they’ve gotten more and more comfortable,” Farrier said of the pair. “I’ve been really proud of them, Aubree and Kayla, they’ve really grown a lot this year and stepped up when we’ve needed them to. Hopefully that growth continues because they’re definitely going to be more of the focal point next year.”

Hines scored six points and grabbed seven rebounds, second-highest on the team.

O’Grady is expected to be back for Bellaire’s next game, the Big Reds set to host Crooksville on Saturday.

“Going forward we’ve got to make sure we put four good quarters together when we play teams throughout the tournament,” Farrier said.

For Shadyside, they finish their season with a 6-17 record, and are optimistic about next year.

“I’m proud of the way the girls showed up,” Shadyside head coach Serge Gentile said. “We competed, we were right there– played our butts off, made shots. Couldn’t ask for much more.

“I’m happy with the effort tonight, third quarter just got away from us. [Bellaire’s] a good team, they made a run and we couldn’t really cut the lead. I’m extremely proud of the girls and how far we’ve come this year. I think from October to now has been night and day, and we’ve gained a lot of valuable experience.”