Bellard stands out with MCS girls, statistically and as a leader

Basketball is just one part of Aubriana Bellard’s life. But it’s a big part.

Her on-court talents have been magnified this season with the Middletown Christian School girls program. The Eagles are off to a 4-2 start, and Bellard tops the Metro Buckeye Conference in scoring, rebounding and steals.

“I just love playing the game of basketball,” she said. “It’s literally the love of my life. I wish I could do it every second of every day.”

Bellard, a 5-foot-8 junior point guard, is averaging 30.7 points, 13 rebounds and 4.3 steals per game. She’s also among the MBC leaders in assists (4.5).

Middletown Christian only has 11 girls in the program, and there’s not a lot of experience on the roster. Bellard has to be a leader beyond statistics.

“On the court, I feel like a mom,” she said. “If you hear me coming up the court, I’m always telling them, ‘This is what you need to do.’ It’s still all new to a lot of them, and that’s how they were with me when I played soccer last year because I was new to soccer. I don’t want them to get frustrated with themselves or feel confused on the court.”

That kind of attitude heartens first-year MCS coach Ken Yablonsky.

“She is so mentoring toward the younger kids,” he said. “When I ask them to do a drill, she’s the second coach out there with these kids. I haven’t seen her get mad at a teammate yet, which is pretty telling about her character. She takes it all in stride with a smile on her face.”

Bellard was a forward last year, averaging 13.9 points and 9.8 boards a game as Makenzie Tolson was the Eagles’ floor leader and all-time leading scorer.

Tolson has moved on to Cincinnati Christian University, and Yablonsky could see right away that Bellard needed to be the primary ball handler this year.

She prefers to be an inside player, but didn’t have a problem with expanding her game.

“I’m just so much more college-ready than I was because I had to widen my game and shoot more 3s,” Bellard said. “I can’t drive to the basket all the time.”

She’s converted 19 treys and hasn’t scored less than 27 points in any game this season.

As much as she’s shouldering the offensive load, Bellard said it wouldn’t be possible without her teammates.

“They have to get me open and set me up for the shots,” she said. “It’s taken a lot of effort on my part too, but it’s all just one big puzzle together.”

On Dec. 8, Bellard broke the single-game school scoring record with 38 points in a 60-15 road win over East Dayton Christian. The old standard was 36 points — Tolson did it twice last year (against East Dayton Christian and Felicity-Franklin).

“She contacted me and was really excited for me,” Bellard said. “She said she was proud of me for doing that.”

She described the record-breaking performance as “a really fun experience.”

“I kept scoring, and my teammates kept passing me the ball and setting me up,” Bellard said. “I wish it had been a home game for something like that, but it was like the East Dayton team and all their parents were rooting for me.”

“Her inside points have been off rebounds,” Yablonsky said. “But a lot of her points are 3s or drives. She has a knack to just drive to the side and do a step-back 3. We’ve kind of catered our offense to allowing her to drive to either side or down the middle. She also gets a good amount of fast-break points.”

Bellard is a lifelong Middletown resident, having attended Creekview Elementary before moving to MCS. She loves the fellowship in a small school like Middletown Christian.

Her schedule is crowded with basketball and plenty of other activities. She does community service in the area. She’s a cheerleader, a student body president and a National Honor Society president.

“School play, volleyball, field events in track, class president … and she’s got over a 4.0 GPA,” Yablonsky said. “She’s very well-rounded and definitely the kind of kid you want to be around.”

Bellard said Yablonsky and assistant coach Emily Herrmann (the former Emily Cooper, a Ross graduate) have been very helpful to her. She wasn’t sure how things would go after Brent Tolson stepped down following the 2015-16 campaign.

“When I heard we were getting a new coach, I was like, ‘Oh my goodness. They’re going to bring in some newbie that doesn’t really know anything about basketball,’ ” Bellard said. “But he’s so experienced in the game. Plus, with Coach Cooper, the transition has been really easy.”

This is Yablonsky’s 23rd year as a coach and his second stint as a prep head coach. He directed the Norwood program for six seasons.

Yablonsky has been heavily involved in AAU sports, spent the last three years in the Lakota East system and was Jill Phillips’ varsity assistant last season.

He said he knew practically nothing about Middletown Christian before applying for the job.

“I just passed it on the highway,” said Yablonsky, who works in the publishing business and owns ExpoLog, which specializes in math curriculum. “I knew it was small. I knew it was D-IV. But I like it. You can make a greater impact on the fewer number of kids. I think you can teach them more about life.”

Four players showed up for his first practice at MCS, so the Eagles have already come a long way this year. Yablonsky enjoys the teaching element that comes with having a very inexperienced team.

“They work hard. They listen. They’re coachable,” he said. “We’re working toward making them basketball savvy.”

Senior center Jada Long is averaging 9.5 points and 11.7 rebounds (second in the conference) per game for Middletown Christian. Freshman guard Ellie Veal is getting 6.8 points and nine boards a contest.

The starting lineup is comprised of Bellard, Long, Veal, sophomore forward Anna Crawford and senior guard Tiffany Kim. Bellard, Long and Crawford are the only returnees from last year.

The Eagles, who are 0-2 in MBC play, will be back in action Jan. 2 at Northridge.

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