Youthful Norwalk girls close with nine wins

MONROEVILLE — A season in which Norwalk more than doubled its win total from last season ended Tuesday.The Truckers showed signs of improvement and ability, but ultimately fell, 43-33, to Mansfield Senior in a Division II sectional semifinal at the Monroeville Athletic Complex."I think the underlying theme is we are just so darn young," Norwalk coach Brock Manlet said. "That is what you see. There will be points where we look OK and other points we just panic. That is a part of being a young team."After just four wins a season ago, Norwalk wraps up this campaign at 9-13."I think we accomplished what we wanted to do," Manlet said. "We got better. In reality, we lost a couple games we should have won. I always keep that in the back of my mind. We really probably should have won 11 games instead of nine."Against the Tygers (7-16), the Truckers found themselves down 18-9 just 16 seconds into the second quarter. From there, Janel Jubak hit consecutive 3-pointers before back-to-back buckets by Kylie Moser and Elena Barber pushed the Truckers ahead.But, Mansfield Senior scored the last five points of the first half, holding Norwalk scoreless for the final 4:06. In the third quarter, just a tally by the Tygers was the only points over the first 3:07 of the quarter. Barber finally broke the seven-plus minute drought with a bucket to keep the Truckers within 25-21."Mansfield's pressure definitely got to us," Manlet said. "We have two freshman guards that were trying to handle the pressure. When they do something good, their confidence rises. When they do something like throw the ball away, their confidence goes down. That is just a part of the learning experience."Mansfield Senior clung to a 28-25 advantage after three quarters, but Barber scored 19 seconds into the final quarter to bring Norwalk within a point. A second three-minute stretch without points by Norwalk allowed the Tygers to reel off nine straight points for a 37-27 lead.The Truckers showed life as Joscey Thomas scored before Brooklyn Davis nabbed a steal and scored. After a Mansfield Senior timeout, Norwalk grabbed another steal, but the layup was missed. On the other end, Dakiyah White scored and finished the three-point play. That was the beginning of a 6-0 run in which the Truckers went scoreless for 3:10."I thought there was times we could beat Mansfield's pressure and get through it with the dribble or a pass," Manlet said. "To me, we just second-guessed ourselves. There were times I thought we could split the pressure and get a 3-on-2 fastbreak, but we would split it, then stop, and their pressure would be on us."Barber, a junior, paced Norwalk with 12 points. The Truckers played without Alex Nolan, who was hurt in Saturday's loss at Tiffin Columbian. Manlet said if Norwalk would have won, he doesn't know if Nolan would have played Saturday — but it was less than a 50 percent chance."That was huge to not have her," Manlet said. "That is another leader that at least has the experience. She has been through these types of games and played in tournament games. The tournament atmosphere is different. The pressure is amped up."Norwalk graduates just two seniors — Olivia Ward and Skylarr Story. Ward missed the last three games of the season after suffering a severe concussion in the first quarter of a Feb. 8 game against Bellevue."Leadership-wise, Olivia was somebody people could look up to," Manlet said. "She is a vocal leader and she was huge to settle the team down at times. She puts people in roles they are more comfortable with. Liv shouldered that load and was able to handle the ball for us."Story was the only senior in the lineup on Tuesday against the Tigers. She stepped into a 3-pointer and finished the game with two free throw makes."I have said this before — her skill level and what she has done from her freshman year to now — she is unrecognizable," Manlet said. "She is a good post player. I think sometimes she doubts herself, but she did some nice stuff for us."Barber, Nolan, and Jubak will be seniors next year. Lana Oglesby will a junior, and Moser, Thomas, and Davis will be sophomores."I am going to concentrate on the nine wins and some of the close games we could have won," Manlet said. "Our goal was to get better, and I thought we got better."Manlet acknowledged Norwalk can continue to improve into next season — if his young team puts the time in during the off-season."We have to be committed," Manlet said. "They can't just work on their skills when we tell them to. They have to work on them on their own. The future is bright. We are competing right now and we have a long ways to go. We have a lot of stuff we can work on." NORWALK (9-13)Elena Barber 4-4—12, Janel Jubak 2-0—6, Kylie Moser 1-0—2, Skylarr Story 1-2—5, Joscey Thomas 1-0—2, Brooklyn Davis 2-2—6. TOTALS 11-8—33. MANSFIELD SENIOR (7-16)La'Terrica Johnson 1-2—4, Akira Johnson 2-1—5, Dakiyah White 7-1—15, Jayjahnae Feagin 5-1—15, Te'leinah Grose 2-0—4. TOTALS 17-5—43. Norwalk 9 10 6 8 — 33Mansfield 15 8 5 15 — 43 3-point FGs: (N) Jubak 2, Story; (MS) Feagin 4.