Truckers rally, then hold off Shelby

MADISON TWP. — The redemption tour was a success. The path to a return trip to a Division II district championship game for the Norwalk boys basketball team was Huron in a sectional title matchup, then Wednesday's district semifinal against Shelby. The Truckers had let late fourth quarter leads slip away against both teams in narrow regular season defeats. And the final two minutes on Wednesday was almost a carbon copy of a 57-55 loss at Shelby back on Dec. 10. This time, though, the result was different. Norwalk rallied from eight down midway through the third quarter, then held on for a 62-58 win at the Mansfield Madison Middle School. With the win, the No. 4-seeded Truckers improved to 18-7, and will face No. 1 Upper Sandusky (23-1) at 2 p.m. Saturday for a spot in the regional semifinals next Thursday (March 12) in Bowling Green. The Whippets (18-6) scored 39 points in the first half to lead by six, and were up 43-35 with just over four minutes left in the third quarter. But Norwalk limited them to just 15 points the rest of the way, and only 19 points total in the second half. "Defensively we had to change some things up," said Norwalk coach Steve Gray, who shortly before the game was named the OPSWA Northwest District Coach of the Year. "The first half we gave them too many open threes, and they hit six of them. We had to go out and guard them, and I thought we did a good job." The Truckers also held a 38-25 edge in rebounds. "We're big and strong, and don't mind mixing it up a little bit at both ends of the floor," Gray said. "We just have tough kids. We talked about grinding it out, and that's what we did in the second half." Down eight, Will Gehlhausen started the rally with a pair of free throws, then he led transition fast breaks to find Ian Minor under the basket for two good looks that the sophomore converted to cut it to 43-41. Off a Garrett Chapin rebound, Gehlhausen then charged toward the rim and was again fouled. He made both free throws — a trend for the Truckers all game — to tie the game at 43 with 44.7 seconds left in the third. Shelby standout TJ Pugh scored to close out the quarter for a 45-43 lead, but the Truckers were back in business. Leading 48-47 with under five minutes left, Daniel Traczek found himself stepping to the line to make two free throws with 4:41 left. Less than 30 seconds later, Chapin did the same, and suddenly the Truckers were up five (52-47) with 4:13 remaining. It was 53-49 with under three minutes to go, but Pugh launched a deep 3-pointer and drained it. Gehlhausen countered with two foul shots, and Garrett Obringer scored in transition after the Truckers again broke the pressure. That put Norwalk ahead 57-52, but again, the Whippets didn't go quietly. Pugh sank another contested 3 from the top of the key with 2:11 left (57-55), only for Gehlhausen to counter with a floater in the lane with 2:01 to go. But then Andre Hill kept the pressure on the Truckers by making his third 3-pointer to trim the deficit to 59-58 with 1:10 left. The Whippets then got possession back off a turnover with just under a minute to go, and elected to start running down the clock to play for the win. But with 19 seconds left, an aggressive Gehlhausen knocked the ball loose, and won the scrum for it on the floor and was able to pass it to Minor, who then got it to Chapin — who was then fouled with 9.3 seconds left. "Coach Gray said to get up tight on him so I did, and he just turned around and I slapped the ball out of his hands," Gehlhausen said. "It was just a quick instinct move, so I was able to grab the ball." Chapin made one foul shot for a 60-58 lead, and then with just 5.1 seconds left, Shelby dribbles it across halfcourt, but an ill-advised pass backward led to an over-and-back violation, giving the ball back to the Truckers. They were able to get it to Obringer, who was fouled with 3.5 seconds left. Between timeouts, the senior calmly sank both, putting Norwalk up four and clinching the victory. "I had a lot of confidence stepping to the line," Obringer said. "It's obviously something we practice every day — a lot. I had the confidence. It's a team game, and everyone did their part tonight." Norwalk was an impressive 22-of-24 (91 percent) at the free-throw line. The Truckers made 17 consecutive free throws until the 3:11 mark of the fourth quarter. "And we needed every one of them," Gray said. "The free throw shooting is a result of us stressing to grind it out and make the little plays. Foul shots are part of that — and obviously the kids did a great job. "I just couldn't be more proud of my kids and just how hard they have fought, how they have bought into what we've tried to do," he added. In the first meeting, Norwalk led 55-48 with 1:15 left. But a flurry of turnovers as part of a 24-turnover night led to a big collapse in a 57-55 defeat. In Wednesday's win, it wasn't hard to spot the difference in closing the game out. Gehlhausen finished with 13 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and four steals. He had two points, one assist and one steal in the December loss. "Obviously I didn't play the way I wanted in the second game of the season, but coach (Tom) Foster believes in me a lot, and my teammates do as well," Gehlhausen said. "My teammates did an amazing job of making my job easy. I just find them and they score." In the days leading up to the game, Gray said if the Truckers were to win, Gehlhausen had to be their MVP of the game. "And tonight he was," Gray said. "I thought Will was unbelievable tonight." Chapin had another impressive double-double with 18 points, 15 rebounds and four assists. He made 5-of-8 shot attempts and was 8-of-9 at the foul line. In the two tournament wins over Huron and Shelby, Chapin has 36 points, 23 rebounds and 12 assists. Obringer finished with 14 points, five rebounds and blocked three shots, while Minor also hit double-figures with 13 points and four rebounds. With Wednesday's win, Norwalk improved to 7-1 in its last eight district games dating back to the 2011-12 season across five appearances. "We won the majority of the 50-50 plays tonight, and I think part of it is we've been here before," Gray said. "I thought our experience helped us out a great deal with our composure, and just being there. "And the schedule we've played, too," he added. "We played several league champions and several teams with 16-plus wins, and that's why we do it — to get ready for games like tonight." SHELBY (18-6) Jonny DeVito 1-0—3; TJ Pugh 9-1—21; Cody Lantz 3-0—6; Grant Gossom 4-0—10; Andre Hill 4-0—11; Jeremy Holloway 2-0—5; Marshall Shepherd 1-0—2. TOTALS 24-1—58. NORWALK (18-7) Garrett Chapin 5-8—18; Will Gehlhausen 3-7—13; Garrett Obringer 4-4—14; Ian Minor 6-1—13; Daniel Traczek 0-2—2; Kyler Lacy 1-0—2. TOTALS 20-22—62. Shelby 18 21 6 13 — 58 Norwalk 15 18 10 21 — 62 3-point FGs: (S) Hill 3, Gossom 2,Pugh 2, Holloway, DeVito; (N) Obringer 2.