Truckers fall in season opener

NORWALK — From bad to worse. The start to Friday's season opener for the Norwalk boys basketball team was bad — visiting Ashland got a steal and an easy layup in a matter of nine seconds. But then it only got worse, as the Arrows blitzed the Truckers 21-8 scoring spree to end the first quarter, and piled on from there in a 82-51 non-conference win at Norwalk High School. The Truckers, known for their defensive prowess in recent years, seemed shell-shocked by the Arrows from the start. Luke Denbow finished with 30 points for the Arrows, as all 15 baskets were mostly inside the key and in transition off steals and defensive pressure. "Their guards were athletic, physical and we just didn't handle their pressure really well as a result," Norwalk head coach Steve Gray said. "I didn't see this coming. We had a really good preseason going against some good teams like Perrysburg and Medina Buckeye — and we really competed. I just don't think we competed hard. "I apologized to the team after the game for the obviously crummy job I did getting them ready for this game," he added. "(Assistant) Coach (Tom) Foster says you're never as good or bad as you think you are — so that's good news. Maybe we're not as bad as we played tonight." After matching the Arrows through the first four baskets, Ashland went on a 9-0 scoring run over a 1:20 span in the first quarter to open up a 17-8 lead. Two Garrett Chapin baskets did little to slow the damage, as the Arrows led 26-13 entering the final minute of the quarter. Will Gehlhausen then looked to spark the offense with a 3-pointer that made it a 26-16 deficit, but Ashland's Drew White canceled it out with a triple just before the quarter buzzer to push the lead back to 29-16. Norwalk trailed 33-22 after consecutive baskets by Chapin and Ian Minor midway through the second quarter. But Ashland rattled off another 9-0 scoring run to push the lead out to 42-22 with 1:37 left in the half — then closed the second with a 3-pointer for a 45-24 lead. Doubled up and trailing 48-24 early in the third, the Truckers put together their best stretch of the night with a 10-2 scoring run to trim the deficit to 50-34 at the 4:47 mark of the third. The Arrows then quickly closed the door with six straight points to go back up 22 points. Ashland added a 22-12 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter for the final margin — the worst loss for the Truckers since a 68-26 loss vs. Ontario on Jan. 13, 2017. The 82 points allowed are the most since Lorain scored 85 on the Truckers back on Jan. 10, 2015. Prior to that, it was an 84-83 loss in four overtimes at Mansfield Madison in the 2007-08 season. "I just wanted to see us compete and handle the ball, but again, it was just too many turnovers and easy baskets," Gray said. "They had 17 transition baskets in the first half and obviously we need to get in better shape and handle a lot of things better than we did tonight." After Denbow, Eli White scored 20 points and Grayson Steury added 15 for an Arrows team looking to build off a 10-14 record from a year ago. The Arrows finished 36-of-64 shooting (56 percent), which included 8-of-12 from the three-point line in Friday's win. They also hounded the Truckers into 17 turnovers, and committed just six themselves. "We have a lot of work to do, but I think you have to give Ashland a lot of credit," Gray said. "Combined, those are the three best guards we're going to face all year. They have two kids in White and Denbow who will play at the next level, and Steury is very good, too. So they spread you out and make it tough when you get behind — and we're not built to chase." Chapin finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds on 8-of-14 shooting to pace the Truckers. Minor had 10 points with four rebounds, four blocks and four assists. Norwalk has eight days off until its next game, but it won't be much easier as Ontario visits. "They are very good again with two very good guards, but we're just going to have to play better, and I think we will," Gray said. "I have confidence in these kids and we'll work hard this next week and represent ourselves a lot better than we did here tonight." Norwalk won Friday's junior varsity game by a 51-39 score. Parker Evans scored 17 points and Ashton Coe added 11. ASHLAND (1-0) Chase Hunt 3-0—7; Luke Denbow 15-0—30; Eli White 8-1—20; Keslar Bates 1-1—4; Grayson Steury 6-0—15; Andrew Pool 3-0—6. TOTALS 36-2—82. NORWALK (0-1) Andrew Mozina 3-1—7; Will Gehlhausen 1-0—3; Daniel Traczek 1-0—3; Ian Minor 5-0—10; Garrett Chapin 8-1—18; Carson Bauman 3-2—8; Ashton Coe 1-0—2. TOTALS 21-4—51. Ashland 29 16 15 22 — 82 Norwalk 16 8 15 12 — 51 3-point FGs: (A) Steury 3, White 3, Banes, Hunt; (N) Gehlhausen, Traczek, Chapin. JV: Norwalk, 51-39