Norwalk gets second shot at Huron

NORWALK — There is no sense painting a different picture. Even with the past score aside this season, Norwalk head coach Steve Gray had a simple summary of Thursday's Division II district semifinal opponent. "I think they're the most well-balanced team we've faced all year," Gray said of Huron, the No. 1 seed in the Ashland district. The No. 4-seed Truckers (13-11) rematch with the Tigers (20-2) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Ashland High School. In the 5:30 p.m. game, No. 3 Lexington (14-9) faces No. 8 Mansfield Senior (7-15) in a third meeting between the Ohio Cardinal Conference rivals. The winners return at 7 p.m. Saturday in the title game. "On offense, their ability to score from the three-point line, get offensive rebounds and throw it in the post is impressive," Gray said of the Tigers. "They are just a great passing team and are so unselfish with the basketball. "That's what really separates them from a lot of the other teams we've faced this year." Huron averages 61.6 points per game and are led by junior standout Dylan Hohler. The 6-foot-4 forward averages 18.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.4 steal and 2.6 blocks. He's shooting 57 percent from the field, including from the three-point line, and is a 76-percent free-throw shooter. Also for the Tigers, Joey Schade adds 10.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, while Tait Fischer offers similar numbers at 10 points and 4.1 rebounds. But perhaps most impressive, Huron head coach Bobby James' team allows just 42.2 points per game. Its two losses came by a single point vs. Western Reserve (48-47 on Dec. 30), and by two points at the buzzer in overtime at Margaretta (47-45 on Jan. 21). The Roughriders are 21-1 and finished No. 6 in the final Div. III Associated Press state poll, while Margaretta is 21-3 and finished 10th in the Div. IV poll. "Bobby has tough kids," Gray said. "That's a lot of it, but they are fundamentally so sound in terms of taking away basket cuts and the weak side. "They are really good at finishing plays with the rebound. Again, they are really a team with no weaknesses." The first meeting There is also no way of sugar coating how the regular season meeting went between the Tigers and Truckers on Jan. 15. The Truckers were down 14-2 early after opening the game 1-of-10 from the floor, but had closed to within 22-15 at halftime of the non-league game at NHS. But then it was all Huron from there with an astounding 39-8 second half scoring spree in the 61-23 victory. Huron was 10-of-13 from the three-point line in the second half and 14-of-25 from the for the game. But that stat includes missing six of eight 3s in the second quarter, meaning Huron was 12-of-17 over the other three quarters. The Tigers made eight straight threes in the second half, including all five in the third quarter. Schade made six of Huron's 14 deep shots and scored 18 points. Hohler had 16 points and eight rebounds. Meanwhile, the 23 points is the least scored by a Norwalk team in 21 seasons under Gray, and the third-worst margin of defeat. Norwalk was 9-of-34 (26 percent) from the floor for the game, including 1-of-11 three (9 percent). Because of the lopsided loss, Gray said making it a point of emphasis in practice this week hasn't been a needed talking point. "If they make eight 3s in a row or go 14 of 25, we have no chance like last time," he said. "But the thing I like about Thursday night is I think (assistant coaches) Nick (Lee) and Wes (Sellers) have done a great job of preparation and film and scouting reports. "I think the kids have been very attentive to detail," Gray added. "We're ready to play. The kids are excited and the coaches are, too. We know we've done everything in our power to get ready for this game." Program history The Truckers advanced to Thursday's game with a pair of sectional tournament wins last week. Norwalk overcame an eight-point deficit in the final 90 seconds of the third quarter in a 42-37 win over Bellevue (11-12) on Feb. 22. The Truckers then led wire-to-wire in a 47-36 win over Upper Sandusky (14-9) in the sectional title game on Feb. 25 at Willard High School. It marked the first time in program history the Truckers have won four straight sectional championships. Norwalk has advanced to the district round in 12 of Gray's 21 seasons at the school — where his teams have won 312 games — with a 26-8 record in sectional play. "It feels amazing," said Ian Minor, the only player to see significant varsity minutes in all four sectional title wins. "It's great to achieve this after everything we've been through. "We're a team. These last few games have been real team wins." Minor paces Norwalk with 13.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.7 blocks per game. Classmate Daniel Traczek averages 9.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists, but he's scoring at a 12.9 points per game clip over his last 10 games. "I just flipped a switch in my head and started being more aggressive and taking more shots," Traczek said. "That's about it." Senior Caleb Sommers scores seven points with 2.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Though not focusing on the game in a revenge aspect, Sommers said it was hard not to look and see the Truckers were on the same side of the bracket as the Tigers. "We've wanted this chance ever since that night," Sommers said of the 38-point loss almost two months ago. "It's great to get another shot, and we want to give a better effort this time." Norwalk is scoring 48.3 points and allowing 50 points per game. Also for the Truckers, junior Parker Evans adds 6.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, while junior Ashton Coe averages 6.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists per contest. "Norwalk will slow things down and play physical," James said. "We know what Coach Gray will do, and he knows what we will do, so it will be a very good game." After Huron kept Ontario at bay throughout a 65-54 win in its sectional title win on Feb. 25, James quickly dismissed the Tigers' lights out performance in Norwalk on Jan. 15. "No, it will not be that," he said. "We won't expect that ever again. We'll enjoy this one tonight, then we'll move on — because we're going to have to be better prepared for Norwalk next week." Tournament history The Tigers and Truckers recently met in an entertaining sectional championship game two seasons ago (Feb. 28, 2020) at Willard High School. Norwalk won that game, 49-46, as it scored the last six points over the final 2:28 to erase a 46-43 deficit behind 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists from Garrett Chapin — and 20 points and eight rebounds from Garrett Obringer. That game in 2020 was actually the first tournament meeting between the two teams in 38 seasons. But from 1959-1983, the two teams separated by 12 miles faced off 10 times over 25 seasons in the Class AA sectional tournament — all played at Sandusky High School. Eight of the 11 previous games have been decided by seven points or less. The Tigers hold a slight 6-5 edge in the postseason series entering Thursday, while both teams have won three times against each other in a sectional championship game. Thursday's game will be the first district meeting in the series. __________________________________ Norwalk vs. Huron tournament resultsFeb. 21, 1959: Huron, 55-43^March 5, 1960: Norwalk, 56-50*Feb. 26, 1966: Huron, 68-47*Feb. 23, 1968: Huron, 75-70^Feb. 22, 1974: Norwalk, 73-66, 2OT^March 6, 1976: Huron, 58-56*March 4, 1977: Norwalk, 62-37*Feb. 22, 1978: Huron, 61-54^March 3, 1982: Huron, 68-61^March 4, 1983: Huron, 64-58*Feb. 28, 2020: Norwalk, 49-46*^ — denotes sectional semifinal* — denotes sectional championshipNote: The 2020 game was at Willard. The prior 10 meetings were all played at Sandusky High School.