Norwalk bounces back in rout of Huskies

NORWALK — Something had to change. Several times after one of its four narrow losses in SBC Lake Division play, the Norwalk boys basketball team did not bounce back very well in a non-league game that soon followed. On Friday, the Truckers took another tough setback in a 69-67 defeat at Perkins. But hosting a four-win Northwestern team in non-league play on Saturday, the Truckers were ready from the start. Norwalk scored 13 of the game's first 16 points and never looked back in an 83-56 rout of the Huskies at Norwalk High School. The win improved the Truckers to 7-9 overall, as they have inched closer to the .500 mark with victories in four of their last six games after a six-game losing streak. "We kind of knew we were going to have to create our own energy tonight," Norwalk head coach Adam Kreischer said. "The thing I was happy about with our guys is, when we go against a league opponent like a Bellevue or a Perkins, or a Sandusky or Tiffin … I know that they will show up with a lot of energy and play hard. "I've been a little concerned with our energy and the way we play against non-league opponents at times," he added. "So playing with energy and getting off to a good start was a key tonight, and our senior leaders helped us to do that." Ashton Coe, who flirted with a triple-double in the win, got things started very quickly. He grabbed the opening tip and scored on a layup just four seconds into the contest. Mason Gamble and Bray Malson followed with easy baskets in transition, and just 61 seconds in, the Truckers had a quick 6-0 lead. Baskets from Ben Rothhaar and a 3-pointer by Braedyn Demuth sandwiched two foul shots made by Gamble, as Norwalk had the 13-3 lead at the 3:47 mark of the first quarter. That lead expended to 22-8 by the 1:12 mark as Coe scored, then Demuth and Gamble made back-to-back 3s. Norwalk continued to expand its lead in the second quarter, and Coe put them up 20 points when he scored on a short jumper in the key for a 41-21 lead inside one minute remaining in the second quarter. It was a 41-24 lead at halftime, and the Huskies briefly tried making a dent into the deficit to start the third quarter. But after making it 41-28 just 40 seconds in, the Truckers closed the door with consecutive scores by Demuth and Rothhaar. The Truckers led by 14-to-16 points for much of the quarter, then scored nine of the final 12 points, capped on a basket by a 3 from Dalton Chapin at the 1:05 mark. Kreischer then subbed freely in the fourth quarter, with nine different players finding the scorebook. Demuth finished with 20 points, four rebounds and three assists for Norwalk. Gamble added 19 points and four rebounds, while Coe had 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Also for the Truckers, Rothhaar added eight points and six rebounds, while Malson had six points, six rebounds and four assists. "I was really impressed with the way Mason attacked all night long with good decisions passing the ball, and attacking the rim," Kreischer said. "We had a few too many turnovers in the first half (12) to my liking, but we cut that to five in the second half, which was good. "In general, I just think it was important to get off to that good start." Norwalk is off this week in league play, and will play host to South Central (8-7) in another non-league game on Saturday. The Trojans are led by senior standout Isaac Blair, who leads the Firelands Conference in scoring at 23.3 points per game. He is averaging 27.5 points over his last four games. "Rarely do we get a chance to prepare for a non-league team, which is nice," Kreischer said. "It's not a back-to-back weekend, but having said that, we will take this week to get better. "It's an important week to compete against ourselves and get better in practice as we continue to grow into the end of the year, and into tournament time." NORTHWESTERN (4-11) Brandon Barnette 4-5—15; Owen Ferriman 3-2—9; Luke Wright 2-0—4; Brett Alberts 7-4—18; Anthony Welch 1-1—3; Jacob Ward 2-2—6; Gavin Phillips 0-1—1. TOTALS 19-15—56. NORWALK (7-9) Jordan Parriott 1-0—3; Ashton Coe 7-1—15; Mason Gamble 6-6—19; Braedyn Demuth 8-1—20; Brayson Malson 3-0—6; Dalton Chapin 2-2—7; Ben Rothhaar 4-0—8; Brock Kuhl 1-1—3; Landon Bennett 1-0—2. TOTALS 33-9—83. Northwestern 12 14 17 13 — 56 Norwalk 22 19 20 22 — 83 3-point FGs: (NW) Barnette 2, Ferriman; (N) Demuth 3, Gamble, Parriott, Chapin. JV: Norwalk won