Norwalk picked up the pieces for tournament run

ASHLAND — The difference was hard to even compare. When Brock Manlet exited the Norwalk High School locker room for the first time a few minutes after the game, he was stunned, if not a little bitter. His Truckers' girls basketball team had just suffered a 39-36 loss to SBC Lake Division rival Bellevue. It was a second last-second loss to the Lady Red, and it cost Norwalk its first-ever league championship. Manlet was upset about a technical foul that had sparked a 10-0 Bellevue run when a player had taken a step onto the floor while celebrating a made basket. As the 13th-year head coach collected his thoughts, several of his players began to walk past — visibly upset by the loss. Manlet also was facing a reality in those immediate moments. Despite being the No. 1 seed in the Division II Ashland district, the Truckers were going to have to go through the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds just to reach the district title game for a third shot at No. 2 Bellevue. Fast forward 16 days later, and Manlet had his entire team chanting his last name, grinning from ear-to-ear while cutting down the net for the program's second-ever district title following a 49-35 win over Perkins on Feb. 25 at Ashland High School. The Truckers (22-3) have matched the program record for most wins in a season, and face Toledo Rogers (15-10) at 8 p.m. Tuesday in a regional semifinal at Mansfield Senior's Pete Henry Gymnasium. "It's night and day obviously," Manlet said of the end of the regular season to this past weekend. "We were heartbroken that night, but these kids got back to work, fixed some things we needed to fix, and beat some really good teams to get to this point. "It showed the character and determination of this team," he added. "That's why we're having the season we are. You don't have a year like this without great kids — and that's what we have." Nine days after the loss to Bellevue, the Truckers had to face No. 3 Mansfield Senior, an 18-win team that won the Ohio Cardinal Conference title for the first time in its history. And with six minutes left, the Truckers were staring down a 48-36 deficit. "I think once we got down 12, it clicked that this was it," senior starter Summer Moehlman said. "That flipped the switch. We love each other so much that we didn't want this to end. "(Losing to Bellevue), that just lit a fire under us," she added. "It honestly made us want this even more. To see it come to reality is just amazing." Following the stunning 55-50 comeback win over the Tygers, up next was No. 4 seed and Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion Shelby — a 19-win team that was also the defending district champions. In a game that went back-and-forth, the Truckers also led for a good majority of an eventual 50-47 win as Brooklyn Davis finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds. After the huge rally to beat Mansfield, Davis was asked if the pressure was off the Truckers for finally cutting down a championship net. "We knew we were in the harder bracket of the two, so I don't know if the pressure ever came off," she said. "With it being do-or-die time every single game, we had to win. "I think it was more of we just had to play through that pressure, and this last week we did," she added. "This is an amazing feeling. I'm happy I could share it with this team. And being a senior, you couldn't ask for a better finish." On Saturday, the Truckers didn't get their third shot at Bellevue, which went down by a 23-19 score in the district semifinals to the Pirates. In a rematch of two regular season games — won 35-32 and 51-41 by Norwalk — the result mostly was never in question. "We didn't look at how good everyone was," senior starter Kylie Moser said. "We just played to our level and didn't worry about anything else — just our level." Scouting Rogers The Rams were the No. 2 seed at the Anthony Wayne district, seeded behind a 20-4 Toledo Central Catholic team that was removed from the tournament last week for a third recruiting violation. After a 12-10 regular season, Rogers blasted Tontogany Otsego, 71-22, in a sectional title game. The Rams then beat Wauseon (13-11) in the district semifinals, 54-49, then topped Napoleon (10-14) in the district title game, 48-41. "Rogers has very good guards and they can do multiple things very well," Manlet said. "We have to be very disciplined on them to be able to get out and contest shots, but not allow them to just blow by us when they put the ball on the floor. The Rams are led by 5-foot-5 junior guard Breayah Jefferson. She averaged 20.8 points and 2.9 steals during the regular season and was a first team Toledo City League and OHSBCA District 7 selection. Senior 5-8 guard Mylah Williams averages 12.6 points per game. Rogers also has size inside, as 6-2 junior Ni'Rah Clark averages 11.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. In the win over Otsego on Feb. 18, Clark had 26 points and a school-record 23 rebounds. "Clark inside presents all sorts of challenges to us," Manlet said. "She is very skilled offensively, especially when she catches the ball in the post and on the defensive end she is able to erase a lot of shots with ability to block shots." Playing a challenging schedule, some of Rogers' notable losses include twice to TCL rival Start (21-3) — the No. 10-ranked team in the final Div. I Associated Press state poll — and to Div. III No. 4-ranked Shaker Heights Laurel. Rogers won four regional titles in six years from 2014-19, winning the Div. II state championship in 2018 and 2019; and finished runners-up in 2015. "Team-wise they play very good defense and tend to try and take your best player away," Manlet said. "They typically look like they are in a zone, but it is a very aggressive zone where they put ball pressure on the ball and then will look to trap in the corners. "They read passing lanes very well and are very disruptive," he added. "They are a tough team on both ends of the floor and we have to be able to limit our turnovers and be very disciplined defensively." The 6 p.m. game on Tuesday at Mansfield features Bryan (23-2) taking on Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary (20-4). The two winners from Tuesday will return at 7 p.m. Friday in the regional championship with a spot in the state semifinals on the line.