Balanced Norwalk gets road win

HENRIETTA TWP. — Dalton Chapin was nearly forgotten on the scoreboard before the game. The Norwalk senior is hard to miss and he made his presence felt thereafter. Chapin tallied 11 points and 10 rebounds and his defensive effort late was big, lifting the Truckers to a 51-43 non-league road win Tuesday over Firelands. "We rebounded the ball on missed shots and we defended them really well," Chapin said. "(Niko Gotsis) was destroying us inside a little bit. Ben (Rothhaar) switched on him and defended him pretty well. We handled the ball really well." Chapin was one of three that turned in big performances for Norwalk (10-6). The Truckers also got 11 points and eight rebounds from Mason Gamble and 10 points and seven rebounds from Rothhaar. "I thought Ben was outstanding tonight," Norwalk coach Adam Kreischer said. "He pushed in transition and got us some easy looks. We slowed it down a little bit for a stretch in the fourth quarter and went 4-low for Mason. Mason didn't just put his head on the rim and go. "What was big there was Mason was willing to share the ball with his teammates on those drives." The game was knotted at 33 with 6:25 remaining when Chapin scored. That started a run for Norwalk. Rothhaar, Landon Ferkel, and Gamble followed with buckets to put the Truckers up 41-33 with 3:54 left. Norwalk kept the Falcons (10-7) at bay the rest of the way. Firelands got as close as 45-40 after a Nick Dunfee 3-pointer, but Gamble scored off of an out-of-bounds play near the Norwalk bench. Rothhaar followed with a tally off of a deep inbounds pass to help finish off the win. "We really competed when it came winning time," Kreischer said. "We're starting to show we're a good team. Good teams find a way to win games like that. I think we executed some stuff down the stretch." Firelands made just 17-of-50 shots on the night. Outside of a 2-of-5 effort from 3 in the second quarter, the Falcons were just 2-of-14. "That's a 10-win team that really competes and plays hard," Kreischer said of Firelands. "They got a lot of loose-ball rebounds tonight. They really fought early for rebounds. When the ball was in the air, they didn't wait like we did at times." Norwalk turned in a nice run in the first half, but you could hardly tell by halftime. The Truckers used a 14-0 run that spanned 7:41 to open their biggest lead of the game. Chapin hit a jumper, Gamble scored and then added a three-point play, and Chapin's putback gave Norwalk an 11-5 lead after one quarter. Jordan Parriott scored the first two buckets of the second quarter — both on assists from Gamble — to make it 16-5. "(Christopher Radman) can really play for them and Dalton really held him in check," said Kreischer of the Firelands senior who only scored four points. "He didn't get many looks. He's a nice player. Dalton's length gives people problems and his effort on the defensive end really gives people problems as well." But Firelands responded. The Falcons outscored Norwalk, 14-4 over the final 5:54 of the half to get within one at halftime. Dunfee and Nate Draga each hit triples to help Firelands trail just 20-19 at halftime. "We gave it away with a couple weak passes up top and we didn't get back defensively," Kreischer said. "Sometimes it is us understanding you can't take possessions off at either end - not if you want to be great. "I think we're building towards that." Norwalk pushed the lead back to six points on a Chapin score three minutes into the third quarter. The Truckers weren't able to get things going from there and the Falcons cut within 31-30 by the end of the third quarter. Norwalk didn't shoot well itself — 21-of-49 from the field and 2-of-15 from 3 — but used a 35-30 rebounding edge to get a few more chances. The Truckers only committed nine turnovers. "Mason is such a good player and he's beginning to trust his teammates more and more," Kreischer said. "The sky is the limit for what this team can be. Our pieces and parts just fit really well. We play so hard and we rebound. "If we continue to do that and we got all of our guys playing on every night?" Norwalk continues a busy week Friday at Clyde before hosting Mansfield Madison on Saturday. "We talked in the locker room about coming every day ready to concentrate," Kreischer said. "We didn't have a good practice (Monday). We kind of went through the motions and it showed offensively at times tonight. "If we're going to mature as a team and be great, we need to respect every practice we have as a chance to get better as a team." NORWALK (10-6) Mason Gamble 5-3—13, Landon Ferkel 2-2—6, Dalton Chapin 4-2—11, Garrett Demuth 3-0—6, Ben Rothhaar 5-0—10, Jordan Parriott 2-0—6. TOTALS 21-7—51. FIRELANDS (10-7) Christopher Redman 2-0—4, Niko Gotsis 7-3—17, Max Stinson 2-1—5, Nate Draga 2-0—6, Ayden Fortner 1-0—2, Nick Dunfee 3-1—9. TOTALS 17-5—43. Norwalk 11 9 11 20 — 51 Firelands 5 14 11 13 — 43 3-point FGs: (N) Chapin, Parriott; (F) Draga 2, Dunfee 2