Norwalk routs Columbian to stay in first place

TIFFIN — Norwalk started to separate itself from Tiffin Columbian. But with Truckers coach Brock Manlet beckoning for energy a plethora of times, freshman Alyssa Gruhkle gave it. The freshman exploded for 12 straight Norwalk points in just over two minutes in the second half, helping the Truckers pull away for a 60-37 Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division win Thursday against the Tornadoes. "Our team worked together and started pressing the ball a lot more," Gruhlke said. "Our rebounds and kickouts were a lot better. We realized what we had to do at halftime." Gruhlke had just one point with 20 seconds to go in the third quarter. She finished with a career-high 15 while grabbing six rebounds. "She's come around. She's gotten better since the beginning of the year to where she is now," Manlet said. "She hasn't necessarily scored the ball for us up to this point, but she's done a better job defensively and rebounding for us. "It was good for her to have a game tonight where she put some points on the board." Gruhlke hit a triple to give Norwalk (15-4, 7-1 SBC Lake) a 43-24 lead after three quarters. Gruhlke then opened the fourth quarter with an offensive rebound and putback. After a Columbian (7-13, 1-7) empty possession, her tally pushed the advantage to 47-24. The Tornadoes got a triple from Marissa Allen before Gruhlke countered with a 3 of her own. Another score from Gruhlke on a putbacm made it 52-27. Norwalk forced Columbian into 20 turnovers. "That's the name of the game," Manlet said. "We're going to play up-tempo or at least try to play up-tempo. We want to force teams into mistakes. Usually those mistakes turn into points for us. We want to do that as much as possible." Norwalk was lethargic early, but turned it on midway through the game. The Truckers outscored Columbian, 27-15 in the middle two quarters. "I don't know what the difference was," Manlet said. "We played three games in four days and that might have something to do with it. Maybe a little bit of heavy legs. We found our rhythm there especially in the second half." It was a little bit tougher of a contest for Norwalk than the first meeting. Back on Dec. 22, the Truckers rolled to a 42-17 home win. "We definitely improved from the last time we saw them," TC coach Jaycie Foos said. "No excuses, but we had a lot of sickness and we just ran out of steam. I thought we hung with them and did a good job in the first and second quarter. By the third and fourth quarter, we looked tired and could not fight through it." Kenzie Smith nailed a 3 for Norwalk off of a Delaney Illuzzi steal early. The Tornadoes tied the game at 9, but Abby Koenig rented space at the free throw line the final 1:40 of the first quarter. She made 7-of-8 free throws there to push Norwalk ahead 16-9 after one quarter. Koenig's bucket to open the second quarter scoring furthered the lead. Norwalk was up just 22-16 late in the quarter when it finished strong. Koenig connected on a 3-pointer before a lay-up at the buzzer by Emmie Leber ballooned the lead to 27-16. Norwalk really put the hammer down in the third quarter. Up just 30-21 midway through the quarter, Smith scored, Trinity Lazzara splashed in two free throws, and buckets by Lazzara and Illuzzi made it 38-22. "I thought we played better defensively," Manlet said. "We ran the floor better and hit some shots. When we hit some shots, it kind of spurs us a little bit." Mia Zeis topped Columbian with 13 points and eight rebounds while Allen and Mikenna Kancler each scored eight points. The Tornadoes made just 3-of-21 free throws. "We've noticed in scouting and film that the Allen girl shot it really well for them," Manlet said. "She did again tonight. They have girls that can put it in the basket. I thought they did a better job against our pressure tonight for the most part." The Truckers used a massive 44-26 rebounding edge to thwart chances by Columbian. Leber snatched a game-high nine rebounds while Lazzara had six, Koenig grabbed five, and Smith and Lucy Schlotterer each had four. "That's another area I thought we cleaned up a little bit as the game went on," Manlet said. "We missed some boxouts early on and early in the second half. As the second half wore on, I thought we did a much better job of limiting them to one shot and getting out and running." The contest was Norwalk's last before the tournament draw Sunday. The Truckers started the day fourth in the Division II Old Fort district, just a minuscule distance behind Shelby for third. "I hope we solidified the four-spot tonight," Manlet said. "I don't know if anybody will jump us. That's why this game was so huge for us. We wanted to make sure we get a win and get in the top-4 and host a sectional. "If we can move up to 3, I don't know that there's much difference between 3 and 4." NORWALK (15-4, 7-1) Abby Koenig 4-9—18, Kenzie Smith 2-0—5, Emmie Leber 1-1—3, Lucy Schlotterer 2-0—4, Trinity Lazzara 4-2—10, Delaney Illuzzi 1-0—2, Alyssa Gruhkle 6-1—15, Hailey Rinner 1-0—3. TOTALS 21-13—60. COLUMBIAN (7-13, 1-7) Mia Zeis 6 2—14, Maggie Rannigan 1 1—3, Marissa Allen 3 0—8, Mikenna Kancler 3 0—8, Maddy Richie 2 0—4. TOTALS 15-3—37. Norwalk 16 11 16 17 — 60 Columbian 9 7 8 13 — 37 3-point FGs: (N) Gruhlke 2, Koenig, Smith, Rinner; (TC) Allen 2, Kancler 2