Defense paces Norwalk to sectional win

NORWALK — The cure came early. When things are going well, things have to start on the defensive end for the Norwalk girls basketball team. But in recent weeks, the Truckers have been searching mightily at the offensive end of the floor. Playing against Vermilion in a Division II sectional semifinal on Thursday, the Truckers got the defense going early. That allowed Norwalk to settle in enough on offense in the 56-25 win at Norwalk High School. With the win, Norwalk (17-6) — seeded No. 4 in the Old Fort district — advanced to host No. 9 Lexington (12-11) at a time to be determined on Saturday in a sectional championship game. Lex got a 3-pointer from Tatum Stover with 13 seconds left to knock off No. 7 Perkins (12-11) on Thursday. In Thursday's win, the Truckers limited the No. 13 Sailors (7-16) to just 0-of-4 shooting in the first quarter with eight turnovers. That allowed Norwalk to grab an early 9-3 lead to set up a 13-1 scoring run in the second quarter. "We've been struggling at the defensive end, too, so it was nice for us to come out and get a lot of turnovers, and we played with a lot of energy," Norwalk head coach Brock Manlet said. "I thought we played with a lot of energy early in forcing those turnovers, and we got a lot of good looks offensively, we just didn't hit anything. "Whether it was a layup or a jump shot. I was very pleased with how hard we played — especially in the first half." Leading 6-3, a pair of free throws from Lucy Schlotterer at the 1:31 mark of the first quarter started a 22-2 scoring run. Abby Koenig and Trinity Lazzarra each scored off steals with layups to extend the Norwalk lead to 13-3 with 6:25 left in the half. Alyssa Gruhlke added a 3-pointer from the left wing off an assist from Lazzarra at the 5:43 mark. Koenig — who was 10-of-12 at the free-throw line — then added two more foul shots, and another basket inside from Lazzarra made it 23-4 with 4:14 left in the half. Kenzie Smith added a baseline jumper just outside the paint, and after a free throw by Koenig was followed by a layup from Delaney Illuzzi, the Truckers had a commanding 28-5 lead with 2:41 left in the half. Norwalk led 29-10 at the break. Manlet was pleased to see most of the scoring was done inside. "That was my message to the girls, because we are who we are," Manlet said. "We're streaky shooters, and when it's going well, that's great. But we also know what the other side of that looks like. "Our message was to get to the rim and get easy baskets, and we were able to do that and open up the lead. Then we finally got some shots to fall in the second half." The Truckers outscored the Sailors 27-16 in the second half on a night where 10 different players scored. Koenig scored a game-high 19 points to go with seven rebounds for Norwalk. She was the lone player in double-figures. Schlotterer added five points and six rebounds as one of four players to score five points. Lazzara scored six points. During the regular season, Norwalk claimed a 47-38 road win at Lexington on Jan. 3. "They present a lot of challenges," Manlet said of Lexington. "Their guards are very good, (Makaree) Chapman and (Cora) Palmer on the outside are tough and the 6-2 girl inside (Ava Brown) averages a double-double. We'll go back and watch and see what worked from the first game down there, and I'm sure they will do the same, so we'll have to make some adjustments. "We'll do our best to try and take away the big girl, but we're going to have to guard the perimeter as well," he added. "They present different challenges than Perkins, but when it comes down to it, they are also similar." Manlet said he is still in favor of neutral site tournament games, but he'll be happy to be at home on Saturday. I'm old school and nostalgic, because I always enjoy going to a different gym for the tournament," he said. "But if they are going to change it and we get a chance to be at home to try and get to the districts, we'll take it." VERMILION (7-16) Camrin Lowder 1-2—4; Abby Gawry 2-0—6; Faith Sergent 0-1—1; Claire Bartlome 3-8—14. TOTALS 6-11—25. NORWALK (17-6) Hailey Rinner 1-0—2; Alyssa Gruhlke 2-0—5; Delaney Illuzzi 2-1—5; Abby Koenig 4-10—19; Kenzie Smith 2-1—5; Emmie Leber 2-0—4; Lucy Schlotterer 1-3—5; Trinity Lazzara 2-2—6; Cara Ehrenberg 1-0—2; Audryn Ott 1-0—3. TOTALS 18-17—56. Vermilion 3 7 6 9 — 25 Norwalk 9 20 16 11 — 56 3-point FGs: (V) Gawry 2; (N) Gruhlke, Koenig, Ott