Norwalk, New London look to stay in first place

The Norwalk and New London girls basketball teams enter the second full week of 2025 looking to stay atop the SBC Lake Division and Firelands Conference standings. Before the Division III Truckers (12-1, 5-0) return to league play, they will host Div. VI Ottawa Hills (8-5) in a non-league game Tuesday at NHS. The Green Bears are led by freshman Kendell Skiver, who averages 18.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.4 steals per game. Lily Berenzweig adds 6.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. The Truckers are No. 6 in Div. III in the latest MaxPreps rankings. Saturday, they start the second round of league play by hosting Sandusky (4-8, 1-5) in a rematch of a 63-59 win Dec. 7. Mae Rameau averages 14.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.9 steals per game for the Blue Streaks. Ra'Kiya Collier adds 11.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.6 steals per contest. For Norwalk, senior guard Abby Koenig leads the team with 15.3 points per game. She also adds 5.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and three steals per contest. Emmie Leber averages 13.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Also for the Truckers, Trinity Lazzara is at 9.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game, while Alyssa Gruhlke adds 6.5 points and 4.1 rebounds; and Kenzie Smith averages 4.4 points and 2.9 assists per game. In a schedule quirk, the Wildcats have a chance to beat the same FC team two games in a row. On Jan. 12, the Wildcats (10-3, 7-0) hosted Mapleton and pulled away for a 41-27 win over the Mounties (11-2, 6-2) to open up a two-game lead. Now, the 'Cats start the second half of league play in their attempt to repeat by visiting the Mounties. Friday, New London then travels to Western Reserve (3-9, 2-5). The Wildcats, who may be without junior point guard Raeann Mitchell after she suffered an injury in the win over the Mounties, are allowing 18.6 points per game in FC play. In a Dec. 23 win over Monroeville, the Eagles made a 3-pointer in the final seconds of a 44-32 win to be the only team so far to break 30 points in FC games against New London. Both Monroeville (9-4, 6-2) and Crestview (5-6, 3-2) also each have two losses in conference play. That will change on Friday when the Eagles visit the Cougars. Elsewhere Tuesday, two former longtime Northern Ohio League rivals steeped in tradition will meet when Shelby (12-1) travels to Willard (11-3). The Whippets are ranked No. 6 in Div. IV by MaxPreps and the Crimson Flashes are No. 5 in Div. V. Shelby's lone loss came at Div. I Reynoldsburg (6-6) by four points, 60-56, on Dec. 7. The Flashes recently lost three straight games, but two of those came to local powers Margaretta (11-3) and Bellevue (13-1). Reese Bedingfield paces Willard with 14.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. Camryn Wiers adds 8.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists, followed by Corrin Gettys (8.3 points) and Emelia Tallman (8.1 points). BOYS Norwalk has busy week The Truckers (4-7) will start the second half of their season with three games in five days, beginning with Tuesday night's non-league game at Mansfield Madison (4-9). That will lead into a challenging weekend, as Norwalk hosts Perkins (7-4, 2-2) on Friday in SBC Lake play before visiting Huron (9-3) on Saturday for another non-league game. Brock Kuhn averages 10.9 points and 8.1 rebounds for Norwalk, while Mason Gamble adds 9.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and four assists per game. In the FC, the boys slate will feature the four teams in head-to-head action on Thursday and Saturday, with the exception of St. Paul-Monroeville, which was moved up to this past weekend (Jan. 11). Thursday's biggest matchup shows the Flyers (8-5, 6-1) visiting the Cougars (10-1, 6-0) with hopes of leaving Olivesburg with a first-place tie. Elsewhere, South Central (2-8, 0-7) visits Monroeville (6-5, 5-3); Mapleton (9-3, 4-2) travels to New London (1-10, 1-5); and Plymouth (5-6, 2-4) heads to Western Reserve (2-8, 2-5). On Saturday, New London visits Crestview; Plymouth goes to South Central; and Western Reserve entertains the Mounties.