Norwalk wins share of first-ever league title

TIFFIN — As a Norwalk fan said while leaving Tiffin Columbian's gym Friday night: "It's been a long time coming." He was referring to the achievement the Truckers earned after a hard-fought 48-32 SBC Lake win over the Tornadoes, which clinched at least a share of the league title — Norwalk's first in program history. "It's huge, especially for our seniors who have been so close so many times and haven't gotten it," Truckers coach Kyle Brubaker said. "It really was our first goal we talked about in the offseason and we really focused on taking it one day at a time and we put the work in. This group is worthy of being champions, so I'm really happy for them. "I'm also happy I can do a shoutout to my assistant coach — Jen Oakley-Swartz, who has been with the program for 14 years in total … She's seen a lot of lows, but this is something she's wanted for a long time. That banner back in Norwalk isn't going to be empty any more and I'm excited for her because she's a huge part of what we do." On the road in the SBC Lake, it surely wasn't going to be easy for the Truckers (18-1, 9-0) as the Tornadoes — even being down starter Abbie Felske — made things interesting in the first half. The scrappy Tornadoes trailed just 12-11 after one quarter after hitting three 3-pointers in the frame, but then the Truckers began to pull away just a bit. After Lexi Beaston picked up her third foul early in the second period for TC, the Truckers took advantage of getting to the foul line, but didn't make many of them. Norwalk's Emmie Leber — who led the Truckers with 15 points — scored the final five points for Norwalk as it led 24-17 at the half. "On the road in the SBC and especially for the second time after you've seen a team and Tiffin is playing well despite injuries they have … we knew it would be a grind," Brubaker said. "We told them don't expect to come in here and blow them out, it's not going to happen. "This is definitely not one of the best games we've played, but as a coach on a night like tonight, I'm not going to focus on that. I'm gonna focus on the journey and with the basketball season there isn't a lot of time for you to take a step back and take a deep breath and think about what you did, but our job isn't finished." Columbian's Mia Zeis tallied the first score of the second half to pull TC within 24-19, but then the Truckers responded with 12-0 run to pull ahead 36-19. The Truckers forced 22 TC turnovers and didn't let the Tornadoes back in the game. Zeis paced the Tornadoes (11-7, 4-4) with 12 points, while Marissa Allen tacked on nine. For Norwalk, Trinity Lazzara had 10 points, followed by Abby Koenig and Gruhlke each with eight. Koenig also had six rebounds, five assists and five steals. Norwalk has some business to take care of before next Saturday's big showdown at Bellevue (19-1, 8-1). The Truckers visit Oak Harbor Saturday and host Mansfield Madison Tuesday with a chance to match and break the mark for most wins in a regular season. A win at Bellevue would also give Norwalk the Lake title outright, but the opportunity is there to do something that hasn't been done in 15 years. "I told the girls we'll focus on Bellevue when it comes a little closer to next Saturday because we have some business before then, but we're looking forward to the challenge," Brubaker said. "We know what that game is going to mean to them. "I'm sure it's Senior Night, they're going to want some revenge and they don't want to break their streak of getting a piece of the league title, so we're gonna see Bellevue on all cylinders." NORWALK (18-1, 9-0) Alyssa Gruhlke 3-0—8; Delaney Illuzzi 0-1—1; Abby Koenig 2-4—8; Kenzie Smith 1-1-4; Lucy Schlotterer 1-0—2; Emmie Leber 5-5—15; Trinity Lazzara 4-2—10. TOTALS 17 13-23 48 COLUMBIAN (11-7, 4-4) Mia Zeis 4-4—12; Marissa Allen 3-0—9; Maggie Rannigan 1-0—3; Lexi Beaston 2-0—5; Chloe Heyman 1-0—2; Tyasiah Zeigler 0-1—1. TOTALS 11-5—32. Norwalk 12 12 12 12 — 48Columbian 11 6 9 6 — 32 3-point FGs: (N) A. Gruhlke, Smith, Lazzara; (TC) Allen 3, Beaston, Rannigan