Senior pressure overwhelms Norwalk

MANSFIELD — One sequence told the story. With under three minutes left in the first half of Thursday's Division III sectional championship game, visiting Norwalk was fighting for momentum. Senior standout Mason Gamble had just stolen the ball from a Mansfield Senior player and converted a layup at the other end for a 33-18 deficit. The Truckers then got another steal, but turned it over themselves. That led to the Tygers' D'Vontae Johnson finding Ny Petty for a slam dunk and a 35-18 lead. In an instant, all chances of any momentum were gone. Senior — the No. 2 seed in the Willard district — jumped out to a 12-2 lead from the start and never looked back in the 84-59 win over the Truckers inside Pete Henry Gymnasium. Mansfield Senior (16-5) will get its rematch with No. 3 Sandusky (15-7) in a district semifinal at 8:30 p.m. inside Robert L. Haas Gymnasium next Tuesday. In the second game of the season, the Tygers beat the Blue Streaks, 84-77, on Dec. 7 in Mansfield. "They are a really good team that made some shots tonight, which they are capable of doing," Norwalk head coach Adam Kreischer said of the Tygers. "We turned it over too much early on, which allowed them to get out in transition." Norwalk (7-15) did not score a field goal in the first six minutes of the contest. Meanwhile, the Tygers went on a 12-0 scoring run that included three steals and two more turnovers by the Truckers. In another key sequence, Brock Kuhl made a corner 3-pointer to cut the lead in half (14-7) for the Truckers, only for Mansfield to cancel it out with a 3 from Rashad Reed Jr. the next trip down the floor. Leading 17-7, it appeared the Tygers were going to hold for the final shot of the quarter with just under 30 seconds left. Instead, head coach Marquise Sykes urged his team to play on. Kaylen Brooks then buried a 3 to go up 20-9. After Jordan Parriott made two foul shots with eight seconds left in the quarter, the Tygers went right down the floor and got another 3 from the left side at the buzzer from Reed Jr. The Truckers had a much better second quarter, but the damage was done. They trailed 33-16 when the sequence with Gamble happened. Parriott converted a three-point play to make it 37-21, only for the Tygers to score two straight baskets for a 41-21 lead. Parriott answered with a 3 to bring it to 41-24 at the break. He then scored the first basket off a steal and layup to start the third quarter, but Johnson answered with a 3. Gamble later scored off an out-of-bounds play for a 44-28 deficit, but Norwalk got no closer. The Tygers led 66-42 after three quarters, and the two teams played a mostly-even fourth quarter. After getting three offensive rebounds off missed shots, Norwalk's Tyler Norwood was fouled and made two free throws. Parriott added another 3 around a Senior basket to make it 73-53, only for the Tygers to close the game on an 11-6 run. Gamble finished with 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting along with five rebounds and three assists. Parriott scored 19 points with six rebounds. Norwalk was 14-of-15 at the free-throw line for the game. The Truckers turned it over 19 times to Mansfield's seven. "I thought Jordan attacked with confidence all game and Mason played aggressively in the second half," Kreischer said. "Tyler played with outstanding effort and energy the entire game." Gamble, Norwood, Kuhl, Demuth and Scheel were the seniors, along with Ben Rothhaar, who enrolled early at Rutgers University on a football scholarship on Jan. 20. "I thanked our seniors for all the work they put in over the years and wished them well in their futures," Kreischer said. "Hopefully our underclassmen see how much work there is to do to get this program where we want it to be. Hopefully they are willing to put in that work." NORWALK (7-15) Jordan Parriott 5-7—19; Mason Gamble 9-1—20; Tyler Norwood 0-2—2; Kaedyn Warner 3-0—6; Brock Kuhl 1-2—5; Garrett Demuth 1-0—3; Xavier Saunders 1-2—4. TOTALS 20-14—59. MANSFIELD SENIOR (16-5) Kyevi Roane 9-2—20; Ny Petty 2-0—4; Jaden Smith 2-3—7; Jahmere Pearson 1-0—2; Rashad Reed Jr. 5-1—16; D'Vontae Johnson 5-1—12; Andrew Brooks Jr. 3-0—6; Sammie Likely IV 1-0—3; Kaylen Brooks 5-0—11; Duane Anderson 1-0—3. TOTALS 34-7—84. Mansfield 23 18 25 18 — 84 Norwalk 9 15 18 17 — 59 3-point FGs: (N) Parriott 2, Gamble, Kuhl, Demuth ; (M) Reed Jr. 2; Johnson, Likely IV, K. Brooks, Anderson