Slow start costs Norwalk in district title loss

NEW WASHINGTON — There are many ways to overcome deficiencies in basketball. But it's nearly impossible to survive a bad shooting performance and foul trouble, which the Norwalk girls basketball team faced in a Division III district championship game against Ashland. The top-seeded Truckers shot just 3-of-20 in the first half and trailed by 23 points (31-8) by halftime in the game on Feb. 22 at Buckeye Central High School. And though Norwalk rallied from as many as 24 down and got within five points, it also shot just 7-of-22 at the free-throw line and saw its best player foul out with more than five minutes left. Add it all up, and the Truckers saw their season come to a close at 22-3 with a 58-44 loss to the No. 2 seed Arrows (20-5). "In the first half, we came out flat and indecisive, and we weren't making shots," Norwalk head coach Kyle Brubaker said. "Then in the second half, we cut it to five … and that's when we started really missing bunnies and free throws." As expected, the game was a stark contrast from the season opener. The Truckers blitzed the Arrows by 34 points on Nov. 22. But Ashland clearly wasn't the same team, based on recent results and the eye test. "We knew Ashland had been playing very, very well as a team," Brubaker said. "And they had that competitive fire, and at times, our competitive fire has been inconsistent, and that's on me. "We just couldn't find a way to get this group to be a little bit more consistent and closer to their potential," he added. After the disastrous first half, there was nowhere to go but up for the Truckers in the final two quarters. They almost immediately began to turn over the Arrows with full-court pressure. Ashland had three turnovers in the first half, but committed four in the first four minutes of the third quarter. Still, Norwalk trailed 41-24 after a basket by Ashland's Kennedy Lacy from the left side of the key. But then the Truckers started to work their way back into it. Lucy Schlotterer scored on a rebound off a missed shot, then Emmie Leber added two free throws on the next trip down. Junior Trinity Lazzara was then fouled on a made basket with 1:03 left in the quarter. She missed the free throw, but got the rebound and put it up for two more points and a 41-30 deficit. Shyla Gruhlke then stole the ball and was fouled on the ensuing layup attempt. She split the foul shots with seven seconds left in the quarter, but the lead was down to 41-31 despite 13 missed free throws to that point. It appeared Norwalk lost any momentum when it turned it over on two lob attempts to begin the fourth quarter. But trailing 43-31, senior Kenzie Smith knocked down a big 3-pointer to get the lead down to single-digits. Ashland turned it over on its next trip down the floor, and Leber scored inside for a 43-36 deficit. The Truckers then rode the hot hand after another Ashland miss, as Abby Koenig found Leber underneath for a 43-38 deficit with still 6:13 left in the game. "We told the girls at halftime, 'Hey, we need to get this thing to 10 and then we feel like things will really tighten up for Ashland," Brubaker said. "At this point, we had to throw the game plan out the window — and we had to be uber aggressive. "That's what we did, and it had a little bit of an impact for us." But Norwalk drew no closer, as the momentum flipped for the worse one more time. Madison Hoffman made two free throws for Ashland with 5:49 left for a 45-38 lead. On Norwalk's next trip down the floor, Koenig went after a loose ball with an Ashland player and was originally ruled to be out of bounds. But a second official ruled that Koenig had pushed off, and it was the fifth foul with 5:33 left for the 1,000-point scorer. The Arrow then scored on a basket by Hoffman. The game then ground to a halt, as neither team scored for nearly three full minutes with the Arrows leading 47-38. The Truckers had three consecutive chances to cut into the deficit, but either missed a shot or turned the ball over. It was still 47-38 with under two minutes left when Hoffman was fouled and made both to put the Arrows back up 11. The Truckers only got as close as 50-40 with 1:18 left on a basket by Lazzara. "We got punched in the mouth in that first half," Brubaker said. "We certainly were not expecting what happened in the first game of the year to be even remotely close to today. We knew if they got off to a good start that they would feel good about that. "If we could have gotten off to a better start, maybe it would have been a different vibe," he added. "But they were hitting a lot of shots and moving the ball well. Credit to (head coach) Renee (Holt) and the players. She's got them playing their best basketball at tournament time, and that's what you're supposed to do. Leber led Norwalk with 18 points and seven rebounds. Lazzara added 12 points and seven rebounds, but no one else scored more than four points in the defeat. Schlotterer led the team with nine rebounds. The Truckers shot 32 percent from the foul line, well below their season average of 67 percent. Norwalk finished with 20 wins in the regular season, a program record. The 22 wins are one shy of the 23-4 team that reached a regional title game two seasons ago. And, the Truckers shared the SBC Lake Division title with Bellevue, marking the first league championship in program history. Seniors on the team included Koenig, Smith, Schlotterer, Gruhlke and Melissa Isais. "There could be a little discussion on who's the best team in school history, but obviously we're a part of it," Brubaker said. "We've got the first league title (in school history) in an absolute monster of a conference. Having a brand-new coach, they took it in stride and it was a lot of fun. "They're a great group of kids," he added. "We have a lot of talent coming back, but there's obviously some great talent that walks out the door and we'll need people to step up." ASHLAND (20-5) Madison Hoffman 5-8—21; Josie Vantilburg 1-0—3; Kennedy Lacy 4-2—10; Lauren Green 1-4—6; Cienna Steury 3-3—11; Camryn Cox 2-1—5. TOTALS 17-18—58. NORWALK (22-3) Delaney Illuzzi 0-1—1; Abby Koenig 1-1—3; Shyla Gruhlke 1-1—3; Kenzie Smith 1-0—3; Lucy Schlotterer 1-2—4; Emmie Leber 8-2—18; Trinity Lazzara 6-0—12. TOTALS 18-7—44. Ashland 18 13 10 17 — 58 Norwalk 4 4 23 13 — 44 3-point FGs: (A) Hoffman 3, Steury 2, Vantilburg; (N) Smith