Relentless Koenig anchored Norwalk

Wes Douglas can still hear the groans. When PACER testing time came around in his physical-education classes at Norwalk schools, the now-retired teacher knew the annual cardiovascular endurance test was highly unpopular among his students. "Those few kids who embrace it, they just stand out," Douglas said. Five years ago during the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER), Douglas noted seventh-grader Abby Koenig wasn't going to stop. And for the past four years on the Truckers' basketball court, Abby kept going, too. "Abby is the ultimate leader by example," senior teammate Kenzie Smith said. "She's not always the loudest, but she is encouraging. She is always showing what to do with her own play, which is just relentless." The PACER test requires running 20 meters back and forth. Every minute or so, the time between each run gets shorter, so students must run faster. The test ends when the runner fails to reach the respective marker in time. "Abby just ran and ran," Douglas recalled. "She kept going past the bell for the next period. We just let her keep going. Sure enough, she broke the record. Her face was red and she was sweaty. But she just wasn't going to be denied." When the testing was done, Douglas knew Abby was exceptional. From 1997 to 2024, he'd had great athletes in his classes and with NHS baseball teams from 1997-2022. "I just remember saying to (fellow teacher Karen) Quillen at the time, there is something different, something special about her," Douglas said. "You could just tell she was cut a little bit differently from everyone else as far as a competitor. "Obviously, we saw what she went on to become." With one of the best careers in the history of Norwalk girls basketball, Abby has no peers in combined individual and team records. With All-Ohio first-team honors announced March 25, Abby and 2017 NHS graduate Jiselle Thomas are the only two players to attain that status. Abby's stature at 5-feet-7 belies her abilities at point guard. On her way to accolades, including multiple Player of the Year honors, was a broken nose, pokes to the eye and many elbows and shoves to the floor. But the struggles paid off for both Abby and the Truckers. "It's so special and means so much that we accomplished everything we did," she said. "I'm grateful for everything that happened." Casual interest Abby picked up basketball at age 10 because older sisters Lindsey and Emily were already playing. "I wanted to be just like them," Abby said. "But you never take it that seriously at that age." Before junior high, she joined Kenzie in the gym with her father, Cornell Smith, for routine workouts. "You should have heard us all in there, fighting," Kenzie said. "He'd be telling Abby and me what we had to do to set us apart. But we'd stand there, mock him and be mad — all at 8 a.m. on a Sunday. "But Abby took all the work and extra time she put in, and embraced it." Playing on NMS teams and about same time she put herself through the PACER test, Abby found she enjoyed the game and was willing to work to excel at basketball. Although stories about older siblings "beating up" on the youngest in the family are common, Abby said that was never the case with her sisters, who are NHS 2020 and 2023 graduates. "I would never play with Lindsey, but Emily and I were obviously teammates for two years," Abby said. "But I didn't really play against her in that type of setting. "Emily never had that mindset with me. But they both were definitely really helpful and supportive of me. I love and appreciate them for always being there to push me and give me advice after games." When Abby arrived at NHS, the Truckers were focused on rebuilding to the team's 2014-18 peak. Abby felt far from confident in playing varsity games as a freshman, however. Handling the responsibilities of point guard as a freshman was difficult. At times, former head coach Brock Manlet and his staff were working to force more attacks on the basket. In her freshman season, Abby averaged 5.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, but struggled to shoot both from the field and the free-throw line. "I didn't feel like it was my full potential," she said. "I had to regain some confidence after that." Confidence and skills grew with long gym sets throughout the spring and summer of 2022. "At times it was exhausting, especially some of those long summer days with the early mornings when you just want to sleep — but instead you&#39;re in the gym. But I wanted to make sure it was all worth it in the end." A star is forged After playing basketball nearly year-round and with Truckers soccer in fall season mixed in, Abby's sophomore year saw everything fall into place. With Kenzie and teammates Brooklyn Davis and Summer Moehlman, Abby took charge at point guard. Per game, she averaged 11.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.7 steals, two assists, 74 percent from the foul line. Norwalk finished the regular season at a program-best 19-3. The losses were by a combined seven points to local powerhouses Bellevue and Margaretta. After coming up just short against the Lady Red twice, the Truckers were denied a league title and trailed by 12 points in the fourth quarter of their Division II sectional title game vs. Mansfield Senior. Two weeks later, Norwalk, having won its second district championship, saw Abby leading the charge, 40-30, over Toledo Rogers and the Truckers' first regional win. Although the Truckers were denied the regional title with a loss to Bryan, so much had changed for their sophomore guard. "There wasn't really any individual moment, but my sophomore year in general was huge," Abby said. "After the tournament run, there was a realization that there was more for me to accomplish. "Throughout high school, I just worked hard and gave my best for my teammates." In 2023-24, Abby led the Truckers to a 17-7 record with averages of 12.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 4.2 steals as Norwalk again remained in contention for a league title until the final week of the regular season. Style of play How Abby scored points to become the team's leader was grueling work. As a sophomore, nearly 43 percent of her points came at the foul line. As a junior, that increased to 45 percent and was again 43 percent this past season. That effort was mostly by design. Abby used relentless drives to the rim in addition to concentrating on her free-throw shooting. "I tried to attack a lot and get to the line — because I know I can make those," she said. "It's important to make free throws because of my size. When I attack, it's hard for me to make those shots all the time. "I feel like once I attack, those big posts just foul me a lot. That means I've got to make my free throws when the opportunity comes." Her playing style came with costs. With a broken nose early in her junior season, she wore a face mask for several weeks. During the regional semifinal win over Toledo Rogers, she sustained an eye poke that stopped the game. Most game photos of Abby show her amid a scrum while trying to either avoid or being hit in the face while shooting from close range. She's had constant scrapes and bruises, too. "I always just try to give 100 percent in everything I do, and work the hardest I can at all times," Abby said. "I guess that leads to broken noses and other injuries. "I just always pushed myself and tried to do that so others around me can see that I'm working hard, and they can do the same. I always tried to lead by example." This season, Abby played for first-year head coach Kyle Brubaker. He saw right away the type of player he inherited to lead his team. "She's been willing to be coached from Day 1, and I can honestly say I've never seen her work ethic take a day off," Brubaker said. "I don't know if she's capable of taking it easy if we told her to. That's just the kind of competitor she is." Playing varsity soccer was a bridge to toughness on the court: she scored 12 times and assisted on 11 other goals to earn All-SBC Lake first-team honors for the league-champion Truckers last fall. Abby constantly crashed to the turf in fighting for possession of the soccer ball. "Soccer definitely toughened me up for basketball," Abby said. "I had the same mindset of going 100 percent, and it's more physical with the pushing and shoving aspect. It played a role in how I play. It transfers over to basketball, definitely." Place in history This past season, Abby and her teammates vaulted the Truckers to basketball history. Norwalk started off 10-0, its best-ever opening. The Truckers were 20-2 before the Div. III tournament, setting the mark for most wins in a regular season. With their 41-38 win on Jan. 4, the Truckers gave Bellevue its lone loss of the season. After the Lady Red won the rematch, the co-SBC Lake championship was Norwalk's first league title. In the tournament, NHS won its eighth sectional championship. The Truckers advanced to only their fourth district title game, where they fell to Ashland, 58-44. The 22 wins are the second-most in program history — behind the 2022-23 team that Abby led in scoring. Individually, Abby earned a trio of Player of the Year awards: SBC Lake Division, OHSBCA District 6 coaches, and OPSMA Northwest District. After earning second-team district honors in each of the past two seasons — which garnered All-Ohio special-mention last season — Abby is an All-Ohio first-team winner this year. On the season, she averaged 14.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 3.5 assists in 24 games and shot 79 percent from the free-throw line. Abby now sits on a short list of players with her individual and team accomplishment numbers combined. While one of only three NHS players to break 1,000 career points (1,061) — behind Thomas (2,023 points) and 2006 graduate Megan Sellers (1,393) — she is one of two first-team All-Ohioans and the sole player to reach those milestones with teams winning both a league title and a regional game. "Jiselle was someone I always looked up to when I was younger," Abby said. "She was so good, and I could see that. I always wanted to be like her and follow in her footsteps — at least the best I could." Upon reflection, Abby has a handful of games she'd like to take back while also noting she couldn't have asked for a better career. "Being on all those teams, it really is surreal to think what we did," she said. "We made history so many times and in different ways." Much the way Abby watched Thomas in awe at a young age, Brubaker hopes younger girls have taken note. "Abby has the heart of a champion," he said. "Hopefully some little girl out there is practicing at home in the driveway, trying to emulate her — because that's a great person to want to be like."