Norwalk bounces back in rout over Streaks

NORWALK — Just the response needed. Coming off a 43-42 home loss to New London, the Norwalk girls basketball team wasted no time putting the setback behind it. The Truckers opened Saturday's SBC Lake Division opener against Sandusky with a 26-5 scoring spree in the first quarter of the 71-26 win at NHS. Norwalk, which shot 31-of-63 from the field, improved to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the Lake. "Hopefully this performance exorcised some demons for us and puts us back on track to continue to grow and get better each day," Norwalk head coach Kyle Brubaker said. "It all started at the defensive end. We made it tough for them to score, and we were solid on the boards." Leading 45-17 at halftime, Norwalk removed any doubt with a 17-2 scoring advantage in the third quarter. Freshman Jo Jackson finished with 21 points and nine rebounds on 10-of-17 shooting for the Truckers. Junior Emmie Leber had 16 points and nine rebounds, while junior Alyssa Gruhlke scored 14 points and had five assists. Also for Norwalk, senior Trinity Lazzara scored eight points and passed out 10 assists. "Our defense led to transition opportunities, and that is where we are at our best," Brubaker said. "We had some girls commit 100 percent to running the floor hard, and it showed." Norwalk is back in action on Thursday with another Lake Division game at Clyde. SANDUSKY (1-3, 0-1) Cassidy Stovall 3-0—7; Amari Prentice 1-0—2; Journey Newell 0-4—4; Shauntha Wilson 1-2—4; Brooklyn Long 2-0—5; M aekhyla Rameau 1-1—3. TOTALS 7-7—26. NORWALK (3-1, 1-0) Maddie Gamble 0-2—2; Alyssa Gruhlke 6-2—14; Audryn Ott 1-0—2; Delaney Illuzzi 1-1—3; Bella Hernandez 2-1—5; Emmie Leber 7-2—16; Trinity Lazzara 4-0—8; Jo Jackson 10-1—21. Sandusky 5 12 2 7 — 26 Norwalk 26 19 17 9 — 71 3-point FGs: (S) Stovall, Long. JV: Norwalk, 48-15. Mapleton 57, W. Reserve 30 ORANGE TWP. — Mapleton's Addison Hess made six 3-pointers to break open a tight game at halftime en route to a 27-point win over the Roughriders on Saturday. Western (1-3, 0-1) trailed 13-9 after one quarter and 25-19 at halftime, but the Mounties outscored it 32-11 over the final 16 minutes. Layken Barnhart scored 16 of Western's 30 points in the loss. The 'Riders host South Central on Tuesday. WESTERN RESERVE (1-3, 0-1) Kara Woodruff 0-1—1; Jillian Charville 2-2—7; Ally Goebbel 1-0—2; Layken Barnhart 6-1—16; Ava-Grace Thornburg 2-0—4. TOTALS 11-4—30. MAPLETON (4-0, 1-0) Audrey Hellickson 7-2—16; Payten Frye 1-1—3; Aubree Hess 4-0—9; Kendall Ramey 1-0—3; Kenzie Hellickson 1-0—2; Addison Hess 9-2—24. TOTALS 23-3—57. W. Reserve 9 10 3 8 — 30 Mapleton 13 12 15 17 — 57 3-point FGs: (WR) Barnhart 3, Charville; (M) Ad. Hess 6; Hellickson, Ramey. South Central 57, Rittman 20 GREENWICH — The Trojans improved to 3-0 on the season with Saturday's non-league rout over the visiting Indians (0-5). SWIMMING Norwalk top four at Friendly House MANSFIELD — The Trucker boys finished third among 10 teams and the girls were fourth out of 13 teams on Saturday at the Friendly House Invitational. Lexington won the boys standings with 308 points, followed by Ashland (298) and Norwalk (244). The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Lincoln Snyder, Braydan Weinert, Alex Christophel, and Raymond McCreary took first place for the Truckers in 1:44.08. Snyder was second in the 100 butterfly (1:02.67) and third in the 50 free (25.24), while Eli Loudy was fourth in the 200 free (2:16.22). Also for the NHS boys, the 200 medley relay of Canyon Craig, Ahthony Hall, Snyder and McCreary placed third (1:56.55),w hole the 400 free relay of Craig, Weinert, Loudy and McCreary finished fourth in 4:06.26. Ashland scored 349 points to win on the girls side. The Arrows were followed by Lexington (303), Ottawa Hills (243.5) and the Truckers (189). Norwalk's 200 medley relay of Saige Konik, Becca Farmer, Amara Rodriguez, and Kylah Daniels placed third (2:20.57). Also taking third was the 200 free relay of Daniels, Konik, Rodriguez, and Raena Ringenberg in 2:01.29. For Willard, Phebe Schag was third in the 200 free (2:16.41) and fourth in the 100 butterfly (1:10.61). The Truckers are back at home again on Tuesday for a meet against Ontario and Shelby.