Norwalk cruises back to districts

NORWALK — The end result wasn't necessarily about the score. "We talked about playing up to our standard," Norwalk girls head coach Kyle Brubaker said about Thursday's Division III tournament opener against winless Mansfield Senior. "Tonight wasn't about winning this game; it was about the first step of the second season." There wasn't much to nitpick from the Norwalk coaching staff, as the Truckers improved to 17-6 overall and cut down the nets with a sectional championship following the 69-17 win at NHS. Norwalk will rematch with Ashland (20-3) in a district semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Buckeye Central. The Arrows defeated the Truckers, 58-44, in the district title game at Buckeye last season. "For the most part, I think we did a good job of playing to that standard tonight," Brubaker said. "As a coach, you are always going to look back and wish certain things were better, but overall, it was mission accomplished tonight in that regard." As expected, it was all Truckers from the start. Norwalk scored the first 15 points over the first 3:57 of the game. Freshman Jo Jackson scored twice inside the paint around a short jumper from senior Trinity Lazzara within the game's first 96 seconds. After a Mansfield miss, junior Emmie Leber was fouled and converted the basket to make it 9-0. Junior Alyssa Gruhlke then got in on the transition scoring. She scored off a pass from Lazzara, then had two easy layups around steals on defense that pushed the lead from 9-0 to 15-0 in just 87 seconds. Mansfield broke the scoring drought on a basket near the rim with 2:41 left in the first. However, Norwalk scored the last eight points of the quarter to push the lead out to 23-2. Lazzara scored four of the eight points, the last with 23.2 seconds left on a steal and layup, while Jackson and Leber also scored. The second quarter was more of the same. This time, the Tygers (0-20) scored the first basket of the quarter, only for the Truckers to score the next 17 points. Six different players scored during the run, which spanned 5:08 of the quarter. That included Leber scoring twice in a row, including a three-point play and another basket. Jackson, Audryn Ott, Delaney Illuzzi (two free throws), and Bella Hernandez also scored for the Truckers, the last with 1:26 left for a 40-4 lead. After Mansfield's Jvaeh Hudgens scored her second basket to stop a drought of 6:53, the Truckers closed the half with two free throws from Hernandez and a steal and basket from Illuzzi with 23.8 seconds left for a 44-8 halftime lead. With the running clock rule in play, Norwalk still outscored the Tygers by an 18-2 margin in the third quarter to open up a 62-10 lead. Gruhlke opened the second half scoring with another basket from close range, then junior CJ Bennett converted a three-point play for a 49-8 lead at the 5:23 mark. Lazzara finished her scoring with back-to-back baskets, then Audryn Ott added a pair of 3-pointers, the last of which made it 62-10 with 50.2 seconds left in the quarter. With the full roster being subbed in freely, the two teams played to a 7-7 draw in the fourth quarter as 11 players scored for the Truckers. Norwalk had five different players score 8 to 12 points each. Leber had 12 points, while Lazzara and Ott each had 10. Gruhlke and Jackson each scored eight, and Illuzzi added seven. Lazzara also had seven assists and Leber had six rebounds. "It came in a bunch of different ways," Brubaker said of the scoring. "We had some girls get out in transition, shoot well from the three-point line, and also some mid-range shots. So it was nice not only to see balanced scoring but also scoring in a variety of ways from different people." MaxPreps ranks Norwalk 24th and Ashland 20th in Div. III. The Arrows are led by District 6 Player of the Year Kennedy Lacey, who averages 22.5 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 3.1 steals per game. "We have a ton of respect for Coach (Renee) Holt and her program," Brubaker said. "We know it starts with Lacey, but their post, Camryn Cox, has gotten a lot better, and they have a knockdown shooter to always think about when figuring out how to defend them. "They are well-coached and play the game the right way. It's going to be a battle, but we feel like we are battle-tested if you look at our schedule. It's been a really difficult schedule, and this is another tough test for us." MANSFIELD SENIOR (0-20) Jvaeh Hudgens 3-2—8; Taneyah Hammock 3-1—7 Callahan Cavanaugh 1-0—2. TOTALS 7-3—17. NORWALK (17-6) CJ Bennett 2-1—5; Alyssa Gruhlke 4-0—8; Audryn Ott 4-0—10; Delaney Illuzzi 2-3—7; Bella Hernandez 1-2—4; Grace Knight 1-0—2; Libby Lark 0-1—1; Emmie Leber 5-2—12; Trinity Lazzara 5-0—10; Scarlet Schneider 1-0—2; Jo Jackson 4-0—8. TOTALS 25-9—69. Mansfield 2 6 2 7 — 17 Norwalk 23 21 18 7 — 69 Three-point FGs: (N) Ott 2.