Tested Norwalk seeks third district title

Consistency at its finest. The Norwalk girls basketball team has consistently won for the past four seasons. This season is no exception with a .750 winning percentage. But the Truckers haven't always played consistently from start to finish, even in many of their 18 victories. Yet when they needed to the most, the Truckers never looked better in a 50-20 win over Ashland (20-4) in a Division III district semifinal Tuesday night at Buckeye Central. Norwalk (18-6) dominated in every phase and led 34-5 at halftime against a team that won a league title, had 20 wins as a No. 1 seed in its district group, and had defeated the Truckers to win a district title the year before. "I think they finally started believing that with the proper amount of preparation mentally and physically, we can compete with anybody," Norwalk head coach Kyle Brubaker said. "And I think we brought that same level of focus. "We had three good days of prep for Ashland. We also played very hard and knew we needed to." Up next for Norwalk is a district title game against No. 4 Elida (14-9) at 7 p.m. Saturday at Columbus Grove High School. The winner heads to a regional semifinal at Elida's Fieldhouse on March 4 against the winner between Celina (16-8) and Toledo Notre Dame Academy (13-10). A little over a month ago, Norwalk was winning games, but not with the sharpness of Tuesday's district win over the Arrows. On Jan. 23, the Truckers struggled their way to a 32-29 overtime win over Clyde to improve to 11-4 after 15 games. The next day, they traveled to Div. I Findlay (15-7) and lost 51-33. But since then, Norwalk is 7-1 in their last eight games. The Truckers' average margin of victory in the stretch is 29. The lone loss in that stretch was a 46-33 defeat vs. Bellevue (25-0) on Feb. 6. The No. 1-ranked Lady Red are not only the defending Div. IV state champions, but that was their third-closest win to date this season. It was by far Bellevue's closest league win and a stark improvement from Norwalk's 52-point loss at Bellevue on Jan. 2. "We realize if we do this all the time and don't do it in waves, we're going to be in good shape," Brubaker said. Entering Saturday, Norwalk averages 48.9 points and allows 34.8 points per game. The Truckers also average 29.8 rebounds, 11 assists, and 9.5 steals per contest. Norwalk is led in scoring by the duo of senior Trinity Lazzara and junior Emmie Leber. Lazzara, who had 19 points on 9-of-14 shooting in Tuesday's win, is averaging 12.6 points per game. She adds 4.3 rebounds and four assists per game. Leber averages 12.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Also for the Truckers, freshman Jo Jackson averages 8.8 points and 7.1 rebounds. Junior Alyssa Gruhlke adds 4.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. Meanwhile, Elida is looking to return to the regional semifinals for a second straight year after a 47-30 win over Defiance on Tuesday. The Bulldogs defeated Defiance by 10 during the regular season just 19 days before. Elida, which fell by a 55-48 score to Granville in the regional semis last season, jumped out to a 16-2 lead Tuesday and never looked back in the 17-point win. Leading scorer and rebounder Lilly Sifrit — an Arizona State softball commit — was sidelined for Elida with an ankle injury suffered in the 13th game of the season against Div. V No. 1-ranked Ottawa-Glandorf. But they still have 6-foot-2 senior center Emma Mitchell, who had eight points and 12 rebounds in the win over Defiance. Juniors Claire Dingledine and Shae Raeger added 14 and 12 points each, while Lexie Good added 10 points and seven rebounds. Elida is a member of the strong 10-team Western Buckeye League. Six of the 10 WBL teams posted an overall winning record. Along with MaxPreps Division V No. 1-ranked Ottawa-Glandorf (24-0) and Elida, Celina is also in a district title game on Saturday. After an 0-3 start that included a loss to Div. VI No. 8 Columbus Grove (21-3) in the season opener, Elida is 14-6 since. Included in their losses with Glandrof was a 15-point loss to Div. VII No. 3 Ottoville (20-4), Celina, and Div. IV Bryan (16-9), which defeated the Truckers in a regional title game in 2023. In total, Elida has played six teams that are in district title games this weekend. The two teams have one common opponent. Elida claimed a 39-31 win at Lima Bath (13-11) on Jan. 22. Nine days later, the Truckers beat Bath in Castalia, 45-33. Elida has defeated three teams with a winning record to date. Norwalk also played a challenging slate, and it has 10 wins over teams with a winning record. Along with Ashland, Bellevue, and Findlay, the Truckers played six more teams that won 15 or more games. Seven of Norwalk's 19 opponents this season will play in district title games this weekend. They include Bellevue, Findlay, New London (21-3), Elyria Catholic (17-6), Oak Harbor (20-4), Margaretta (23-1), and Mansfield Madison (15-8). All six of Norwalk's losses this season came against those teams, while it defeated the Rockets and Rams. The Truckers are 7-6 all-time in district tournament games. That includes a 2-2 mark in championship games entering Saturday. This will be Norwalk's fifth title game appearance, which have all come within the past 10 seasons. ------------------------------------ Norwalk district tournament history (7-6) 1976-77: vs. Ontario, lost, 66-36 1981-82: vs. Huron, lost, 56-39 1989-90: vs. Willard, lost, 60-28 2002-03: vs. Madison, lost, 57-41 2016-17: vs. Shelby, won, 71-56; vs. Bellevue, won, 34-32 2017-18: vs. Upper Sandusky, won, 53-45; vs. Bellevue, lost, 63-49 2022-23: vs. Shelby, won, 50-47; vs. Perkins, won, 49-35 2024-25: vs. Sandusky, won, 63-54; vs. Ashland, lost, 58-44 2025-26: vs. Ashland, won, 50-20; vs. Elida