Norwalk Truckers/Sandusky Bay Conference News

Norwalk Showing Improvement

          Norwalk will be over at Clyde for a game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says they have shown improvement and that was evidenced in their play last week.  “They are playing hard and we're getting better.  We've talked a couple of times.  Versus Vermillion we really did not handle the basketball well even not facing a ton of pressure you know we had 23 turnovers in the first half against them.  Last week we played a Sandusky team and we turned it over just 22 times for the game.  Now that's still too many for the win basketball games, but it's improvement it's strides in the right direction,” said Kreischer.

          The Truckers (0-4,0-1) lost (55-31) to Vermilion last Tuesday and then (58-29) to defending Lake Division champion Sandusky on Saturday.

          Clyde (1-2,0-1) lost (69-59) to Bellevue last week.

          Kreischer says they have the kinds of kids that give them trouble.  “They have got bigs inside.  Wide bodies, guys that will probably struggle with being that we're a little thin.  So, they'll throw it inside and they'll kick it back out.  They have guards that can play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Oscar Webb I think had seven or eight three is just in the game against Ashland, he's averaging about 20 a game.  They have a couple other good guards to that can play.  So, they will be a handful especially over there.”

Published 12/17/25

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Norwalk Showing Progress

          Coming a promising performance last time out, the Norwalk Truckers host Vermilion in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

          The Truckers (0-2) lost (64-52) to Ontario in non-league play last Saturday afternoon.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says they showed some good things.  “We're getting better and we're showing signs of improvement.  Again, as we've talked about we're really young with no variety experience.  To go in there against a team like that, who I think will have a couple of All-Ohioans at the end of the year and play them to a 10 point game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “We did some good things, especially we went 1-5 from the free throw line in that game and they went 19-21.  So, you kind of factor in those types of things.  We did turn the basketball over too much to win a game like that, but we're making strides and it's what we want to see from our guys right now.  A lot of guys working hard and just starting to understand what it takes to play at the varsity level.”

          Kreischer says they are trying to be more consistent in their play.  “Sometimes those are big steps and sometimes it's two steps backwards and take a few steps forward, especially with a young team you lose some concentration at times, but then you start to find it at other times.  We're just hoping that we can find it on a more consistent basis in order to build and compete this year,” he said.

          Vermilion (1-1) lost last time out to Norwalk St. Paul (63-52) last Tuesday.

          Kreischer says the Sailors have experience and talent.  “They've got some guys that can shoot the basketball, they can drive it as well, they have size, they return pretty much everybody from last year.  It will definitely be a big test for us.  They’re 1-1 right now.  I'd be really surprised if they didn't finish with 12 to 14 wins.  I think it's a really good team.  He played a lot of kids as sophomores and juniors last year and returns all of them this year.  So, Kurt (Habermehl) has a nice team over there and it'll be a challenge for us,” said Kreischer.

Published 12/09/25

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Baby Steps for Norwalk

          Norwalk returns to action on Saturday as they travel to Ontario to take on the Warriors in a non-conference game.

          They lost (64-25) to Oregon Clay in their opening game last week.

          The Truckers have a very inexperienced lineup and coach Adam Kreischer says they ran into a very good team.  “It was good just for our guys to get some varsity basketball experience.  It was a really good team.  I think we have a good league, so I don't want to say this for sure not going through any of our teams in our league yet, but I really wouldn't be surprised if that Clay team is the best team we face all year.  They had a couple of kids in from Emmanuel Christian, a kid from Toledo St. Francis last year and they already had good young kids before that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “You add those three kids to that mix and that is a really good Oregon Clay team.  You want to play against teams that are better than you to make yourself better.  Hopefully, our kids saw some of that and got some experience through that.”

          Kreischer says with this group they have this year they need to be very patient.  “We have got to be patient with our guys and understand that it's guys that are used to playing freshman or JV basketball.  With the no returning lettermen it is going to be baby steps.  We have to make those steps through practices and through each time we step on the floor.  We still want to compete try to win games.  We're trying to do some different things over the past week that we've had to prepare.  Just kind of changing up some stuff that we're doing and trying to put our guys in position where we can stay in basketball games,” said Kreischer.

          Ontario (1-0) beat Crestview (63-57) last week in their opener.

          Kreischer says this is another team that is just loaded with talent.  “I've watched that film a couple of times and they are good.  They have good young kids.  They've got three sophomores that played for them as freshmen and had a lot of success as freshmen and now they're sophomores and have gotten even better.  They've got other athletes and players around them as well.  So, they will be a handful for sure.  Talent wise they're probably going to be one of the better teams we see this year as well,” he said.

Published 12/04/25

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Norwalk to Give it a go

          Norwalk will entertain Oregon Clay in its first game of the season on Wednesday night.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says it’s time to find out what they have got.  “It's kind of one of those like ready or not here we go, especially when you have got a young group with not much experience, but we're at the point now where that doesn't matter anymore.  It's game night and it's Norwalk versus Clay and we're going to have to give it the best we got,” he said.

          Kreischer says with a lot of young kids on the roster there are bound to be jitters for the Truckers.  “It was nice we got the benefit game with St. Paul here this last Saturday and it was a chance for all of my guys to be on a varsity floor in front of a crowd for the first time and to get some of those jitters out of the way and get some of that that game slippage that happens.  You just hope that doesn't happen as much as it did for us this past Saturday, but it was nice to get that out of the way without it being actually game one,” said Kreischer.

          Kreischer says Clay has the kind of lineup that will test them and that’s what they want.  “They're really good.  I watched them this summer.  We were at the same place as them up at Cedar Point for a couple of things this summer.  I've watched a film on them.  There was one scrimmage that I was able to get.  They are big, they're strong, they're athletic, and they can shoot it.  They had some kids that have been playing for a number of years now.  They came to our place two years ago with a lot of these same kids and actually beat us and then we beat them at their place last year when they had a lot of that same crew.  They did not graduate much,” he told Swankonsports.com. “It is going to be a tough one for us.  A good strong team, but something that gives us something to measure up to.  Certainly, you want to be playing teams that are better than you trying to make your kids better.  Especially for us with the lack of experience just so we can kind of see you know what we need to get to.”

Published 11/26/25

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Norwalk About Improvement

          Norwalk is going to be a young basketball team this year, but one that is focused on improvement.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says he has liked very much what he has seen from his young team so far this season.  “We have got about 10 practices and so far.  I've been really happy with my kids just the overall effort.  The things that we're holding them accountable to that they have stepped up to the plate and held each other accountable to,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening,
“Everybody's early for practice, everybody has high energy.  It's been really, really good practices, which is what we need to have.  We're going to be so young we have to get better throughout about the season and we have to have great practices in order to do that and that's something that we have done so far.”

          Kreischer says this is basketball team that has a lot of growth it has to do and it has to be every day.  “We actually have BTY on the back of our practice jerseys, which stands exactly for that, better than yesterday.  That's what we're trying to do  every single day.  Like I said, practice is going to be huge for us.  We have no seniors and no returning letterman.  So, a lot of guys are getting some opportunities that to play some early varsity basketball that possibly they weren't even expecting,” he said.

          Kreischer says the kids he has this year are eager to learn.  “We're looking for them to step up to that challenge.  The thing with these guys is they are sponges.  It's going to be a young team, but the fact that they're working so hard, working together, staying positive with each other.  I think whether it be this year with all the improvement, or maybe it's just coming into next year.  We just have a bunch of guys that are really ready to play varsity basketball and make some noise,” said Kreischer.

Published 11/11/25

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Norwalk Must Compete up Front

          Norwalk has a tougher task on its hand Friday night as they host Ontario in non-conference play.

          They beat Toledo Start (17-14) in overtime last week.

          Coach Keith Morra says he is proud of the way they responded to adversity and finished the game.  “I thought that our kids did a nice job battling through the end of the game.  They haven’t had a lot of opportunities to this point of being able to battle through a close win.  I don't think anybody on our roster had been part of an overtime before.  So, just finding some new points of emphasis for our team and ways to battle through those areas.  Our kids did a nice job of closing out the game.  We had a kind of a turning point in the fourth quarter where things are starting to look like they were not going to go our way and our kids continued to fight and battle and they found a way to get it done,” said Morra.

          Morra says this week they worked on eliminating individuals mistakes.  “I thought the kids did a nice job.  Lots of build off of from last year.  You walk away for game one and get into the film and you start to see all the mistakes that took place.  There's ways to fix it.  We told our kids that the mistakes that we that we made were just one guy on a play doing something a little bit wrong.  So, that's a good feeling if you can get those things corrected that gives you a real chance moving into the following week,” he said.

          Ontario began its season with a (36-16) loss to Lexington last week.

          Morra says they have to compete in the trenches.  “They're a good program.  They have won a lot of games in recent years.  They've got good size up front.  They're going to outweigh us and be taller than us across the entire offensive and defensive lines,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “For our kids it’s really important that we come off the ball low, continue to drive our legs and create movement within the offensive and defensive lines and don't just stand up and get yourself blocked because it's going to be something were we’re outmatched a little bit in terms of the size.  I think our kids would come off the ball hard stunt and angle I think is going to give us a real good chance this Friday.”

Published 8/29/25

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Norwalk Rallies; Stays in First Place

          Norwalk outlasted Clyde (8-7) in 11 innings on Wednesday evening in a game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          Isaiah Wells drove Noah Helter with the winning run in the bottom of the 11^th inning.  Norwalk had trailed (5-0) going to the bottom of the second, but eventually tied it with four in the sixth.

          The Truckers (10-3,5-1) share first place with Perkins in the Lake.  They play Tiffin Columbian on Friday.

          Coach Jason Higgins says they had to make some tough decisions.  “We went through some pitching and they did two.  It's almost like the game, once we tied it up, started back over.  They had one of their big guys that came in, the (Colt) Flores kid, nice arm that they have, and we brought in (Wesley) Shupe.  It was kind of a weird deal because you're looking at the sky like how long is this going to last, especially with the daylight, a little cloudy, little overcast.  So, we just went out there every inning and said hey we need to shut them down until we get an opportunity to score and win this game,” said Higgins.

          Higgins says they have been working at keeping the players loose during these tight games.  “When you start pressing that's when you're going to make mistakes.  If you stay loose that's when your preparation and your practice really helps you out.  As far as the fact that we have the same approach.  We're trying to throw strikes, we're trying to get ahead of hitters.  It’s what we preach every day is what you need to fall back on those kind of tight and tough situations,” he said.

          Norwalk have won eight of its last nine games and Higgins says they have been working a lot of fundamentals.  “We had a great practice (Tuesday).  Everybody was loose.  We went through repetition.  I'm not sure, I say this as a coach, but I'm not sure that a lot of teams get as many reps as we do as far as you know fundamental reps.  We really push that and it's starting to show,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “I think the guys are buying in they're seeing the results from it.  Over the last three years that we've been doing on these guys are starting to get a little bit more comfortable with game situations because.  We constantly put them in situations that we hope they succeed.”

Published 5/01/25

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Norwalk Stays Right There

          Norwalk continues to share the lead in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference after a (6-2) win over Bellevue on Wednesday.

          They share first with Perkins, a (13-6) winner over Clyde Wednesday, with Bellevue just a game back.

          Coach Jason Higgins says the Lake Division is always tough.  “You look back at previous years in this “SBC” Lake and there's not a whole lot of run differential in a lot of these games.  Every once in a while there's one more team does something offensively or there's a breakdown by one team.  There's a lot 5-4 games, there's a lot of 6-2 games like (Wednesday), which could have gone either way.  Most of them are like that in that one to two run range when we have got number ones and twos going against each other.  It’s a very competitive league.  We fight every time we go out on the field in the “SBC” Lake,” said Higgins.

          Norwalk pitching only gave up four hits and Higgins says that was a key for them.  “Noah Helton, a freshman, got his fourth win (Wednesday) night, throwing strikes and being around the plate executing multiple pitches.  We preach to our guys that's going to make you successful.  He started, threw five, Carter Harp came in for the last two, shut the door, and threw the ball well as well,” he said,

          Higgins says with the pitch limits in place in Ohio make it very important to not waste pitches.  “We preach pitching to contact.  We have since I've been here.  We have got the best defense since I've been here as far as we trust our guys in the outfield, we trust our guys in the infield that we're going to make those plays.  It’s huge with the new pitch counts down.  I really emphasize we have got to throw strikes,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Every once in a while hopefully we can get that five, seven pitch inning and get right back in the dugout start swinging.  Those pitch count rules.  They really they help a guy that's around the plate a lot.  It was a tight zone (Wednesday) night and both pitchers really had to kind of focus in and say hey I have got to throw it across the plate or it’s not going to be a strike.  That’s a tough adjustment for a 15 even an 18 year old kid.”

Published 4/24/25

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Norwalk Scores in the Seventh; Beats Tiffin

          Norwalk scored in the top of the seventh and they edged Tiffin Columbian (3-2) on Wednesday evening in a game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          The Truckers (6-2,3-0) lead both Perkins and Bellevue by a game in the division standings.  Perkins beat Bellevue (8-3) on Wednesday.

          Norwalk coach Jason Higgins says they got some good pitching and defense on Wednesday.  “We have freshman Noah Helton, he's just a baseball kid, he goes out there and competes.  Our defense plays behind him with confidence.  He was around the plate, threw a lot of strikes.  That's what our program really pushes for.  Pitching to contact and our guys made plays.  It's a good situation we're in right now, especially with a freshman pitcher,” said Higgins.

          Norwalk has won its last five.

          They were down early in the game, but Higgins knew there would be opportunities to score.  “We were down 2-0 after the second inning.  With these guys you just got to keep them up.  You have got to keep them positive.  I knew the (Isaiah) Tilse kid from Colombian is a great pitcher, but we were having some good at bats.  I knew something and I told the boys I said somebody's going to get an opportunity at some big at bats and we definitely did,” he said.

          The Truckers tied it in the fifth.

          Then in the seventh,  Helton singled to open the inning, was advanced to second by Kaedyn Warner and scored the go ahead run on a hit by Isaiah Wells and a Columbian error.

          Higgins says they had a lot of guys contribute.  “Landon Ferkel looked really good at the plate.  Had some quality at bats.  Isaiah Wells had some big hits.  We had some great bunts by Kaedyn Warner that got laid down,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “They are competing right now.  Carter Harp is looking really good at the plate.  We've got guys in the lower half of the lineup that are putting quality at bats in and putting the ball in play and we're seeing a lot of really good things right now.”

Published 4/17/25

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Norwalk Must Contain Tyger Break

          Norwalk will be at Mansfield Senior to challenge the Tygers in a sectional final in division III on Thursday night.

          At (7-14), the Truckers have not had the season they hopped for, but coach Adam Kreischer says this truly is the second season.  “We've kind of played some close ones that didn't go our way this year and maybe don't have quite the record that we want you know with some ups and downs.  Ben Rothhaar played just played 10 games for us this year.  We have spent a lot of the second half of season figuring out what we were without him and really started to play a little better down the stretch.  We played pretty well against Clyde, against Tiffin over at their place in our most recent game.  I think that we're doing some things well both at the offensive and defensive end.  Some guys are playing with some confidence right now.  It is an opportunity regardless of what your record is if we find a way on Thursday to be cutting down nets for a sectional championship that's the only thing that our guys are going to remember about this season,” said Kreischer.

          Mansfield Senior (15-5), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach poll in the large school division, finished in second place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.

          Kreischer says this is a team that can really shoot it.  “I mean they are very good obviously.  The Kyevi Roane kid can really play.  Just has kind of that game that he plays within himself, under control, and kind of controls that whole team with the way that he plays at the offensive end and does something good things for the defensive end as well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “They have got a lot of athletes that can speed you up and they really shoot the basketball well.  The freshman, the (Kaylen) Brooks kid can really shoot it, but as you look at their lineup they have four or five guys shooting the three at 33% or better.  When you have got guys that can get the basket like they can and then shoot the basketball that way as well, they are going to be a handful for sure.”

          Fo them to have a chance, Kreischer says they must be very good at transition defense.  “You have to get back in transition, that's for sure.  So, that's the number one thing.  We've struggled at times with a few teams this year of not getting back defensively and then people get out in transition and start to get some easy ones, whether those are easy open threes, or those are easy layups at the rim.  That just can't happen.  So, when we make teams play in the half court against us, and have to run some offense, I like our chances.  If boxing out and rebounding and all that stuff that it takes to slow them down, but the number one thing is that we have to get back defensively to keep them out of transition and we have to take care of the basketball,” said Kreischer.

Published 2/19/25

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Norwalk Takes Bus to Tiffin

          Norwalk travels to Tiffin Columbian for a game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.

          They lost their last division game (49-41) to Bellevue last Friday.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says it was another game where they just couldn’t score enough.  “We were able to you know stay in it we just didn't put the ball in the basket enough at the end.  We still work at the defensive end and try to keep ourselves in games and just we need to find a way to win more of those league games here,” he said.

          Norwalk (7-13,1-8) plays at Tiffin Columbian (9-12,4-5) on Friday night.  The Tornadoes lost (75-57) to Lake Division champion Sandusky on Friday night.

          Kreischer says they have a really good player and Zach Shawberry and some pieces to go around him.  “The (Zach) Shawberry kid does a great job for them.  He's had a really nice season.  It will be senior night there and I'm sure they will be wanting to play hard and win one for their seniors,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “They've got a lot of young shooters that can you know really stretch your defense and spread you out at times, which then opens things up for Shawberry slashing around the basket.  So, we'll definitely have our hands full with them.”

          Next week, the Truckers will hit the road to play Mansfield Senior (14-6) in a division III tournament game.

          Kreischer says he tried to get a pass to a different district, but it didn’t work out.  “I guess my text I sent to you was I tried to take line nine in a different district.  Our district is one of the tops in the state.  You probably could argue the top in the state.  There are a lot of really good teams there, but we get a chance to see somebody that we scrimmaged early before the season, but we haven't seen in the regular season.  Just come up with a game plan against them and then see what happens,” said Kreischer.

Published 2/12/25

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Norwalk Looks for Battle with Bellevue

          Norwalk plays at Bellevue in a game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.

          The Truckers scored more points than they been but gave up too many in an (80-70) loss to Clyde in a division game on Friday.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says they really ran out of gas in the second half.  “We scored a lot better obviously.  We handled the pressure well.  We're able to attack that early.  We got off to a really nice start in the first quarter.  Led by four or five at halftime.  Third quarter they scored way too many points. I think we scored 18 points, but I think they might have had 29 points in the third quarter.  For the way we defend that's just giving up way too many points, but they were able to get out in transition and made some shots.  So, they got to the foul line.  I think that just our lack of depth got to us a little bit too and just got a little bit tired,” said Kreischer.

          Norwalk (7-11,1-7) hosts Bellevue (11-6,5-3) on Friday night.  The Redmen broke a three game losing streak with a (52-48) win over Tiffin Columbian on Saturday night.

          Kreischer says at full strength Bellevue is a very good team.  “I'm not sure how many of those losses, I know at least two of them, I'm not sure whether he played in the Crestview game or not, but I think Ike Brown, who I think is probably their best player all around, just a great athlete, good basketball player, they were without him for at least two of those losses, if not all three.  Very different team with him,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “I know he's back, so we'll get them at full strength.  We played a nice game with them last time as we watched the film back again this weekend.  We made some mistakes down the stretch in that game that kind of cost it for us.  It was a 36-34 game with them last time at our place.  I think our guys believe that we can play with them it's just a matter of executing on both ends of the floor.”

          Kreischer says both teams want to score more points, but it won’t be easy.  “I think that they like a little more up tempo and we would as well, but it just comes down to sometimes against them when both of us sit back and play good defense.  We scout each other well and know each other stuff and you can start to take away things that the other team does really well and have to score from second and third and even fourth options at times.  Those things don't work out as well for you sometimes on the offensive end and that's what kind of holds those point totals down,” he said.

Published 2/04/25

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Norwalk Looking for More Depth

          Norwalk entertains the Clyde Fliers in a game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Saturday night.

          The Truckers made some shots in the second half and they beat Oberlin Firelands (55-42) in a non-league game Tuesday night.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says they were able to get that lid off the basket.  “We scored well in the second half.  Firelands is an 11 win team, so they beat some guys this year.  For us to be able to come out with second half after not scoring well in the first half once again, but we're able to speed them up a little bit.  Played a few more guys and guys just really got us out in transition.  Still didn't shoot it really well from the three or anything.  Still looking for us to add that to our offensive repertoire.  If we're able to do that I think we can really explode here offensively at the end of the year,” said Kreischer.

          Kreischer says they need to be able to play more kids.  “We're continuing to make the same demands on kids at the defensive end and rebound the basketball.  I think that sometimes we do that for stretches and then we get a little bit tired for lack of depth.  We've just got to start trust in some more of our guys like we did (Tuesday) night and make us a little deeper and some of our starters a little bit fresher.  Hopefully, that's able to get us, like I said, out in transition and get some easier baskets at times.  We're looking to have our offense catch up with our defense here the end of the season,” he said.

          Norwalk (7-10,1-6) is at Clyde (9-8,2-5) on Saturday.  The Fliers beat Bellevue (61-43) in a division game last Saturday and then beat Huron (60-57) on Tuesday.

          Norwalk won the first game between the two (60-59) on December 20.

          Kreischer says they are looking for some easier looks.  “They're playing well right now.  They beat, what I think is a really good Bellevue team, Ed Rich is doing nice shot with that team this year and they got them by about 20 last week at their place.  So, Clyde is playing really well right now.  They have a lot of guys that can score it.  They want to be up tempo,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “That's kind of the way that we played against them a little bit last time.  We don't necessarily want that game up in the 70s and 80s, but sometimes the pressure on us allows us to score a little better.  So, we attack pressure pretty well at times and really attack the basket and some of that is easier for us to put in the basket and get some points on the board rather than going against a packed in man to man defense pack line defense.  So, some of that could work in our favor if we handle the pressure well.”

Published 1/30/25

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Norwalk Must be More Consistent

          Norwalk plays at Vermilion in an “SBC” crossover on Thursday and will host Lake Division leading Sandusky on Saturday.

          They lost a pair of games last week when Perkins smoked them (73-34) in a division game on Friday and Huron topped them (54-46) in a crossover on Saturday.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says they were kind of outmanned against Perkins, but played better versus Huron.  “Obviously, the Perkins game was going to be a difficult one for us.  The first time we played them we had Rothhaar we had Jordan Parriott and we didn't have either one of them on Friday night.  Jordan due to sickness and we've moved on without Ben at this point being that he's at Rutgers.  We were a little outmanned.  They're a very deep team and can come at you in waves and kind of got out of hand there on Friday for us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “Versus Huron, we went over there and played well at times.  They had a kid knock down I think maybe six threes, a couple of deep ones.  Knocking down shots like that sometimes wins basketball games and for them in the second half it did just that.  We had Garrett Demuth start shooting the ball well.  He has in the past couple of games has really scored it for us over at Huron. Mason Gamble had a really nice game over at Huron.”

          Kreischer says they must become more consistent on offense.  “We talked a lot this week about you know putting it all together now because we just need to find some consistency with our with our offense.  Jordan Parriott will have a great game and then not a very good game.  Same with Brock Kuhl, same with Mason Gamble, same with Garrett Demuth.  We need those four in particular to score more consistently in the eight to 10 to12 point range for us to be successful offensively,” he said.

          Norwalk (5-9) plays at Vermilion (4-7) on Thursday.  The Sailors beat Willard (42-37) in a Bay Division game last Friday.

          Kreischer says they have some guys that can score.  “They're similar to us.  They can really shoot the three though.  We might have a little bit of advantage as far as maybe athleticism, maybe rebounding the basketball, but they can really shoot the ball.  We're going to have to get out on the shooters.  They have got a couple of kids they can really play.  #4’s name is slipping my mind right now, but he is a really nice player.  #30 Mason Cooper can really shoot the ball and score it.  So, especially those two we’ll have to do a nice job on Thursday,” said Kriescher.

Published 1/22/25

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Norwalk Has to Get Back

          Norwalk will entertain the Perkins Pirates in a Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division game on Friday night.

          The Tuckers won their last time out when they beat Mansfield Madison (58-45) in a non-league game on Tuesday.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says their offensive execution was improved.  “We played pretty well offensively.  We just looked a lot better.  Starting to learn how to play without Rothhaar.  It just changed how we play and spacing things a little differently for us.  We got out in transition and really moved the basketball well.  Like I said offensively, we kind of got things cooking a little bit there at times on Tuesday that we haven't necessarily done lately or even a whole lot this year really at the offensive end.  We continue to get better defensively and find a way to guard and play really hard.  If we can get our offense continuing to improve as it did on Tuesday we'll be a better team here towards the end of the year,” said Kreischer.

          Ben Rothhaar is now attending classes at Rutgers and preparing for next fall’s college football season.

          Kreischer says they have made the needed adjustments.  “I think all of us knew what was coming from players to coaches and everything.  Yeah it changes things and there's a little bit of an adjustment period, but I do think that we have made the adjustment.  I think that our guys have moved on.  Our practices have been really good, especially like the last five or so.  Just really a real concentration at the defensive end.  Really focusing on details at both ends and then just trying to put some different things in offensively that we think can help us towards the end of the year,” he said.

          Norwalk (5-7,1-4) hosts Perkins (8-4,2-2) on Friday.  They just played last week and Perkins smoked the Truckers (74-46).

          Kreischer says Friday night they have to get back on defense.  “I'm not going to say that it's going to be the end all be all and what's going to change the outcome of the game, but if we're just talking about the last game against them something we need to do definitely this game is we need to get back in transition defensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “We didn't turn it over a ton against them, but man we did not get back on the defensive end.  We did not stop dribble penetration really from anybody that night.  For whatever reason, that just was not a good game for us.  Probably about the worst we've looked all year, especially the defensive end of the floor works.  So, what do we need to do differently? We need to get back in transition and make them beat us in the halfcourt.”

Published 1/16/25

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Norwalk With Shooting Woes

          Norwalk is at Sandusky Perkins on Tuesday night for a matchup in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          Last weekend, the Truckers lost a tough one (36-34) to Bellevue in a division game on Friday and beat Port Clinton (50-42) in a cross over game on Saturday.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says they didn’t shoot the ball well all weekend.  “We defended well on both games.  We really struggled to shoot the basketball in both games as well, so for whatever reason we just have not been able to knock down shots lately.  I'm not sure what our percentage was against Port Clinton, but I know we didn't make very many from the outside.  I think we were about 4-22 from the three versus Bellevue.  We just could not put them in the basket, especially late in that game versus Bellevue.  We scored four points in the fourth quarter and end up losing by two.  We really defended well.  Anytime you can hold a team as good as Bellevue, that shoots as well as they do, to 36 points, the kids are playing hard, they're doing something right.  So, I can't fault them for any kind of effort, but we're really struggling to put the ball in the basketball hoop right now,” said Kreischer.

          Norwalk (4-5,1-2) is at Perkins (6-2,1-1), they share second in the division, with Bellevue.

          Kreischer says they can do a lot of things.  “I think they are good.  They have two losses now.  They lost to Fremont the other night.  Joey Diederich is an outstanding player.  He really runs the show for them.  A great guard to have that creates for himself as well as others.  Then they are just real deep around him.  They have got multiple shooters.  They got the (Tim) Boals kid inside and they bring a lot of kids in off the bench and all the that provide a lot of energy for them and just kind of play a different style at times between the two groups that they have too,” he said.

          This will be Ben Rothhaar’s last game in a Norwalk uniform.  He graduates this week and moves on to Rutgers, where he will play college football this fall.  Kreischer says he will be missed in countless ways.  “He's meant a lot to us, a lot to our program, a lot to Norwalk, just the entire school system, a leader in the building, a kid that does things the right way, leads by example.  He’s has meant a lot of our sports programs as well at Norwalk over the years.  Being a four sport letter winner, even as a freshman, so he won't get to play in baseball and track this year with the early graduation otherwise he would have been a 16 time letter winner for us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “He's meant a lot to Norwalk, means a lot to us as a basketball team.  We wish him good luck as he goes on to Rutgers to play tight end for them and wish him to have a great career there.  We'll have our hands full trying to replace him, but I know our guys will come together and find a way to continue to work hard and win basketball games.  He will be officially a graduate at the end of the day Friday.  So, we had this senior night this past Saturday versus Port Clinton and his last game will be at Perkins (Tuesday) night.  So, look for him to end with a with a great game and I know that our guys will try to send them out with the win as well.”

Published 1/07/25

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Norwalk With Big one on Friday

          Norwalk hosts Bellevue on Friday night in an important game for both in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          Both are a game behind first place Sandusky and have already lost once to the Streaks.

          The Truckers have not played since December 23 and coach Adam Kreischer says that’s a good thing.  “It was pretty good I think.  The rest was good for us, especially for Mason Gamble.  He had a pretty severe ankle sprain at Clyde.  We tried to play him against Keystone.  It wasn't a really smart move on my part to play him in that game probably.  Then we sat him against Shelby.  We lost both of those games, which is not good.  This break has been good.  We had three games in four days there and then a long time off.  He was able to get 12 days of rest, and we took some days off as a team as well over the holidays.  He practiced full go for the first time (Thursday) in 12 days, so that rest was definitely good on his ankle,” he said.

          Norwalk (3-4,1-1) is at home for Bellevue (6-2,2-1) on Friday night.  The Redmen are coming off a (63-45) win over Eastwood in non-league play on Friday.

          Kreischer says Bellevue is loaded with shooters.  “They're obviously well coached.  They'll know everything and we're going to run as we will with them.  They do a nice job of breaking down film and scouting and preparing their kids.  Ed (Rich) does nice job of that.  So, I know they'll be prepared coming in on Friday, but we will as well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “They shoot the basketball really well this year is the big thing.  They still play solid defense, they are in good help side, they box out and they rebound.  Unlike some past Bellevue teams, it's not like they've never had any shooters, but just as a whole, as a team, they really shoot the basketball well this year.  So, we're going to have to do a job running off the three-point line.”

          Kreischer says they need to have a win on Friday night.  “We kind of talked about (Thursday) how if we win this game on Friday we're 2-1 in the league and all of our goals are still right in front of us, but if you drop to 1-2 that that's a little bit of a different story you know and really behind the eight ball when it comes to trying to compete for a league championship.  We're 3-4 right now.  We would like to have a couple more wins, but we've had some close ones and some injuries and some different things that have that have happened for us.  We don't want to just say hey we've been close and we could or should have a better record.  We are what we are right now, but a win on Friday goes a long way for us,” said Kreischer.

Published 1/03/25

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Shorthanded Norwalk to Play Shelby

          Norwalk is at home for Shelby in a non-conference basketball game on Monday night.

          It will be the Truckers (3-3) third game in four days as they beat Clyde (60-59) in a Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division game on Friday night and lost (62-51) to Keystone on Saturday.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says on Saturday they did not really execute very well.  “It's better to get the Clyde game, the league game, of course, if we just get one of them.  We did not play very well over at Keystone, our guys would tell you that.  We didn't really execute the game plan.  That's one of those things when you're playing how many games back-to-back and don't have much time to prepare.  A lot of the stuff that we have in the scouting report and they were able to take advantage of us in those exact areas.  A lot of times again because your kids just haven’t a lot of time to focus on the game plan and what they need to do.  We need to do a better job of that against Shelby come (Monday),” said Kreischer.

          Shelby (3-2) played five games over a ten day period after a late state due to a long football season.

          They were clocked (94-64) by River Valley in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Friday.

          Kreischer says the Whippets have a lot of tools.  “I watched that film obviously and River Valley is really good, shot it well and just played really well.  It looks like they have a really nice team.  So, as we watch that we have keep that in mind about how good I think River Valley is,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday night, “I think Shelby has a nice team too.  They're just looking searching a little bit of a way to come together as our lot teams just like us right now.  With the (Carter) Kessler kid and the (Landon) Foltz kid coming over to them to pair them with DeVito and Holman.  They've got a real nice squad and they go deeper than that as well.  So, we'll definitely have our hands full.”

          Kreischer says likely they will play Shelby without the services of one of their best players in Mason Gamble.  “We likely will be without Mason Gamble (Monday), who's one of our top players.  He sprained his ankle in the first play of the game over at Clyde on Friday night.  Sat the first quarter, came back in the second and played through a severely sprained ankle.  We tried to play him (Saturday) night through it and it was just too swollen and too weak to take any contact.  Coming out of that we've got to get him some rest, so it's very unlikely he'll be with us on Monday.  So, we'll definitely have our hands full and have some kids that need to step up,” he said.

Published 12/23/24

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Norwalk Needs to Play Smart Basketball

          Norwalk is at Clyde for a game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.

          They also play at Keystone on Saturday and host Shelby on Monday in non-conference games.

          They were blitzed (73-50) by Sandusky in a division game last Saturday night.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says they faced with the Sandusky team that had all of their weapons for the first time.  “Last week, Sandusky hasn't really been at full strength much this year and they got back to full strength against us.  They've been without the Bonner kid and without the Arrington kid for quite a few of their games this year.  They were both back against us and that kind of changes things for them with their ability to speed people up and trap and get you playing at different speed you're not necessarily comfortable with.  We just turned the ball over too many times last Saturday against that pressure.  I think we got better this week at practice.  We worked on the fundamentals and just kind of got back to those.  Like I said, just doing the little things all the time and getting back to being fundamentally sound.  We got back to a lot of that and demanded those things with the kids this week and hopefully got better and are more ready to handle that,” said Kreischer.

          Norwalk (2-2,0-1) plays at Clyde (1-2,0-1) on Friday night.  The Fliers lost (76-69) to Bellevue in a division game last week.

          Kreischer says Clyde is going to really want to push the pace.  “The thing is they've got a bunch of guys that can shoot the basketball.  They have a couple have been playing for quite some time now with the Wilson kid and the Olson kid and they can really fill it up.  If you let them get going on a hot streak they can score in bunches,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “They will shoot it in a hurry.  They'll seem like they're out of the game and all of a sudden they're back into it, but then by the same token you might feel like you're out of it, but they'll shoot you back into it.  So, they definitely want to get up and down and put points on the board.”

          Kreischer says it not like they can’t run the floor, but they have to be smart about it.  “We are going to have to pick our spots.  If we're pressured, we need to attack that pressure and then score layups at the rim and get open shots on swing passes and that sort of thing, but at times we're also going to need to control the tempo a little bit.  I think if the game is played in the 50s and 60s it favors us.  I'm not saying that we can't win a game that’s higher scoring in the range of the 80s.  We're going to have to be finishing at the rim and knocking down shots.  I just think it's about picking your spots of when it's time run and when it's time to slow down the tempo a little bit,” he said.

Published 12/20/24

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Norwalk Playing Well; Meets Sandusky

          Norwalk is up at Sandusky in what might be a key game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Saturday night.

          Last weekend, they won one and lost one.  Ashland beat them (50-47) on Friday night and then they handled Ontario (66-57) on Saturday night in non conference games.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says the veteran leadership they got pushed them over the top on Saturday.  “It was a split for us last weekend losing to Ashland in a in a close one as we always seem to play with Ashland this time just didn't come out on the right end of that.  We just didn't make enough shots in that game.  We defended well enough to win it.  Ontario, it was a battle and we just started to pull away from them and they kept crawling back into it hitting a couple of deep threes.  They've got some young kids that can really play that kept belief in that game, but we had the veterans to close it out in the end,” he said.

          Norwalk (2-1,0-0) is at Sandusky, the defending champion, (1-2,1-0) on Saturday night.  The Blue Streaks edged Bellevue (53-48) on Tuesday night in division play.

          Kreischer says right new Sandusky is trying to figure things out.  “You know what they're searching a little bit right now I think with without the (Azoryion) Bonner kid.  They kind of searching for what their rotations are going to be and things like that.  I've seen different starting lineups in the three games that they played.  Bonner just really does a lot for them.  He's somebody that can guard all five positions.  I think that helps them to really speed up their opponents. Without his length, his rebounding and his ability to guard all five positions and trap and things like that.  Like I said I think that they are still really good and have some great players, but I think that they're just searching a little bit for that five, six, seven, eighth man at this point,” said Kreischer.

          The tempo is the game is huge against Sandusky.  Kreischer says right now they have a lot of guys playing very well.  “It about changing up the pace of game and it's about playing fast when it's time to play fast and slowing things down when it's time to slow things down.  I think that we have a pretty good game plan going into things.  I think that my kids believe that they can win.  We've got some veteran guys that if we play the way we're capable you know I really like our chances of competing over there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We have got some guys playing pretty well pretty well right now.  Ben Rothhaar has kind of been what Ben has been for us over the last couple of years.  Mason Gamble is just stuffing the stat sheet across the board in all areas and doing everything for us.  Brock Kuhl for us right now is averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds.  We're just getting a lot out of him right now.  I've got a couple of wings for us that are defending and working hard and just haven’t them scored it really well to this point this year.  I look for both of them to step up and when both of them get going from the wing spots I think we can be a really good team.”

Published 12/13/24

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Perimeter Defense Key for Norwalk

          Norwalk will be at home for a pair of non-conference games this weekend as they host Ashland on Friday and Ontario on Saturday.

          They won their opener (55-45) over Oregon Cay, but coach Adam Kreischer says they still have a lot of getting better to do.  “We found plenty of mistakes trust me as we broke down film.  We have watched it and went through with the guys and they see that there are definitely areas for improvement.  It is great the day after Thanksgiving taking that 120 minute bus trip to a team that's going to win quite a few games this year and still come out with a win on the road.  I think it shows a little bit of how much we've matured as a team since last year having just one senior last year and multiple seniors this year hopefully some of the maturity shows,” he said.

          Kreischer says Ashland, out of the Ohio Cardinal Conference, has some solid players and they are going to want to run the floor.  “They're going to look to get up and down.  They're going to try to get a lot of their stuff out of transition.   They have got quite a few guys that can really shoot the basketball.  So, we're going to get back to defensively.   We have to really guard the three-point line, but they've got some bigs inside too that can really the job, especially keeping people off the offensive boards because sometimes while you can defend the three-point line well an offensive rebound quickly turns into to a made three as we've seen you know numerous times over the years,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “That's just kind of what we know about them.  They have got a really good junior class with the (Gabe) Baith kid and the (Nathan) Bernhard kid, who have been playing for a while.  The other player is skipping my mind right now, but a shooting guard for them that really made great strides last year.  He didn't play really well against us in the opening game last year, but as the season went on really became a player.  I feel he's their best player right now.”

          Ontario does not have a lot of experience, but Kreischer says they have a number of guys with shooting range.  “I have actually a couple scrimmage films on Ontario and I've seen them a little bit here and they're doing some nice things.  They can really shoot the basketball.  They've got some returning guys.  They don't have a ton of size, but they're going to get out in transition.  They have four guys that can make the three.  They've got a four man that can make it from 27, 28 feet away from the basket so and their guards can do that as well.  So, defending the three point line on both Friday and Saturday is going to be a big key for us.  Making sure we get back in transition.  If we can set our defense and we defend the three point line well I do like our chances,” said Kreischer.

Published 12/05/24

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Norwalk Doing a Lot of Good Things

          Norwalk is a basketball team that can be successful this season if they continue to come together.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says they have looked good, very good at times, during the preseason.  “I think it's like anybody early in the season where a little bit up, a little bit down.  We look sometimes we look really good in scrimmages and I feel like we’ll win a whole bunch of games and then there's other times that we look like we can't beat anybody.  That is kind of what happens as we try to figure out who gels together and what combinations of kids can play together and all that kind of stuff.  For the most part I've been pleased.  Our practices have been really good.  We're starting to show some leadership really starting to have energy in practice and overall our scrimmages have been a success,” said Kreischer.

          Kreischer would like his kids to be a little more aggressive and look for a good shot when they have the ball.  “They are trying to make the extra pass at times and trying to get a great shot when sometimes I'm just happy with a good shot.  I think it's good that kids have that thought in their mind that they don't want to be selfish and that they don't want to take bad shots because certainly I'm with them on that we aren’t going to take bad shots.  Sometimes I feel like we pass up some pretty good ones to get an opportunity to get a great one, which in that possession could end up in a turnover.  So, sometimes you have got to take a good shot when it presents itself and we got a bunch of big, strong athletes that can go offensive rebound,” he said.

          When it comes to defense, Kreischer says they certainly have the skills to be solid defenders.  “I think you know athletically and strength wise, positioning wise, we can be pretty good.  We’ve got kids have been coached by us for a few years now and understand the expectations.  The few that we're kind of bringing along that haven't played at the varsity level yet hopefully they can catch on to that as well.  It's just a matter of effort a lot of times,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Giving that one extra reach step to cut somebody off instead of opening your hips and allowing that drive.  No straight line drives approaching the three-point line and not giving up open looks.  Those are the things that we pride ourselves on year in and year out.  We're getting there and I think by time season rolls around we can be a pretty good team defensively.”

Published 11/21/24

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Norwalk Must Play With Confidence

          Norwalk hosts Bellevue in a rivalry that has roots in the early part of the 20^th century on Friday night in a crossover game in the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          The Truckers (2-1) edged Toledo Rogers (7-6) in a non-conference game last week.

          Coach Keith Morra is happy with the progression they have made.  “We're pleased with where we're at right now, I mean we're a young team in some pivotal areas and continuing to grow and try to get better in those areas each and every week.  We started off the season really nicely.  Offensively, it kind of took a little time to get going but then we were able to against Toledo Start in the second half really kind of get going offensively.  Defensively, we've been playing pretty good this this entire time here.  Got the job done against Toledo Start and then went to Eastlake North, a team that we've got beat by last year 35-0 and got beat by them 17-12 this year, but again defensively played a really nice game.  Only gave up two touchdowns and those were both in short yardage situations coming off an interception and coming off a bad snap on a punt.  Defensively, we're really pleased with where we’re at right now.  We have a young offensive line, everyone's returning next year, but it's young.  So, we are trying to get that part going and developed a little bit better.  I believe we're getting there.  We're not done yet, we're still peeking and we're not quite there yet.  We're excited to get into week 4,” said Morra.

          The history of this rivalry is decidedly on Bellevue’s side.  Morra says they have to forget about that.  “We remind our kids who they want or lost to in the games leading up to us don't matter at all.  I think there might have been a similar situation last year and we still got beat by them pretty good.  For us, it's a matter of not letting the team with the silver helmet and red feather beat you before they walk on the field just because historically we've not done real well against Bellevue.  It's a matter of keeping our kids confidence high because I think we match up with them offensively and defensively.  I think our skill position players can match up with theirs.  They are also young on the offensive and defensive lines as are we.  So, again I think it's a good matchup for us because it's a big thing for us just to not let our kids revert back to history and go ahead and push that aside for this week and play the team that's across from you and then play to your best ability,” he said.

          Morra thinks a quick start is going to be important for the Truckers.  “We saw that happen to us last week and in the torrential downpour game that we played in.  Opened up the game defensively and forced to three and out right off the bat.  Forced them to punt and take the ball.  Two plays later we have a 20 yard gain turns into a fumble and turn the ball back over to them and have to bring our defense back out on the field again.  We hope that we learn from our mistakes, learn from these things that we've been through throughout this year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday morning, “Talking about week two being in a position to make a come back late in the game and we fall short by five points.  The following week being in the similar situation where we're down and touchdown in the fourth quarter and have to find a way to take the lead and are able to do it that time.  Those types of experiences for your team, especially when you're young, those are what you need.  I mean that's how you become battle tested and staying in close games.  We expect it to be that way with Bellevue where it's probably going to go back and forth and having done that now for two weeks, our kids should be a little more accustomed to doing it and not lose that confidence.”

Published 9/13/24

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Norwalk to Face Athletic Southview

          Norwalk travels to Sylvania Southview for their tournament opener in division I on Friday night.

          It’s the Truckers first, and only year in the division I.  Coach Adam Kreischer believes the tough Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference has prepared them.  “We've been on the road and some tough environments and performed pretty well.  The Lake is just such a tough league it does prepare you for tournaments.  Southview plays a pretty tough league also and they have come out with 17-5 with their overall record.  So, obviously it's going to be a tough one.  We'll have our hands full, but I think that the league we play in certainly prepares us for a game like this and I know my kids will compete,” he said.

          Southview (17-5) was the winner of the Cardinal Division of the Buckeye Lakes League.

          Kreischer says they have a talented starting five and a good bench too.  “They have got some guards that can play.  Micah Bays is a real good guard, 1,000 point scorer.  I'm not sure where he might be going to college, he is a senior, but he certainly by all accounts everything I've seen on film, and in person, he looks like a D1 college basketball player.  They have a nice sophomore inside about 6-6 the (Jaron) Witcher kid.  Just a wide body that understands how to post up and how to play with his back to the basket, is able to go both ways,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “Those two will be a real handful for us.  Just overall they've got other kids that can knock down shots and penetrate and they run some good stuff at the offensive end as well.  We'll definitely need to switch defenses to keep them off balance.  They are certainly a handful.  They've got a six man that came in the second quarter of the game we were at versus Fremont and went 4-4 from the three and I'm not sure he hit the rim on anyone of them.  Then got a breakaway dunk on somebody also in the second quarter for about 14 points in quarter and that's out of their sixth man.  So, they're really talented, but again my kids play hard we'll find a way defensively I think to stay in the game.”

          Kreischer believes they are going to come out and play well because they don’t want this to be their last game.  “I don’t how much better they are than us, or if they are better than us or not, but when it comes to tournament time it's about that one game.  They've got quite a few seniors.  They'll be playing for it to not be their last high school basketball game.  I know that I've got the one senior in Dalton Chapin we plan similarly.  I've got a lot of guys that that really like Dalton Chapin and really want to see him get at least a sectional championship out of his senior year and that's what we’re fighting for on Friday night.  I know that they want to keep playing for him,” he said.

Published 2/29/24

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Norwalk Will Have to Rebound

          Norwalk will be at home on Friday night for the “SBC” Lake Division champion Sandusky Blue Streaks in a division game.

          Last week, the Truckers lost (56-47) to Sandusky Perkins in a division game on Friday night and then beat Monroeville (54-32) in a non-league game on Saturday night.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says overall their play wasn’t too bad.  “Of the two games we would rather have the league game.  We played okay in that game versus Perkins. They really knocked out some shots there in the third quarter that was able to get them to the little spread they needed to get away from us there.  Coming back with Monroeville, we shot it really, well we played hard, we played with passion for the game and that's what we ask of our kids and we got back to that on Saturday,” said Kreischer.

          Norwalk (12-9,3-6) plays host to Sandusky (20-1,9-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday night.  The Streaks had their way with Ashland in a non-league game on Tuesday night, winning (78-59) at home.

          Kreischer says they are scarry all over the floor.  “Just their overall athleticism.  It doesn't matter, they're bigs, they're guards, all of them can sit down and defend one-on-one and then dribble penetration.  They've got guys that can play both inside and out and get to the basket and get their own off the bounce or knock down threes from the outside.  So, they're just a handful across the board with what they can do defensively, speeding you up, but also what they can do offensively scoring the ball,” he said.

          Sandusky won the first meeting (74-66) on January 23.

          Kreischer says they must rebound first and foremost and they have to handle the ball.  “We have to win the battle the boards against them to have any chance, but beyond that we have to take care of the basketball.  We know that that doesn't mean that we're going to have single digit turnovers, but we just can't have those spurts of four straight turnovers that are live ball that turn into layups at the other end,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Us taking care of the basketball and making sure we get shot opportunities ourselves.  Then doing a job both on the offensive and defensive boards will tell the tale of whether we're in that game on Friday night or not.”

Published 2/21/24

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Norwalk Must Handle the Ball

          Norwalk will be at home for streaking Sandusky Perkins in a game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.

          They lost (56-54) to Tiffin Columbian in division game last Friday.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says they just dug too big of a hole to get out of Friday.  “It’s a tough league and a lot of games do come down to the wire.  A lot of teams that can just beat up on each other in the league.  We did not play well in that first half.  We turned the ball over too much again first half really hurt us.  When we really started turn it on and finally showed up to play in the second half it was just a little too late,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “You look back at that game and we lose by two points and we honestly probably played bad enough to lose that game by 20.  The fact that we kept fighting and battling says a lot about our kids, but it would be nice if we just showed up to play in the first three quarters of the game.”

          Norwalk (11-8,3-5) hosts Sandusky Perkins (12-7,4-4) on Friday night.  The Pirates clobbered Huron (72-43) in a non-conference game, or “SBC” crossover on Tuesday night.  The Pirates beat Bellevue (41-40) in a division game last Friday.

          Kreischer says the Pirates are playing excellent basketball and they need to play great defense.  “They're playing good basketball right now they've won nine of their last 11, so they're playing well and playing with confidence.  It’s a team we beat up at their place last time, but we played really well in that game, one of our better games of the year.  We’ll have to have that same defensive focus that we had in that first game and execute defensive game plan to a “T” again like we did in the first one and then take care of the basketball,” said Kreischer.

          Kreischer believes that ballhandling is going to be key for the Truckers for the rest of the season.  “That’s going to be a theme for us here to end out the year.  I mean obviously we go over to Monroeville on Saturday, but other than that Monroeville game you know we're finishing with Perkins and Sandusky and our first tournament game is at Southview where we're playing against some good athletic teams where our guys are going to have to step up and take care of the basketball,” he said.

Published 2/14/2024

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Norwalk Must Limit Turnovers

          Norwalk travels to Tiffin Columbian on Friday night for a game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          They lost last Friday, (52-45) to Clyde in a division game.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says they just couldn’t make shots.  “Like I said last week, both those teams are very capable teams.  Clyde got us over at their place, their kids are really competing hard and shooting the basketball well.  The (Cedric) Messer kid hit a really big shot in the corner with about 55 seconds left that I don’t want to say sealed the game necessarily, but gave them that little gap that they needed, it was big shot by him.  We shot really poorly that night.  I think we're at 31% from the floor, maybe 3-18 from the three-point line.  So, I was not disappointed in how the game went, the flow of the game, and how my guys executed the defensive game plan and things like that, played hard, respect to our opponent, all those things that I want them to do, the ball just did not go in last Friday night.” said Kreischer.

          Norwalk (11-7,3-4) is at Tiffin Columbian (8-9,3-4) on Friday night. The Tornadoes have lost their last six going into a game with Anthony Wayne on Tuesday night.

          Kreischer says Tiffin has been playing a lot of really good teams, including division leader Sandusky twice in recent weeks.  “They're in a really tough part of their schedule.  You look ahead at that thing and even when they started the year so good, I clicked on their schedule and saw what they had during this stretch of the season, my jaw kind of dropped at the teams they were facing and what they had to deal with.,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “I think they have Anthony Wayne even (Tuesday) who again is just around that .500 area, but we scrimmaged Anthony Wayne and I thought they were really good.  So, they’re just in a tough part of their schedule right now, but they're still playing hard, they're still in a lot of games and it's going to definitely be a challenge for us, especially seeing as they beat us at our place like in game one.”

          In their first meeting, Columbian beat the Truckers (55-42) on December 22.

          Kreischer says they have to clean up their ball handling this time.  “We have to handle the basketball better.  We had a stretch where we were ahead, I believe 27-12 and in the last 33 seconds of the second quarter they had had a player go on a personal 9-0 run.  He hit a three in the corner, got a steal and got a three-point play at the rim, then they got a steal and he has three quarter court shot to end the half and then all of a sudden it's 27-24 going into the half.  We've lost all momentum and never really got it back in the second half.  So, us taking care of the basketball will be a big thing on Friday night,” he said.

Published 2/06/2024

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Norwalk Expects Challenges

          Norwalk travels to Clyde for a game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night and they host Mansfield Madison in a non-league game on Saturday.

          They won for the sixth time in eight games on Tuesday night when they went to Oberlin Firelands and won (51-43) in non-conference play.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says it was a good overall performance.  “We defended pretty well, especially the second half and we made some plays and executed things that we wanted to do down the stretch really well, which allowed us to pull away towards the end.  They're a good team with ten wins and playing on the road on a Tuesday night, I was proud of the way that my guys came out focused and with some energy,” he said.

          Norwalk (10-6,3-3) is at Clyde (3-13,0-6) on Friday night.  The Fliers lost (74-69) in overtime to Perkins in a division game last Saturday.  They hammered Edison (93-40) on Tuesday night in a non-league game.

          Kreischer says they have been playing really well.  “We were at the Perkins game, watched that game last weekend and they're just a much improved team.  They have a lot of kids playing with confidence right now.  A couple of kids that have gotten a lot better since the last time we played them. Their guards in general, obviously the Olson kid, is so aggressive.  He is handful at all times to try to shut him down,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “They play hard, they do a lot of different things defensively.  We know it's going to be a battle.  Our kids know, we've talked about it probably for over a week now.  Our guys know that's not a three win team.  We feel like that you know we're playing a seven or eight win team we go over there on Friday.”

          Kreischer says Madison (1-15) is a similar team, one that cannot be overlooked.  “It's the same type of thing.  I mean that league again like our league is so tough.  There's some really, really good teams in that league.  So, you can end up with a not great record and still be a pretty solid team.  We aren't going into this weekend thinking that we've got any kind of cake walk in either game.  We're going to show up to play and hopefully come out and winning side of a couple more games here,” he said.

Published 2/01/2024

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Norwalk Can Do it

          Norwalk will play at home against Vermilion on Thursday night in a non-conference game.

          They lost (74-66) to Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division leader Sandusky on Tuesday night.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says a slow start did them in.  “We played okay in parts.  I would say it was almost a pretty even game after the first quarter.  We pride ourselves on the defense end and taking care of the basketball.  It's two things that we didn't do in the first quarter and gave up 26 points in quarter one.  Even though we scored 16, we were not able to battle back from that 10 point deficit there.  Cut it to seven a couple of times.  I can't fault my kids for their effort, but I think that we need to take care of the ball little bit better and probably pay attention to detail a little more and be able to switch in and out of defenses a little better against them the next time we see them,” said Kreischer.

          Norwalk (8-6) plays host to Vermilion (4-9) on Thursday night.  The Sailors lost (69-46) to Brookside on Tuesday night and have lost their last six.

          Kreischer says they have some big kids that could be a problem.  “They've got some length, they've got some size and some athleticism.  A couple of their bigger kids, you know 6’3”, 6’4” kids that really step out on the perimeter and shoot it well.  We're going to have to do a nice job of staying attached and connected to them and not give up open looks to the two of them.  I think if we come out with the same intensity that we have in our past few games I like our chances,” he said.

          Norwalk is one of those teams that seems like they are whisker from having a much better record.  Kreischer says they have to have more consistency.  “That's we're trying to get through to our kids right now.  It's one thing to be on the road and be up and ready to play at a Perkins and at a Bellevue and at a Sandusky and be at home against a Willard, who's a top ten in the state and play a really good game and really have a chance to win that one here recently.  Our kids really get up for those games and really compete and get after it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “Then we have some others where it's like we go down Ontario and lose in overtime.  I think that we have gotten through to our kids that if we don't play with the energy and passion we can lose to anybody, but also by the way we've been playing lately I think that we've seen that if we do play with energy and passion and attention to detail that we can beat anybody.”

Published 1/24/2024

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Norwalk Faces Tough Weekend

          Norwalk plays at Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division leader Sandusky on Friday night and they host the talented Willard Flashes on Saturday night.

          Last week, they got two wins without scoring 45 points in either game, edging Bellevue (44-39) in a division game last Friday and getting past Huron (39-36) on Saturday in a crossover.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says obviously defense was the difference for them.  “When you can hold teams in the 30s you're usually going to win basketball games.  We didn't play really well at the offensive end in either game.  Really in the Huron game we're very bad offensively.  The Bellevue game, we weren't great, but a lot of that was they do some good things defensively and they're long and athletic and take some stuff away from you, so that has something to do with it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “We were not good at the offensive end last weekend, but because we really battled defensively, sat down and guarded, were able to come out with two wins holding teams in the 30s.”

          Norwalk (8-4,3-2) plays up at Sandusky (9-1,4-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday night.  The Streaks beat Tiffin Columbian (66-63) to take sole possession of the division lead last Saturday night.

          Kreischer says they just have so many very good players.  “They are really good at the guard position with Arrington and Arron and Henlon.  I think Henlon is probably the best player in our league, he just really controls the game.  Then they got the (Kobe) Brown kid on the wing and the (AaZoriyon) Bonner kid.  The Brown kid can really shoot it.  They're athletic and they'll turn you over and they do a lot of good things, which shows in their record and the fact they're undefeated in our league right now.  So, our work will be cut out for us,” he said.

          Willard (10-2), #5 in our poll, is paced by Max Dawson, who averages almost 26 points per game.

          Kreischer says Dawson forces you to make a decision.  “I mean you do, they have a lot of guys that that feed off of him.  He'll set screens for people, back screen to get somebody a lay up because you're so concentrated on him.  Coach (Joe) Bedingfield runs a lot of good stuff through him that gets other people open as well.  So, sometimes it's kind of pick your poison, do you let him get his and shut everybody else down or do you try to do some things to limit him, but they certainly are a handful also,” he said.

Published 1/18/2024

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Norwalk Needs to Get Some Rebounds

          Norwalk plays at Bellevue against the Redmen in game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.

          Last week, they beat Sandusky Perkins (53-36) in a division game on Thursday and Port Clinton (50-43) in a non-league game on Saturday.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says they played some good basketball and battled some adversity.  “We played really well at Perkins.  We really executed the game plan defensively very well, got out in transition, we're able to get some easy shots.  So, the Perkins game was a big lift for our kids and a confidence builder for our kids and some things like that.  The Port Clinton game, we never play well up there.  The past probably seven or so years past, four or so times, we've gone up there, even when they've had bad records, they found a way to beat us or at least play with us. So, to get a win up there is good, especially we had to play our second half up there without Ben Rothhaar, who sprained his ankle at the very end of the first half and we had to go the whole second half without him.  So, we've got the Keystone game where you have to play a second half without Gamble and we were able to win that one and we had to the game versus Port Clinton made to play second half without Rothhaar, our two captains, and we find a way to get guys to step up and still get wins,” said Kreischer.

          Norwalk (6-4,2-2) will be at Bellevue (8-2,2-2) on Friday night.  The Redmen lost (64-53) to Sandusky, the division co-leader last Thursday.  They beat Fremont Ross (33-22) on Friday.

          Kreischer says these are two teams that are kind of similar.  “We both have some size and some length and we both sit back and defend pretty well.  Neither team is necessarily looking to play a game in the 60s or 70s.  I think that coach (Ed) Rich and I would prefer somewhere in the 50s, although quite a few of our games end up in the 40s and 30s.  We're pretty similar teams,” he said.

          Kreischer says Friday night they have to rebound better than they did the first time they played Bellevue.  “I think we need to share the ball a little better and move the basketball.  We were just too easy to focus on as we drove lanes always just looking to score and they really converge with multiple guys on us in the paint.  I just think that we need to do a little better job of sharing basketball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon “We also need to box out and rebound.  It's not often that teams out rebound us, but Bellevue certainly did in that first game.  You go back and you watch that film and there's some situations where they're getting two or three shots per possession.  I believe we were actually ahead 8-5, they get offensive rebound, stick back, for a three-point play, they missed a free throw, get the offensive rebound from the free throw and stick a three.  So, go from us up 8-5 to us down 10-8 just like that from not rebounding the basketball.  So, that's definitely something we need to do better job over there this time.”

Published 1/09/2024

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Norwalk Needs to do Little Things

          Norwalk entertains Bellevue in a game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.

          Both sit in second place a game behind leaders Sandusky and Tiffin Columbian.

          Norwalk lost (55-42) to Columbian last Friday.  They beat LaGrange Keystone (56-47) on Saturday.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says he saw a lot of good things on Saturday from his kids.  “We obviously of the two games we'd rather have that league win.  We were up 12 points with about 31 seconds left in the first half and gave up a 9-0 run.  Turned it over and gave up a 9-0 run and including a 61 foot shot to end the half.  We kind of didn't get the momentum back after that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We had some guys grow up on Saturday.  Mason Gamble, who we're hoping can play on Friday, got hurt in the game on Saturday sprained his ankle at the very beginning of the second quarter.  We have some guys really step up.  Dalton Chapin has been unbelievably consistent for us as a player and as a leader this year and Jordan Perriott really came into his own there in the second half against Keystone.  Hopefully, we’ll get consistency from Jordan from here on out.”

          Norwalk (4-3,1-1) hosts Bellevue (5-1,1-1) on Friday night.  The Redmen beat Sandusky Perkins (44-36) in a division game last Friday, allowing only four points in the fourth quarter.

          Kreischer says the Redmen are very talented.  “They're very good.  We kind of knew that seeing them a little bit this summer and knew what they had returning and a whole bunch of seniors that have been around for a while and can really play and they've added some young kids and a nice freshman to the mix that can really shoot it.  So, they will be a handful for sure for us,” said Kreischer.

          Kreischer says they are going to have to handle the ball and make some tough shots.  “If we take care of the basketball it'll probably be quite the grind out of a game because neither one of us is real easy to score on in the half court.  So, it’ll come down to which team takes care of the basketball, which team finishes shots inside, and wins the battle of the boards.  Some little things like that that are going to make a difference in the game,” he said.

Published 12/29/23

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Norwalk Defense Will be Stretched

          Norwalk will be at home against Tiffin Columbian on Friday night in a game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          They play LaGrange Keystone in a non-conference game on Saturday.

          Tiffin Columbian (3-0,1-0) beat Bellevue (48-38) in a division game last Saturday.

          Norwalk coach Adam Kreischer believes they are actually harder to guard this year.  “I think they're a little bit more difficult to guard this year honestly without Beaston like so much went through him last year.  They were a little bit easier to game plan for.  As I breakdown all their films this year and go through everything they're just sharing the ball a lot better and a little more to worry about across the board to defend them.  (Zach) Shawberry is playing well right now, (Brady) Gooding is playing really well they're leading scorer (16.0 PPG), (Bryce) Roggow is playing with a ton of confidence and then (Isaac) Garcia for them really kind of runs the show as a true point guard and does a lot for them at both ends of the floor,” said Kreischer.

          Norwalk (3-2,1-0) is close to being unbeaten this year, but Kreischer says they are consistent enough.  “Consistency has to be there, but we know that we're kind of a young, inexperienced team.  We've got our one senior, but we've got to start to move past that into some form of consistency now that we're about game six.  All of our goals are still ahead of us and 1-0 in the league right now and really working hard to try to get to 2-0 come Friday, but yeah we have a lot of work to do and it has shown at times this year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon,” We're sitting here in a position where you know obviously you feel like we were ahead by eight or 10 against Clay and we're ahead by 14 or so against Ontario and those are our two losses.  We feel like we kind of gave both of them away and we could be sitting here at 5-0 right now and 1-0 in the league and just a little bit different feel to us.  Those things will happen and we have to learn from them and hopefully come out on Friday and play well.”

          When it comes to Keystone, Kreischer says they aren’t worried about them yet.  “They are pretty athletic, they'll get out and transition, they'll do some things that some of our league opponents will do as well.  Our focus right now is completely on Tiffin.  We'll turn to Keystone Saturday morning, we'll have them scouted, and we'll go through stuff on Saturday morning and get ready for them on Saturday night, but our focus is completely on Tiffin right now and trying to get that game,” he said.

Published 12/20/23

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Ontario Downs Norwalk in Overtime

          Down by 10 points with less than four minutes to play, the Ontario Warriors rallied to beat Norwalk (69-64) in overtime Saturday night at the “O-Rena”.

          The Warriors (1-4) trailed (58-55) with 6.5 seconds left in regulation, but they advanced the down the court and got it into the hands of Landon Foltz, who drilled a three pointer out of the right corner at the buzzer to tie it up and send it to overtime.

          Foltz scored again on the first possession of overtime to give Ontario its first lead since it was (6-4) with 3:30 left in the first quarter and they never trailed in the extra session.  A goal by Mason Gamble with 1:01 left in the in the OT cut the Warriors lead to one (65-64), but the Truckers (3-2) could get no closer.

          Ontario made 6-12 free throws in the final two minutes to hang on.

          It marked the first win of the season for the Warriors and first year coach Jerry Moton says the players now know the formula to get those victories.  He says it feels good.  “Yes, it does, it's a relief for not only the coaching staff, but the players.  Now, they can relax, they know how they're going to win games.  They see it now, we have an identity, I think it's going to be really positive going forward,” said Moton.

          Regarding the final play of regulation, Moton says his instructions were simple.  “We just told them push it down the court.  Landon was wide open.  As soon as I saw him catch and the release, I knew it was good,” he said.

          Norwalk coach Adam Kreischer says they had two options, they could have put the Warriors on the line for two shots, but he says they chose to play solid defense and guard the three point line.  “You always can have two thoughts on that.  You could go ahead and foul and put them on the line to shoot two and then who knows what happens on the on the offensive rebound.  We just said, we're going to guard the three-point line.  We need to make them not roll the ball, make them catch it going towards our basket instead of their basket, which we did,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “We did a nice job, they had their kid driving towards the hole out of control all the way down to about the block area.  Even though we said guard the three-point line we had somebody from the corner help all the way into the block and they kicked out to the corner for the three.  I mean that's just not executing what we talked about executing coming out of the timeout.  We didn't execute a whole lot of stuff in the second-half the way we talked about executing it.”

          Ontario did a little more trapping in full court situations in the third and fourth quarter and Moton says their goal is to make to opponent play faster and make them tired.  “That's our game plan really to speed people up.  Make them take quick shots.  If you're playing fast then you normally don't hit outside shots because your legs are tired, so that that was our game plan too,” he said.

          Norwalk dominated play in the first half taking a 13 point lead (28-15) with :33 seconds left in the half on a three by Garrett Demuth and they led (29-15) at the break.  They held the Warriors scoreless for almost nine minutes of the first and second quarters.

          Ontario shot the ball better the second half and they took the ball to the basket more often.

          Norwalk prides itself on the way it plays defense, but Kreischer says in the second half they made way too many mistakes.  He doesn’t believe it was the tempo of the game.  “Well, I think that they kind of (pushed it) in the first half as well, we just handled it a lot better.  We still got 30 points or so at halftime.  We held them to 15 in the first half.  We played a half of basketball like us defensively and we played a half of basketball like a team I don't know defensively,” said Kreischer.

          Norwalk hammered the Warriors on the offensive glass in the first half, Gamble, Ben Rothhaar and Dalton Chapin repeatedly getting follow ups, but not so much in the second half.

          Moton says they played with better effort and that got them some easier looks at the other end too.  “It all comes down to effort and determination.  Finding a body, boxing them out, pushing them out of the paint and getting the rebound and push the ball up the court,” he said.

          Norwalk led (51-41) after a Gamble basket with 3:53 left in regulation, but Ontario cut to (52-50) with 1:38 left on a three by Grady Schroeder.

          The Truckers were still up four at (56-52) with :30 left after Gamble cashed in a couple of free throws, but Grady Schroeder followed with another three to cut it to (56-55) 15 ticks left.  Gamble added two free throws at the :06 mark.

          Kreischer says their poor ball handling also gave them fewer chances to get rebounds because the Warriors were making open shots.  “Again, we didn't get as many shots in the second half for whatever reason we stopped taking care of the basketball as well as we did in the first half.  When you do that, you allow them to get out and transition and some things like and those rebounds aren't as easy to come by,” he said.

          Grady Schroeder had 21 and Foltz 18 for the Warriors.  Gamble had 19, but fouled out in the overtime period, Chapin and Rothhaar both had 13 for Norwalk.

Published 12/16/23

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Perimeter Defense Big For Norwalk

          Norwalk tips-off play in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference with a game at home against the Clyde Fliers on Friday night.

          They play at Ontario, of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, on Saturday night.

          They beat Olmsted Falls (50-43) in non-league game last Saturday.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says they did a good job battling adversity.  “We still didn't quite perform offensively how I think we're capable.  We did have some guys knock down shots on Saturday.  The biggest thing about Saturday was my guys coming together and finding a way to win.  We were great at the defensive end on Saturday.  We were great at executing the game plan and all we did to put in work to game plan for them and guys executed it perfectly.  We were without a point guard last Saturday.  Isaish Wells was still out with a broken nose.  Looking to get him back this weekend.  Landon Ferkel was home sick last Saturday.  So, with no point guard to go to Olmsted Falls and perform the way that my guys did was very impressive,” said Kreischer.

          Norwalk (2-1) hosts Clyde (1-2) on Friday night.  The Fliers earned their first win of the season on Tuesday night when they beat Vermilion (63-53) in non-conference play.  They lost (52-50) to Ashland last Saturday.

          Kreischer says the Fliers have very good guard play.  “They played a close game against Ashland just like we did that could have gone either way.  We came out on the good end of it and they came out on the other end of it.  They've got great guards.  Coach Fretz there does a nice job.  They've got the (Brayden) Olson kid, who was the leading scorer in our league last year.  The (Ben) Wott kid, who's just shooting outstanding right now and then a really athletic lefthanded guard for them (Brennan) Wilson that creates for them and does a lot of things,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “They'll definitely be a handful for us.  Hopefully, we can take advantage of our size and athleticism against them, but we're really going to have to do the job on their guards defensively.”

          Ontario (0-3) has a new coach in Jerry Moton and they are featuring an aggressive defensive style.

          Kreischer says they will have to handle the ball.  “Our focus is Clyde because it’s league game and also it’s the next game on the schedule.  We'll have Ontario well scouted as well.  We'll just have that day.  We’ll come in on Saturday to prepare for them and just go down there and play to the best of our ability that night.  Obviously, they're playing some high scoring games, so they're pressing quite a bit and getting in people defensively.  So, for sure we have to take care of the basketball and if we do that on Saturday, I think we'll be okay,” he said.

Published 12/13/23

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Norwalk Working on Ways to Improve

          Norwalk continues its season on Saturday night as they play at Olmstead Falls in non-conference play.

          The Truckers (1-1) lost (52-49) to Oregon Clay on Monday night.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says the Olmstead Falls pressure go to them in the late going.  “They're pretty good.  They play a lot of kids.  They play 11 guys.  They got after us defensively.  We did a nice job of handling it early on in the game.  A lot of their zone stuff, we were able to get in the right spots and attack it well and had a pretty good lead.  When they went man to man and got into us and gave us a little bit of trouble.  Again, we've got some guys that are a little bit young and kind of getting used to having to feel that pressure at the varsity level,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “I'm still excited about the guys that we have and I know that we're going to get there.  We had a great practice (Tuesday).  We really upped the intensity, got after each other and got better in practice.  That's the goal is to continue with improvement.  Again, we're a fairly young team with the one senior right now.  it's a progression for us day by day and we're going to get there.”

          Kreischer says some of their less experienced players need to get used to the physicality of varsity basketball.  “We try to get our guys used to playing stronger, playing lower, getting used to being bumped and keeping fighting for your feet and your balance and being strong when you rip a ball through.  All that stuff that we're working on with our guys that we've told them over and over again, but until you get in there and you experience that and realize that it's just a notch of a different level.  Sometimes you watch it and feel like yeah I could do that, I can be out there, and until you put yourself in that situation and learn from that experience then you start doing little things a little more than it takes.  Like I said, I have got confidence in my guys and we're going to get there,” said Kreischer.

          Olmstead Falls (0-1) await the Truckers on Saturday night.

          Kreischer says his is another team that will be up in them and they have to handle it.  “They're another team that can get after it defensively.  I broke down a film with them (Tuesday) versus Strongsville, their only game to date, and they were up about 12 points I believe towards the end of the third and ended up losing a close one at the end.  I think it was two or three points.  It could have been a little more than that due to the foul line, but certainly a one possession game down at the end and Strongsville had nice team also.  So, it'll be a battle especially at their place, but we're looking forward to the challenge.  I've just got a lot of confidence in my guys and their ability to come together and continue to work hard to get better,” he said.

Published 12/06/23

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Norwalk Must Have Perimeter Defense

          Norwalk is at Ashland to open the boys’ basketball campaign on Friday night against the Arrows in non-conference play.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says he feels like they are going to come out and play well Friday.  “I think that we're finally at the point where my guys are ready for that to happen.  I could just see it this week in practice that there itching to play a real game against somebody else that really matters.  Just really I think they're looking forward to getting out there and competing,” he said.

          Kreischer says they have some players that have experience at the varsity level and some that do not.  “I mean we kind of have a combination of both those things this year.  We have got a couple of guys in Mason Gamble and Ben Rothhaar that I'm pretty confident in what I'm going to get out of them (Friday) night.  Then we have a lot of other guys that I have plenty of confidence in them also because I know what they're capable of, but you're right when the bright lights come on it's kind of yet to be seen what those what those guys will be like this year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “I think it's exciting for us to find that out.  Yeah, we kind of have a combination of both those things.  We have some guys that that have been there, done that, seen it for a while and I'm sure we'll be more than ready to go and a lot of guys that are itching to get after it, but yet to be seen what the performance would be like on a varsity sage on under the bright lights.”

          Ashland, out of the Ohio Cardinal Conference, is team that Kreischer says can do a lot of things on both ends and has a strong sophomore class that can cause problems.  “They're a quality team.  They get out in transition well, do some different things defensively and are really difficult to score on at times in the half court.  They have got a big kid inside the (Nathan) Bernhard kid that’s about 6’5” and is a big, strong, kid that’s not easy to move around, really an enforcer for them.  Then the (Gabe) Baith kid.  Both of these kids are sophomores the Bernhard kid is a sophomore inside and the Baith kid is a sophomore on the outside that's a nice point guard, strong kid, can really shoot the basketball and they have plenty of shooters around them as well, some other athletes that can get out and defend.  In transition if we don't back and guard the three-point line that's where I think they could have success,” said Kreischer.

Published 12/01/23

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Norwalk Getting There

          Norwalk has turned the corner in its progression as they get ready to start the season next week.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says the last two scrimmages they have had they have looked pretty good and shown solid improvement.  “If we would have done this interview about a week ago today, I'd be giving you a different story.  So, we went to Anthony Wayne last Monday and didn't play real well.  It's a long bus ride and stuff like that, but we were not very good at either end of the floor.  We scrimmaged Western Reserve and Avon this past Wednesday I believe it was and we looked a little better and had some good practices then on Thursday and Friday of last week.  Then Monday we went against Upper Sandusky and Mansfield Senior up at our place and played really well,” said Kreischer.

          Kreischer says that improvement has come on both ends of the floor and they needed that improvement in both areas.  “My thoughts early on when we spoke changed a little bit like I said.  So, we were really struggling on both ends of floor and we were not scoring it as well as I thought we would either.  We've really made some head way here and like I said in the past week or so.  The kids have really bought in to knowing that they had to do little things all the time at both ends of the floor, which is helping us get better defensively,” he told Swankponsports.com on Tuesday evening, “We're really boxing out and rebounding the basketball, which allows us to get out in transition, which obviously helps us score a little better.  We're doing nice job running our sets in our different offenses.  So, yeah we've we're progressing really at both ends of the floor right now.”

          The Truckers start the season next Friday at Ashland in non-league plays.  December 8 at defending champion Sandusky marks their opener in the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division.

          The last part of the preseason can be a little of a grind, but Kreischer says they really aren’t experiencing that at Norwalk.  “I felt that in past years through coaching, maybe even a little bit last year at times, but I just think we've had a real nice natural progression this year to be honest with you.  I don't feel like my kids are feeling that way right now and I'm certainly not feeling that way either.  I think that we're enjoying the time together and the chance to really hone in and improve and continue to work hard to get better each day, so that we're more ready for that first game when the season starts,” he said.

Published 11/22/23

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Norwalk can Score

          Norwalk is a boys’ basketball team that’s going to be able to score this year, the key is how well are they going to be able to stop others from scoring.

          Coach Adam Kreischer, in his second year at the helm, says they have a lot of kids that can get in the scorebook.  “I think so, our natural abilities offensively this year could be really good.  We have a lot of kids that can put the ball in the basket, so we're going to have that going for us early on.  A lot of what I do predicates on the defensive end and I think we've got some work to do there, but if we can sit down and guard people and rebound the basketball we have a chance to be pretty good.  We are long and we can score the basketball,” he said.

          Kreischer says they have a number of kids back that played at the varsity level last season.  “It’s kind of a mix of youth and experience.  We have Mason Gamble back and Ben Rothhaar back, we have Dalton Chapin back, so that's two starters and another player that played quite a bit for us last year, but we do have some youth joining us with Isaiah Wells and Landon Ferkel, who both got a little bit of time here and there last year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Landon being a freshman last year and Isaiah being a sophomore.  Then Jordan Parriott also got some minutes for us early in the season last year, not so much late, again another freshman that'll be a sophomore this year stepping into that role.  Then another one that had just a great summer for us was Garrett Demuth and he'll be a junior this year.  He was another one that got some varsity action early as a sophomore last year, but not so much late in the season.  If Garrett steps into the role that I think he could this year.  Like I said, he had a great summer.”

          Yes, they have some varsity experience on the roster, but Kreischer says really they are still a younger ballclub.  “it's just a real mix this year for us of some experience from guys who have been playing for a while and then some youth and some kids that that that are not super experienced.  We do just have one senior, so Dalton Chapin is our one senior, so we overall are pretty young,” he said.

Published 11/07/23

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Norwalk Showing Improvement

          After a (19-1) win over Port Clinton on Thursday, the Norwalk Truckers have put together two straight wins.

          Coach Jason Higgins says they are starting to turn the corner.  “We're getting better every day.  These guys, they want to get better and we're giving them opportunities and coaching them up as much as we can to try to get away from their inexperience and not make that an excuse anymore.  So, yeah we've been playing some better baseball lately,” said Higgins.

          They beat Sandusky (5-4) in an Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division game on Wednesday night.

          Higgins says they are gaining in confidence.  “These guys, some of them, they've never seen varsity pitching before and now you're 25 at bats in and then 30 at bats in soon.  We just need these guys to get comfortable playing a game that's a little faster than what they've previously been used to,” he said.

          Higgins says you can’t teach experience.  He says these kids just have to play games.  “I was just talking to one of the seniors (Thursday) night and I said could you imagine being a freshman coming in and doing you know what we're asking these guys to do?  He said, no like my sophomore and junior year I was scared when I was like when coach would say hey you're in,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win on Thursday, “It is about getting comfortable.  The speed of the game if you look at the JV level to the varsity level is crazy different just like when you go to college it ramps up even further.   Every level you go to everything gets a little quicker and you have got to react you can't just hope that things happen.”

Published 4/14/23

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Norwalk Edges Bellevue

          Norwalk got past Bellevue (2-1) in Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division play on Thursday evening.

          Copper Smith went the distance on the mound allowing only one unearned run and striking out 10.  He gave up only two hits, he did walk six.

          Coach Jason Higgins says he was able to keep Bellevue off balance.  “Cooper Smith was really good on the mound.  He and coach Jackson were on the same page as far as just that connection and you know everything was going right, pitch selection, execution, Cooper did a really nice job of staying on command.  We're really happy with that performance,” he said.

          Smith was also involved in both runs scored by the Truckers.  He drove in Bray Malson in the first and Malson scored in the sixth on a ball hit by Smith in which an error was made.

          It was tight game throughout and Higgins says they able to play relaxed.  “Bellevue, they are a good team.  They're going to win a lot of games.  Our young guys, we talk about not being scared,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “They showed signs of being a little timid and our coaching staff does a really good job with these young guys and just telling them like hey relax and you know have a good approach at the plate and whatever happens happens.”

          The weather on Thursday evening was kind of blustery to say they least, but Higgins says they handled it well.  “So, it started off sunny (Thursday) in Bellevue and the field was prepped, it was good, it was beautiful and then temperatures started to drop.  Our guys, it's like they were so locked in that they didn't even notice it.  I'm over there shivering a little bit and our guys are locked in and the adrenaline was pumping and in close games like that's what I want to see,” said Higgins.

Published 3/31/23

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Growing Pains For Norwalk

          Norwalk has a new baseball coach for the first time since Bernie Kosar was the Browns quarterback as Jason Higgins takes over the program from the retired Wes Douglas.

          This season is going to be about developing young talent.

          Higgins says they won’t have much experience as the season starts.  “This year we are very, very young, not a lot of varsity experience, only two returning lettermen.  We are working hard every day.  There's a lot of growing pains with all that inexperience, but positivity and just building that culture that we have got to play a clean baseball game to be competitive,” said Higgins.

          Norwalk will scrimmage Galion on Wednesday and Higgins says with a young team, these scrimmages are vital.  “You can only do so much you know live simulation and in the gym or in our field house.  We have got to see what these players are able to do when tensions are high and they have got to face adversity.  We're trying to get our young guys to be able to have success or work for success in those situations,” he said.

          Norwalk starts the season on Monday at Shelby in non-conference play.  Their first Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division game is March 29 at Bellevue against the Redmen.

With some young pitchers, Higgins says they want those guys to throw strikes and get ahead in counts.  “We have some young arms and there's been a lot of focus on what the varsity level is and what you need to do to be successful,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “We really focus on not only throwing strikes, but first pitch strikes and arm care.  When you have got young guys like that and you're asking them to throw a lot of innings and they're only 14, 15 years old you have got to kind of start from scratch and really talk about the mental side of the game and all of that as well.”

Published 3/21/22

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Norwalk Must Handle Mansfield Pressure

          Norwalk challenges Mansfield Senior on Wednesday night in a division II sectional semifinal at Bucyrus High School.

          The Truckers (11-11) have won five of their last seven, including a come from behind (64-55) win over Bellevue in a Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division game on Friday night.

          However, coach Adam Kreischer knows that tournament pressure is different.  “It’s that different type of atmosphere, that different type of feel.  You have to have a group of guys that aren't afraid of that and I think that we have that.  Guys that want to really get after it, want to compete and not afraid of the moment, so hopefully that translates to Wednesday night,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior (15-7), #5 in the final Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, beat Lexington (54-53) in overtime in Ohio Cardinal Conference play last Friday.  They have wone four of their last six coming into Wednesday.

          Kreischer says they feature a lot of depth and many of those guys are very skilled players.  “They have lots of guys that can play.  The (Kyevi) Roane kid, he can really play, the (Chunky) Haney kid can shoot it, very quick, (Karion) Lindsey as well, (Elias) Owens is a big that shoots it well from the outside,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Overall, they play a quite a few kids  I've seen them play as many as 11 guys at times and a lot of them can really pressure the basketball.  We're going to have to take care of the ball and not have live ball turnovers.  We're going to have to really defensive rebound as a team to have a chance on Wednesday.”

          Norwalk plays in the tough Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference and they have seen teams like Sandusky and Perkins that play a similar style, Kreischer says they know what they have to do.  “Perkins plays a similar style as well, where they can really pressure to basketball and sit down and guard you in the half court and get out in passing lanes a little bit.  I think that we played those teams well, but we haven't beaten a Perkins this year or a Sandusky this year.  We’ve played each of them to two point games out their places, so we showed that we can compete with them, but it's not just about competing with teams, it's about winning games right now.  So, hopefully we're able to take care of the basketball well enough to move on,” said Kresicher.

Published 2/21/23

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Norwalk Not Holding Back

          Norwalk plays at home against Bellevue in the game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.

          The Truckers last weekend lost to Lake Division champion Sandusky (78-63) last Friday night and then beat Monroeville (69-56) on Saturday in a non-league game.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says they are ready to compete on any night.  “I think that we've played pretty well here of late.  My guys just love to compete, so anytime that get a chance to go out there and compete, they're happy.  They definitely have that opportunity here the rest of the season with us playing Bellevue this weekend, it's a very tough team.  We open with Mansfield Senior, if we're lucky enough in the tournament to get past Mansfield Senior, we get Bellevue again and it only gets rougher after that if we would happen to continue to win.  So, the fact that our guys know that every game from here on out is going to be a very competitive game and take our best effort to get a win.  I think they might just like that because they know they're going to have to really, really compete,” said Kreischer.

          Norwalk (10-11,4-7) hosts Bellevue (16-5,8-3) on Friday night.  The Redman beat Ontario (49-44) n a non-conference game Tuesday night.  They beat Clyde (74-65) in their last Lake Division game on Friday.

          Kreischer says they have a lot of kids that can do things.  “They are very balanced.  The (Ty) Ray kid, the senior at the at the point guard spot is very good, kind of runs the show for them.  They've got a lot of length the 6’4” Martin twins, they are very good defensively and can do a lot at the offensive end as well and both of them are shooting the three a lot better second half of the season here.  Then the (Cody) Lindsey kid inside, who steps out and knocks down shots as well was honorable mention all district.  They've got some real depth and they're really balanced offensively.  So, they'll present a real challenge for us,” he said.

          Bellevue won the first meeting (42-38) January 5.

          There is the possibility that these two could play again next week, but Kreischer says that won’t affect their strategy on Friday.  “I think they're going to come with the same mindset as we are and it's not like you're looking to save anything or anything like that.  Both of us want that win.  If nothing else probably for them just for a second time to try to make my kids start to doubt themselves and obviously for us, if we get a win, we're not worried about what we're showing them or anything like that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “If we can get a win, my guys are going to start to have that belief in themselves that they're that they are able to beat them.  So, I don't see either of us really holding back anything because of the potential matchup come tournament time.  I think my guys are just excited to compete.  I'm excited for our seniors at senior night, so Brayson Malson and Ashton Coe and Braeyden Demuth to get that last chance to play on our home court there in Norwalk and hopefully come out with a real good effort.”

Published 2/15/23

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Norwalk Plays Lake Division Champ Sandusky

          Norwalk will be at home Friday night for Lake Division champion Sandusky in a division game.

          The Truckers have won three of their last four, including a (49-46) win over Vermilion last Friday in “SBC” Lake play.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says they had to play well to win.  “We played well definitely in stretches of that game.  They shot the basketball pretty well against us again, so to be able to come out with the win over there was good.  They're playing pretty good basketball right now, which kind of tells you just how deep our district is with them being the 12 seed in our district and having five wins themselves playing a couple close games against us, they took Bellevue to overtime recently.  Again, just kind of tells how deep our league and how deep our district is.  It was good to go over there and come out with a win,” said Kreischer.

          Norwalk (9-10,4-6) plays at home against Sandusky (18-1,10-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday night.  The Blue Streaks beat Perkins (85-83) last Friday to claim the outright division title and then added a (79-74) win over Mansfield Senior in a non-conference game on Saturday night.

          Kreischer says Sandusky does a lot of things well when they have the ball.  “I believe they're about number five team in the state at this point.  The number one seed in our district and they've won our very good conference this year of our “SBC” Lake, so we will have our hands full for sure.  They've got three great guards that can get to the basket, can also shoot the basketball, really get out and transition well.  What really makes them special was what kind of what hurt us against them the last time and that's that their bigs can really shoot the three,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “So, we're going to need to get out on them this time a little better than we did last time.  I liked the effort that we gave over there.  The first time we played them at Sandusky we came out with a four point loss, a foul there at the end. It was really a one possession game over there.  We did not play great basketball, so I think that our kids do come with some confidence into this game in that they know that if we play well we can play with them and but it will be certainly a big challenge for us.”

          Kreischer says against Sandusky they have to do a lot of things well if they are going to compete.  “We have to contain the guards penetration.  We have to get out with high hands on those shooters this time that we didn't do last time.  The two biggest things are we have to take care of the basketball and we have to rebound at both ends.  If we do those two things, I definitely give us a chance, but it's a tall order against them with them just having the one defeat this year,” he said.

Published 2/10/23

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Norwalk Looking to Play Better

          Norwalk returns to action in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night as they travel to Vermilion and then on Saturday they are at Mansfield Madison for a non-conference game.

          Last Saturday, they walloped South Central (60-31) in a non-conference game.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says they had total control of the game.  “We played real well against South Central just physically really got on the boards, maybe actually won the rebound battle by probably close to 30 rebounds.  So, just the fact that we were able to be physical with them is kind of what gave us the advantage in that game, but we played well offensively also and we executed a game plan just as we wanted to defensively,” he said.

          Norwalk (8-9,3-6) plays host to Vermilion (5-13,2-7) on Friday night.  The Sailors beat Norwalk (63-60) on December 22.

          Kreischer says they did not play very well that night and they have to be much better on Friday.  “They had some guys the first time we played them you know hadn't shot the three real well early in the season, but found a way to knock them down against us. It’s a situation where we need to get out this time and approach some of their shooters a little better and keep guys in front of us.  We didn't do a great job of keeping them out of the lane on drives the first time either,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “So, looking back and watching that film this weekend at the first time we played them I was pretty disappointed in the way that we played.  Then I think our guys were disappointed as well and I looked for our guys to come back with a big effort versus them on Friday.”

          The Truckers play at Madison (8-9) on Saturday night.

          Like most coaches that play Madison, Kreischer knows they must control Jared Jeffries, or at least contain him.  “I have see them play a couple of times this year and them have got a couple of nice guards and some guys that can shoot the basketball.  The name is slipping me right now as we've been preparing for Vermillion all week, but obviously they have got the big kid that goes inside and out that's a really nice player and he'll be a real challenge for us.  They have a nice team and probably have the opportunity to have a few more wins than what they've had this year with some close losses.  Again, I think that both games this weekend for us will be a real challenge, but I think my guys will be ready for that challenge.  We're looking forward to continuing to play well here at the end of the year and just kind of build for tournament time,” said Kreischer.

Published 2/02/23

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Norwalk Has to be Ready

          Norwalk does not play a Lake Division game this week as their only contest will be Saturday night at home against South Central, of the Firelands Conference, in non-league play.

          In another non-conference game they punished Northwestern, of the Wayne County Athletic League, (83-56) in a non conference game last Saturday.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says they made some shots.  “We played pretty well on Saturday.  We still turned the ball over in the first half more than I would have liked and I know more than our guys liked, but we had some guys make some shots.  For the most part we attacked their pressure pretty well and got good looks at the offensive end,” he said.

          Norwalk (7-9) hosts South Central (8-7) on Saturday night.  The Trojans, out of the Firelands Conference, had won five in a row before losing to once beaten Crestview (66-46) in a conference game last Friday.

          Kreischer says the Trojans are going to play hard and have a very good scorer in Isaac Blair.  “I know that we'll get a good effort and they'll play us hard.  Since, coach (Brett) Seidel has come back they've been playing pretty well.  I have got quite a few films on them and have been watching that.  The (Isaac) Blair kid obviously is kind of what makes them go, but they have some other kids that can play as well.  We'll have to play well, but I think if we do play well it's a game we can win,” said Kreischer.

          Kreischer says they have had a couple of very good practices this week already and they have to be ready to go come Saturday.  “Our kids have some new goals this week.  We see that our schedule definitely sets up here at the end of the season for us to potentially rack up some wins.  We've got some tough games obviously as well, but our guys know that it's going to take great effort against anybody for us to win,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “We've learned throughout the season that we can beat anybody on our schedule, but we've also learned that we can lose to anybody on our schedule.  We actually had probably our two best practices of the year here on Monday and Tuesday.  We had super competitive practices without having a game this Friday we've gone real competitive Monday and Tuesday and came out with two really, really good practices.  Probably going to give them (Wednesday) off and then we'll prepare for South Central on Thursday and Friday.”

Published 1/25/23

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Norwalk Must Limit Perkins Transition

          Norwalk is starting to play much better basketball here in January and their next test will come on Friday night at Sandusky Perkins in game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          The Truckers have won three of their last four, including Lake Division games over Tiffin Columbian (52-34) last Tuesday and (75-64) over Clyde on Friday.  They lost (70-47) to Huron in a crossover game on Saturday.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says their goal is have the most division wins over the second half of the double round robin and they are off to a good start.  “We did play well.  One of our goals here that our team set for the second round through the league was to try to win the league the second time through.  So, off to a 2-0 start is good for that.  Another big one this week here on Friday against Perkins to try to take a step in that direction,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Not to make excuses for that Huron game, but I know I had some tired kids in that game.  We tried to coach them the same way and battle through it and all that kind of stuff, but not a whole lot of time to game plan for them coming off of preparing the entire week for Clyde and then having Huron the next day.  It was our fourth game in eight days and our third game in five days, so definitely with only playing about six kids had some tired kids out there.”

          Plus, he says Huron played very well too.  “To Huron’s credit they shot the ball really well.  I believe nine of their eleven threes were made by kids who were shooting 20% or less from the three on the year.  A couple of kids who hadn't made threes all year hit multiple against us.  So, it was kind of just a snowball effect of some tired legs allowed them to get going and they had some kids really step up and shoot the ball well,” he said.

          Norwalk (6-8,3-5) is at Perkins (9-4,3-4) on Friday night.  The Pirates lost (63-52) to Bellevue in a division game on Friday and then beat Port Clinton (66-62) in a crossover on Saturday.  Perkins won the first matchup between the schools (66-52) on December 15.

          Kreischer says they are deep and they have to handle the Perkins pressure and compete on the glass.  “They've got a lot of guys that are that are athletic and a lot of guys that that play for them.  They play you know 10,11 kids, so they keep things fresh and they'll get up in you defensively.  They will trap and pressure us and all that.  So, big keys for us this Friday will be taking care of the basketball, not turning it over.  If we don't turn it over, if we battle on the boards and we don't let them get easy baskets and transitions I think we'll have a chance against them,” said Kreischer.

Published 1/18/23

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Norwalk Has to Shoot, Handle the Ball Better

          Norwalk Hosts Tiffin Columbian in a Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division game on Tuesday night.  They play at Clyde in a division game on Friday night.

          The Truckers (4-7,1-5) broke a six game losing streak with a (60-47) win over Port Clinton inand “SBC” crossover on Saturday night

          Coach Adam Kreischer says they are starting to gain that needed experience.  “We needed to get that win.  We've been playing well against a lot of good teams and coming down to the wire and one possession game with a lot of a lot of good teams, but we just haven't been able to get those wins you know.  I think a lot of that comes with our inexperience, but we're halfway through the season now and hopefully we have gained some experience and figure out how to close games a little better and have a better second round through the league here,” said Kreischer.

          Tiffin Columbian (9-2,5-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, lost (54-51) to Bellevue on Saturday night and fell out of sole possession of the division lead.

          Kreischer says the Tornadoes are the whole package.  “They are good.  They've got they've got size, they've got a lot of shooters, they're able to score the basketball, they're athletic and can turn teams over.  We went to their place and played pretty well the first time obviously and lost by one over at their place.  So, I think that our kids have the confidence that we are capable of playing with them.  It will just be a matter of showing up on Tuesday and putting forth our best effort and hopefully we have a chance,” he said.

          Tiffin won the first game between the two (50-49) on December 2.  Kreischer says they have to shoot the ball better and they have to limit their turnovers better.  “We have to shut down (Logan) Beaston.  I say shut down, sometimes shutting down Beaston is holding him to 16 points or so, around that that range.  You cannot let him get going, but again they have other scores as well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “We have to take care of the basketball.  We didn't do a great job the first time against them.  Even though we had a one point loss over at their place it's not like we played real well.  We had some of our guys not shoot the basketball real well and some of our guys that we count on to handle the basketball, and usually do a nice job handling the basketball, had quite a few turnovers.  So, we need to not turn the basketball over, we need to play at our pace and make sure we sit down and defend and really concentrate on holding Beaston in check as much as we possibly can.”

Published 1/10/23

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Rebounding a Key for Norwalk

          Norwalk plays at Bellevue in a matchup in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Thursday night.

          The Truckers just can’t get over the last hurdle it seems.  They lost another tough one (60-50) to Willard in a “SBC” crossover last Friday.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says the kids need to realize the importance of every possession.  “We've had quite a few like that lately, or quite a few like that this year, when you just look at the Lake Division three or four of our losses are basically one possession each game.  Our guys are starting to realize that not taking possessions off is a big deal and the fact that we need to play the way that we play all the time and to have those lapses otherwise we have this big lapse of not scoring kind of puts us in a tough spot,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We're battling back in games, we never stop fighting, we never stop competing.  I’m proud of my guys for that.  We find a way to get back into games, but a lot of times you put forth that much energy getting back into a game you just don't have enough to finally get over the hump there at the end.”

          Norwalk (3-6,1-4) plays at Bellevue (6-2,3-1) and in a share of second place in the Lake Division.  The Redmen belted Clyde (57-32) in a division game last week.

          Kreischer says Bellevue has a lot of guys that can score and they will pressure you ballhandlers.  “I mean they returned quite a bit from last year.  They're long, they're athletic, they've got multiple scores, and multiple shooters.  The Ray brothers and the Martin twins and then they got the Lindsey kid inside.  They've got a lot of guys that can really play and they're going to be a real challenge for us.  The pressure that they bring at different levels and we're going to have to handle that pressure and attack the basket and play well over there because you know we do need to get a win here,” said Kreischer.

          Bellevue has been able turn defense into offense this year.  Kresischer says they run some good offense too.  “They're long they're athletic and when you're turning the basketball over they can turn it into baskets at the other end real quick.  They run some good stuff offensively as well, so we have to be ready to sit down and guard and definitely for us to have any chance against them we're going to win the battle the boards,” he said.

Published 1/04/23

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Norwalk Must Contain Sandusky Transition

          Norwalk, carrying a three game losing streak, travels to Sandusky to take on the talented Blue Streaks in a Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division game on Wednesday night.

          They play at Willard in a crossover game on Friday.

          The Truckers (3-4,1-3) lost (63-60) to Vermilion in a Lake Division game last Thursday.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says the Sailors cashed in on some threes against them.  “The last few games, in our three losses, teams have really shot the three well against us.  If you look at some stats and the way that we game plan and things like that there was a kid from Vermilion that was 0-12 for the year coming into our game and he hits 3 for 4 against us, including the game winner.  Sometimes things like that'll happen.  We did some things to ourselves down the stretch there of that game as well by turning it over a few times and missing some free throws and just in general in that game and the last few, we really haven't been ourselves defensively,” said Kreischer.

          Kreischer says they have come out this week and worked hard to get better.  “I've liked a couple of practices that we've had since then.  Just really competing and getting back to being us defensively and keeping people out of the paint and containing penetration on our own and not needing help.  So, it will be interesting to see here come the Sandusky game (Wednesday) to see if we take that challenge of slowing the game down and keeping people out of the paint making them take some time offensively instead of just being in transition against us,” he said.

          Sandusky (6-1,3-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, destroyed Willard (102-64) in a crossover game played Monday afternoon at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland prior to the Cavs game.

          Kreischer says they have three kids that get about 17 a game.  “They have got another kid there that's averaging about 14 a game too, so you throw a fourth one in there of guys through averaging between probably 14 and 18 points a game.  We are not going to be able to just get up and down the floor and score with them.  So, we're going to do some different things both offensively and defensively to try to slow the game down.  We've got some guys that have been stepping up and playing better for us and if we can all be playing well offensively in the same game and continue to make a commitment to the defensive end, I think we got a chance,” said Kreischer.

Published 12/28/22

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Norwalk Faces Vermilion in Important Game

          Norwalk hosts Vermilion on Thursday night in a game that the Truckers need to have to stay in the race in the tough Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          They lost two games last week in falling to Sandusky Perkins (66-52) in a division game on Thursday and (75-53) to Ontario in a non-conference game on Saturday night.

          Coach Adam Kresicher says in both games the other team controlled the way the game was played.  “Definitely that Ontario game got away from us a little bit.  We kind of had to speed the game up ourselves there late to try to get back into the game and obviously that didn't work out well for us.  We end up giving up even more points than we probably would have had we just kept defending the way that that we were defending.  Teams hit a lot of threes against us last week.  Perkins the Rowe kid started out 0-3 from the three and it was working to as we had scouted and had game planned and then he went ahead and made seven of his next eight threes.  When things like that happen it kind of snowballs and the scores get a little higher on you.  Ontario same sort of situation.  We had talked about running them off the three-point line and we didn't do a great job of that.  Having said that, when I go back and watch the film all the threes that they hit were pretty heavily contested threes and they had four different kids hit multiple three pointers on us.  Sometimes you'll have nights like that and when things like that happen you're probably not going to end up on the on the right side of things,” said Kreischer.

          Kreischer says they have to continue to try and slow the tempo down because that gives them a better chance to win.  “We've come back with some good practices.  I think we’ve got kids in the right headspace.  Still trying to battle through a little bit of the illness right now, so hopefully all that works out by Thursday.  We know that it's a big game for us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We know that we have a tough schedule coming up.  We think we can be in all those games if we play the way that that we need to play, which is keeping those scores a little lower.  We've seen just nothing else looking statistically at our wins and in our losses that if we hold teams in the 40s and you know maybe low 50s, we have got a good chance to be in that game and win.  If that game gets up in the mid 50s or higher the chances of us winning are not very good.”

          Norwalk (3-3,1-2) hosts Vermilion (3-5,1-2) on Thursday night.  The Sailors lost (74-42) to Bellevue on Saturday in a division game.

          Kreischer says they have to go out and do what they do.  “Vermilion has a couple of players that can really play.  The (Andrew) Hendershot kid and the (Al) Gerber kid, they both average around 15 a game.  They shoot it pretty well, but they also do a nice job getting to the basket off the dribble.  We are going to have to really pay attention to game plan on those two.  We're going to have to get some defensive rebounds to get on transition as well.   We talk about us wanting to score in a certain area, but that's just more if we don't have a good early shot sometimes we might need to take a little bit of clock off.  Defensively, we need to understand game plan and slow people down make sure that they're not getting easy ones in transition on us.  Having said that, we are a team that we have some speed, we have some athleticism, we're pretty good in transition.  So, we can get steals or we can get defensive rebounds, we need to push the basketball to get them some easy ones.  We just can't allow teams to do that to us,” said Kresicher.

Published 12/21/22

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Norwalk Must Slow Down Perkins

          Norwalk plays at home against Sandusky Perkins in a Lake Division game the Sandusky Bay Conference on Thursday night.

          Last Friday, the Truckers had a big second half and derailed Clyde (63-44) in a division game.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says they got some rebounds and got some easier shots in the second half.  “What really helped us in the third quarter, I mean obviously we started knocking down some shots, I think we might have been nine for 10 in that third quarter.  That's the first real offensive explosion type quarter that we've had this year.  When we get defensive stops and rebounds and get out down transition a little bit and get some easier looks at the basket really helped us.  Just our guys sticking to the grind and sticking to the game plan keeps us in games until we have you know some offensive explosions like that,” he said.

          Norwalk hosts Perkins (2-1,1-0) on Thursday.  The Pirates lost (64-59) to Bellevue in a division game last Friday and then beat Willard (66-53) in a crossover game on Saturday.

          Kreischer says Perkins wants a quick tempo.  He says they want to play a lot faster than they do.  “Definitely up tempo, I mean they have great athletes.  They really want to get up and down the court make it more of the helter skelter type game.  The films that we've broken down and watched we're looking at the Bellevue game and they played eleven kids in the first quarter against Bellevue,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “So, they are looking to keep fresh kids on the floor, get up and down the court making it up tempo game.  It's going to be another situation we're going to need to try to control tempo a little bit.  If that game is up in the 60s and 70s, I don't really like our chances, but if we keep it down in the 40s in in 50s, I think we have got a better chance to win against them.”

          Kreischer adds that they can do a lot of damage because they have a lot of kids that can play.  “They are very athletic and very talented across the board.  Two great shooters in (Garvin) Hemphill and (Brennan) Koelsch and very good guards with (Joey) Diederich and (Brylon) Collier and a lot of those other guys that they play that make them so deep as well.  Then athletes like Mikey Young and the (Jayden) Rowe kid inside.  I haven't even mentioned their senior (Drake) Venerucci, who can kind of go inside and out at 6’4”.   They'll be a handful for us.  My kids are going to compete.  If we execute game plan, we'll give ourselves a chance,” he said.

Published 12/15/22

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Norwalk has to Limit Turnovers

          Norwalk plays at Keystone in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.  They follow that up by hosting Clyde in a Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division game on Friday night.

          Last week, they lost a tough one (50-49) to Tiffin Columbian in a division game.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says they executed poorly in some areas, but other things they did well.  “I think our kids did a nice job of executing a gameplan against them.  We talked last week about controlling the tempo a little bit and slowing things down and not getting in an up and down game with them and we were able to do that.  We had a few too many turnovers, we had 16, which is too many to probably win in that game.  We shot 61% from the foul line, which is also not good and we didn’t make a three.  They hit eight threes and we hit zero, so they outscore us by 24 at the three point line.  We played very hard and controlled the boards and gave ourselves a chance to win that game.  It would have been nice to sneak out of there with the “W”, but again we played hard and really competed,” said Kreischer.

          Keystone beat Western Reserve (52-39), out of the Firelands Conerence, on Saturday night.

          Kreischer says they have a couple kids in particular that are very good players.  “I have seen them a couple of times on film and watched them with my assistant, coach Sellers, on Saturday night over at Western Reserve.  They have a really nice guard and a nice wing.  The point guard, we kind of liken him to a young Westbrook.  He defensive rebounds really well and he just pushes the break on his own and gets up the court quickly.  We are really going to have to focus and control him,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Their best player is probably #5.  He is a wing player, he shoots it well, also gets to the basket.  So, we are going to have to really focus on those two.  All around they shoot the basketball pretty good too.  So, we have our hands full (Tuesday) for sure.  It is going to be another one where we have to take care of the basketball versus their pressure and traps.  Try and control tempo against them as well”

          Clyde (0-1) got manhandled (80-40) by Lexington on Saturday night in their first game of the season.

          However, Kreischer says they have the personnel that can give them a lot of problems.  “They are young and they are going to be smaller than us.  They are going to be quick and they have a bunch of guards that can play the game and pressure you are shoot the basketball.  We could have our hands full in that one as well.  We have to show up ready to play.  I can tell you this, we did not have a great practice (Monday) and if show up against Keystone or against Clyde the way that we practiced (Monday) we are not going to come out on the wrong side of those games,” he said.

Published 12/06/22

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Norwalk Must Limit Possessions

          Norwalk opens play in the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division on Friday night on the road at Tiffin Columbian.

          Last week, the Truckers rallied in the second half to beat Ashland (48-45) in a non-conference game.

          Coach Adam Kreischer says they turned it around by getting on the boards and running the floor.  “It was good to get that comeback effort and have our kids never give up on the game.  There we a couple of moments there that were a little tight for us.  It took us a longtime to score in the game.  We came out of the half and gave up a couple of points early,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “Got down, I believe, 24-12 in the third quarter there and then we finally started defensive rebounding and got out in transition and got some easier looks, which was great for us.  It was good to get that first win under our belts though.”

          This will be the opener for the Tornadoes, but they are going to be an excellent team that has a lot back from a runner-up finish in the division and an advancement to the division II district final.

          Kreischer says they have a lot kids they can score the ball beginning with Logan Beaston.  “They return a whole lot from last year.  Beaston, player of the year, just a great player.  We are going to have to really focus on him and not let him get open looks.  Pretty much once he gets past half court, he can knock it down.  So, we are going to have to really concentrate on him.  They have other guys that can play as well.  The Roggow twins, especially one of them has gotten quite a bit better over the summer, has gotten more aggressive and will be a tough defensive assignment for us also,” said Kreischer.

          Tempo should be a big factor in this game.  Kreischer says the Tornadoes want to play faster than them.  “I would say that is going to be the case with most teams that we play this year.  We don’t score quite as well as most teams, but we are able to set down and defend.  We aren’t great at getting up in people and pressuring them.  So, an up tempo game in a couple of different ways usually doesn’t favor us.  We are going to half to do a couple different things to keep them off balance defensively.  Do some different things to get some good looks offensively.  An up tempo game would certainly favor them,” he said.

Published 12/02/22

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Norwalk Starts With Tough One With Ashland

          Norwalk plays host to Ashland in an opening night game on Friday against the Arrows in non-conference play.

          Adam Kreischer, in his first year as the Truckers coach, says they have shown they are dedicated to improvement during the preseason.  “We are kind of young and definitely inexperienced right now, but we have had progression through practices.  We had a nice scrimmage last Thursday and played pretty well against Tiffin Calvert and Anthony Wayne.  We had a rough one Saturday.  North Union came up here and they just shot it really well.  They shot about 60 percent from the three point line and you not going to look nearly as good when you let a team do that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “So, we have had some good progression, some good growth.  Offensively we are looking a little better and we starting to come together as a team defensively.  There are still some ups and downs.”

          Kreischer says the Friday night lights can be blinding, but he hopes they can learn on some the experience they have.  “We are looking for a couple of our seniors to step up.  A couple of guys that have seen varsity action to step up and be ready for those lights to come on and maybe even switch to a different level when those lights come on.  So, we are excited to get things going against coach (Jason) Hess and Ashland coming up here on Friday,” he said.

          Ashland is the defending Ohio Cardinal Conference champion and they return one of the area’s best shooters in Grayson Struey. 

          Kreischer says they are going to be a challenge for their defense, especially.  “In talking to a couple of coaches that have scrimmaged them and seeing them a little bit over the last couple of years they definitely have some athletes.  They have about a 6’5” kid inside that can play.  They have a real nice guard.  Just in general, I think they do a nice job of pressuring the basketball and they shoot it really well too.  So, we are really going to have to get up on shooters, contain penetration.  All of those things we talk about and have been working on all preseason we are going to have to do well Friday to come up with a victory,” said Kreischer.

Published 11/22/22

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Defense the Key for Norwalk

          Norwalk has a new head boys’ basketball coach in Adam Kreischer, but a lot of the same philosophy remains, that they are going to rely on their defense.

          They had their first scrimmage of the season Tuesday night at home against Mansfield Senior.

          Kreischer says they had their moments, mostly on defense.  “Mansfield Senior still being in the football playoffs coach (Marquis) Sykes came up with that crew (Tuesday) night and didn’t have all of his guys.  We have some guys that are still trying to get a little bit healthy.  So, definitely not our full crews.  Usually as is the case early in the season, first scrimmages, I would say both of our defenses were ahead of the offenses.  So, we had some spots where we looked good for sure.  Defensively, we were very good and they were good defensively also,” said Kreischer.

          Now, the Truckers are working on becoming better on offense, but Kreischer says it is going to be the defense that has to carry the day for the Truckers.  “There is that comfortably factor that we are trying to gain through practices.  When you get that first scrimmage in is when you get your first look against somebody else and what things are going to look like.  We are in a position this year where we are just returning eight points from last year’s team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “So, we are in a position where we need to grow together offensively, but we are in a situation where if we are going to be successful this year we are going to have to be great at the defensive end and great team rebounding.”

          Norwalk opens the campaign on November 25 against Ashland in non-conference play.  Tiffin Columbian will be their first Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division game on December 2.

          Kreischer says he thinks the kids realize to get on the floor much they are going to have to play hard on the defensive end.  “That is a philosophy that obviously coach (Steve) Gray had and it’s a philosophy that I have always had as a coach also.  You can have off nights on the offensive end, but you can always control your effort and energy at the defensive end.  We coach things similarly at the defensive end as far as fundamentally and what we expect of kids.  So, that I don’t think comes as a shocker to my players that I demand that they set down and play defense,” he said.

Published 11/09/22

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Norwalk Wants to be Physical

          Norwalk will play host to Mansfield Senior on Friday night in non-conference action on the opening night of the season.

          They only won one game last season, but coach Todd Fox says they are set up to be a better team this year.  “We had some goals set for our scrimmages in terms of things we wanted to focus on and make sure we were developing and feel really good that they things we needed to work on have kind of worked out for us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “We needed to see our offensive line come together and they are playing really, really well.  We wanted to be physical and we are doing that.  So, we feel good and it’s part of the process.”

          Fox says being physical is part of football and that’s what they want to be.  “That is part of the game and I think sometimes we are really trying to eliminate the thinking and be more reactive.  I think by being physical, you have to be more reactive.  That have been our goal to eliminate the thinking and just play,” he said.

          Mansfield Senior has been inconsistent this year during the preseason, but Fox says they will be athletic.  “They are a great football team.  There are a lot of athletes on that field that are playing well.  We are up to that challenge and we just going to go out, it’s about us and we are going to play Norwalk football,” he said.

          Fox says they want to play a tough schedule and Mansfield Senior definitely part of it.  “Last year we opened up with some big turnovers early and came back, but ran out of time.  We didn’t get to play in the COVID season because they had some cancelation right there at the 11^th hour.  We are back at Contractor’s Stadium at Whitney Field and we are excited to have them there.  We are playing a tough football team.  We try to have the toughest schedule we can.  It’s not like we aren’t starting with one of the best,” said Fox.

Published 8/19/22

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Norwalk Looking to Finish Better

          Norwalk is looking to return to form this year and compete in the tough Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

Head coach Todd Fox says they have already seen some good things.  “We are excited about our group of players this year.  We don’t return a lot of starters, but we return a lot of core of athletes and players that has some spot time in the past.  They have really stepped in and filled shoes and exceeded expectations already this summer.  We just finished up (Monday) and we had a great day,” he said.

After a string of successful seasons, the Truckers won just once last season.

Fox says this yar they have to do a better job of slamming the door when they have a chance to win.  “When you look at that 1-9 it was very deceiving.  We play a very tough schedule.  We are in a very tough conference.  What we didn’t do well last year was finish, we didn’t finish the game.  Against a very good Olmstead Falls team, we are up 19-14 in the fourth quarter and lost that game.  We didn’t finish with Senior High.  We started game one with four turnovers the first four series.  We were down one score down on that last drive of the game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “So, we have to finish and that is something we have been focusing on the whole off season, kind of the mental prep in that.  We are trying to look past last year.  We learned a lot of lessons as coaches and players, but we want to put that behind us an really push forward for this season.”

Norwalk will scrimmage Crestview, the Firelands Conference champ, and Cloverleaf on Saturday and Shelby next week.

Fox says those are going to be important tune ups for them, especially their younger kids.  “Our quarterback returns, one of our main running backs returns, one of our number one targets at receiver returns.  It’s just our O-line has some inexperience.  We have a couple of players that played a lot last year.  We are trying to get those pieces together with our offense and defense.  It is very critical to go against other teams.  You won’t know anything until you go against another team,” said Fox.

Published 8/02/22

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Norwalk Eliminates Bellevue

          Norwalk scored a run in the first inning and made it stand up as the Truckers beat Bellevue (1-0) in a division II district semifinal played at Fremont Ross High School on Thursday afternoon.

          They will play either Sandusky Perkins or Shelby for the district title on Saturday.  The Pirates lead Shelby (4-0) in the bottom of the third inning in a game that was suspended on Thursday when the skies opened up.  Nolan Thomas hit a big three run home run for the Pirates in the first inning.  That game will be resumed Friday afternoon, weather permitting.

          Kelton Chapin got the start for the Truckers and he fired a shutout, allowing only four hits.  He induced eight pop ups or fly outs in the game as he was able to keep the Redmen off balance.

          Norwalk coach Wes Douglas says he has improved tremendously this year.  “He went from our number four, number five to giving up one earned run in 40 plus innings.  He doesn’t walk people, he hit one guy (Thursday) maybe.  He fields his position.  Works quick, which our guys like and keeps the ball down for the most part.  Good for him, I couldn’t be happier for him, he’s a great kid,” said Douglas.

          Bellevue coach Andy Dennings can’t fault his team’s effort and intensity.  “We played our hearts out, but unfortunately we weren’t able to get one across the plate,” he said.

          Norwalk catcher Sam Battles was instrumental in his team’s win on Thursday.  He started two run downs and threw a runner out trying to steal second.

          Douglas says he can fly under the radar sometimes, but he is the leader of this baseball team and he makes big plays.  “He picked off three guys back there.  He made a nice call on the bunt back to the mound to get the lead runner there.  He goes unnoticed by a lot of people, but not by me.  He controls things.  I’d like to take credit for coaching him, but he came to me that way.  He keeps getting better.  He understands the game really well.  Those were huge outs.  I hate making them and when we can get them those are just huge outs,” said Douglas.

          Small ball has been a key to Bellevue’s success this spring, but Dennings says they didn’t execute very well on Thursday.  “Small ball, we didn’t do what we needed to do there, seeing the bunts down, and getting the bunts down.  In games like this you have to be able to do that,” he said.

          Norwalk got on the board in the first inning when Caleb Sommers was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on a double inside the third base line by Ian Minor and scored on a sacrifice fly by Eli Obringer.

          Douglas says it was good execution and aggressive play, especially by Sommers.  “We started Sommers on that hit, so he was moving on the pitch.  It was pretty bold to come to third, he made that decision on his own, a good throw would have had him.  To get the sac fly from Obringer after that.  Then zeros, zeros and good,” he said.

          Sommers also helped turn an inning ending double play in the fifth.

          Douglas says he does what is asked of him.  “We have the big three in Battles, Oblinger and Minor and he is right there with them.  He always gets the short end of the publicity stick.  I have known him and his family and his older brother played for us.  I’m happy for him, he is enjoying himself and having fun,” he said.

          Norwalk (19-7) has been playing outstanding baseball as they have lost only three games in the last month.

          Douglas says this is a veteran, experienced team that has good focus right now.  “They just have a really good vibe right now.  We had a couple of good days of practice, we had a team meal, they are loose, they are having fun, they are confident.  They are a veteran group, they have been through it.  They missed the COVID year or they would right up there across the board in the record book in team wins and individual stuff, but they don’t care about that,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “They have played a lot of baseball together since they were kids.  Their dads were a great group of coaches that taught them the right way, taught them to play multiple positions, everybody could pitch, everybody could catch and it was paid off for our program.”

Published 5/27/22

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Norwalk in Position

          Norwalk has taken care of its business and now has a chance to move into a share of first place in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          They beat Clyde (5-2) on Wednesday and now they head for Tiffin Columbian (16-4,8-2), #2 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the large school division, on Thursday with a plan in mind.

          Veteran coach Wes Douglas says they really played well in all aspects of the game on Wednesday.  “I was very proud of our team (Wednesday).  There was a little pressure on us, but they came through.  Ian Minor has 110 pitches and put us in position to win on the mound, he went six innings.  We got some production from the bottom of our order.  We ran the bases well.  It puts us in great position to go to Tiffin (Thursday) and see what we can do down there to get a share of the title.  Who knows what happens after that,” said Douglas.

          The Truckers are also the top seed in their division II district.

          Norwalk has played outstanding baseball as of late.  They have won their last six league games since a (6-0) loss to Sandusky Perkins on April 20.

          Douglas says they have been fighting to be in this position.  “All you want to be doing is to have a chance the last week or two.  Now, when it is a 12 game league season there is not a lot of separation.  What every coach at the beginning of the season predicted it would be a tough horse race has come to fruition.  We are happy to have that opportunity (Thursday) and we look forward to it,” he said.

          Norwalk (14-6,8-3), #4 in our poll, lost to Columbian (4-2) back on April 5.

          They likely face Columbian ace Carson Mellott again as they did the first time.  Mellott has surrendered only four earned runs all season.

          Douglas says they will have to be at the top of their game.  “That was our message to the kids.  We are going to have to play as well as we can play.  They are obviously a talented team with one of the best pitchers in Ohio on the mound.  Their coach has been there a long time.  Him and I have gone at it 40 plus times.  We have a lot of respect for their program.  We have our number one guy set up, our best defense, we will go down there in see what happens,” he said.

Published 5/12/22

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Norwalk With Big Win over Clyde

          Norwalk remained two games behind Tiffin Columbian in race for the title in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference with a (5-4) win over Clyde on Monday evening in Norwalk.

          Veteran coach Wes Douglas says it gives them a chance to get a piece of that title.  “It keeps alive mathematically.  (Columbian) has to go and play a good Perkins team on Wednesday.  I will be rooting for Perkins in that one,” he said.

          Douglas says Norwalk (12-4,7-3), #3 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the large school division, got one big inning and a gutsy pitching performance to get the win on Monday.  “We got one in the first inning.  Our lefthander Buddy Baker, they timed him up.  They took a 3-1 lead with three runs in the third.  We bounced right back with four run inning to go up 5-3,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “They chipped away in the last inning to get one with a couple of guys on base, but Buddy closed it out.  He went the distance and our defense was good enough and we put together one good crooked number.”

          Douglas says that four spot they got us huge for them and they got a big hit from an unexpected source.  “There were a bunch of guys that contributed there.  Jessie Cole, who we have DH’d for most of the year came up with a big hit in an extra inning win Saturday against Edison and he pitched seven innings of relief in that game.  He had a two run single with two strikes and two outs (Monday) in the nine hole and that scored our third and fourth runs of that inning,” he said.

          Douglas adds that Baker gave them a tremendous performance, especially in the later innings.  He says Baker is a kid that wants the ball.  “When Buddy is on the mound, he doesn’t think there is anybody better in the world.  That is his attitude.  He was pretty calm and got the ball back and went to work.  He was behind in some counts and worked out of it.  We had a couple of errors in there that did not go his way.  There was no bad body language.  He just got the ball back.  Some guys are just really comfortable on the mound and he is one of them,” said Douglas.

Published 5/03/22

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Norwalk Keeps Playing Well

          Norwalk demolished Sandusky (10-0) in six innings on Tuesday evening in Sandusky to stay in the race in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          The win avenged an upset loss to the Blue Streaks (6-0) back on April 7.

          Coach Wes Douglas says it was pretty sweet.  “It was supposed to home, but we had to move it over there.  The first time we went over there was the first time we had lost to them in eight or nine years and it didn’t go our way,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “So, to go over there (Tuesday) night and win 10-0 in six innings and keep the ship righted here going into a big game with Perkins (Wednesday).  We went over there and got the job done.  We used three pitchers and hit three home runs and took care of business.”

          It this era of high school baseball teams don’t hit three home runs in a game very often, but Douglas says they were able to puts some good swings on the ball.  “The wind was going out, but these balls were all squared up and were legit.  Ian Minor in the first inning, Kelton Chapin in the nine hole, not sure the last time we had a home run in the nine hole, and Eli Oblinger in the top of our order, who has been hitting the ball well lately, all squared one up and left the park,” said Douglas.

          Keep in mind it was only 37 degrees at gametime in Sandusky and the ball doesn’t travel well when it is that cold.

          Norwalk (8-4,4-3) has a big game with Perkins on Wednesday, one they will need to win.

          Douglas says he has been impressed with how they have been playing.  “Our other losses are to Defiance, number one in the state, Tiffin and Perkins, who are also in the top 13 or 14 in the state.  I have a nice group of kids that come to play every day.  We love their attitude and their effort.  Some days baseball doesn’t always go your way.  We have lost to three quality teams and we had the one hiccup.  Other than that, we are pretty satisfied,” he said.

Published 4/27/22

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Baker No Hits Crestview

          Buddy Baker threw a no hitter and Norwalk downed Crestview (1-0) in a non-conference baseball game on Tuesday evening.

          Veteran coach Wes Douglas says it was the first time in all his years at Norwalk that a pitcher has thrown a no hitter on opening day.  “It is the first one I have had in my 26 years.  Buddy had it working (Tuesday) night.  He had six strikeouts.  The left side of our infield was perfect over there.  Ian Minor had nine assists from third base.  Caleb Sommers three or four at short.  Our catcher Sammy Battles did a great job behind the plate and found a way to scratch out a 1-0 win,” he said.

          Douglas says they were able to manufacture a run to get the win.  “We got a pinch hit single from Ryan Fox.  He fought his way to second on a missed bunt attempt.  We bunted him to third and he scored on a sac fly.  So, we manufactured one.  They threw two good, young arms at us (Tuesday).  I think we only had four or five hits, but we found a way to push one across and the defense held up,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Buddy Baker was 5-1 last year as a junior.  Kind of came out of no where for us.  I was excited for him and his teammates were.  He has come a long way for us as a senior this year.  5-1 last year with a 1.60 ERA.  He starts off the season probably our number three pitcher and throws a no no.”

          Baker was outstanding and Douglas says their defense was just as good.  “With our pitching coach Wes Miller, we throw a lot of off speed.  He tells our pitchers to trust the left side of our infield.  Ian Minor made every play, backhand down the line, line drives, glove side, slow rollers.  Caleb Sommers made the same kind of plays at short.  Our first baseman Kelton Chapin picked a couple of balls out of the dirt.  They helped their pitcher out a lot.  Our field was a muddy mess at one o’clock, but by game time it came around and was about perfect,” said Douglas.

Published 3/30/22

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Norwalk Ready to Go

          Norwalk is one of the more consistent baseball programs in North Central Ohio and they are fielding a talented, veteran lineup this season.

          Coach Wes Douglas says they have some experience and the kids are very good players.  “After about 18 full scale practices and probably eight or nine with my full squad after basketball and wrestling I was pretty happy after (Monday’s) workout.  I feel good where we are at.  I think maybe we are ahead of the game defensively and situationally.   Maybe be trying to catch up a little bit in live pitching, live hitting.  We return a solid team from a 17-11 year last year.  We have a second team All-Ohio in Ian Minor.  We have an honorable mention catcher in Sam Battles that has singed at Ohio Dominican.  A four year starter in Eli Obringer.  A three year starter in Caleb Sommers.  So, we have a really good core to build around and some guys that have paid their dues and I think are ready to step up.  We return a good lefty on the mound in Buddy Baker, who was 5-1 last year.  I think we will compete this year.  I think we are in a good spot this year with some scrimmages coming up,” said Douglas.

          They need to replace their number one starter from last year, but Douglas is confident they will have a strong pitching staff.  “Everybody is a pitcher until they are not is the way we approach it in the winter and coming into the spring.  We lost our top arm from last year in Thomas Gfell, who is at the College of Wooster, and the rest of them return.  Kind of our M.O. over my tenure is we have had a lot of good depth and we have had some good quality pitching.  We have not had a lot of dominate D1, D2, 90 MPH guys that are going to strike out 12, 13, 14.  We preach throwing strikes, fielding their position, holding runners, and try and develop some arm strength over the winter,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “So, we have some quality guys at the top.  If they can matchup with other team’s number ones and number twos, I think we are going to be competitive offensively and defensively and if those guys can give us a chance to hang in there, I think we are in good shape.  I think they can do that at this point.  Guys like Ian Minor, Caleb Sommers, Buddy Baker.  Guys like that will be at the top of our rotation.”

          Defense is sometimes an unforgotten part of baseball, but not by Douglas, and he thinks they have some solid performers.  “I am pretty comfortable with who we have returning.  They seem pretty confident and comfortable.  I am a big rep guy.  We do a lot of reps.  We get them as many opportunities as we can dropping them in the bucket, throwing them across the field, whatever it is.  We return the majority of our infield.  There is a new guy at second base, but he is up and ready.  We return seven of our starting nine.  We lost Nate Adleman, who is at Tiffin University playing, and Thomas Gfell at Wooster, and a right fielder in Isaac Sheild, but the majority of them are back.  We kind of live on defense and throwing strikes and we go from there,” he said.

Published 3/15/22

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Huron Eliminates Norwalk From the Tournament

          A (12-1) run in the third quarter helped propel the Huron Tigers to the district championship game as they downed Norwalk (64-43) on Thursday night in a division II district semifinal at Ashland School.

          Daniel Traczek hit three at the halftime buzzer get Norwalk with nine (27-18) and the Truckers started the second half on a (9-1) run over the first 2:28 as Caleb Sommers connected on a triple to put the Truckers with one (28-27) with 5:32 left in the quarter.  But, the Tigers would respond in a big way as Luke Rager buried back to back three to ignite Huron on that (12-1) run and it (40-28) Tigers with 2:20 to play in the third.  Norwalk (13-12) would get no closer than 14 (57-43) in the fourth quarter.

          Huron coach Bobby James says he was nervous, but his kids made big plays.  “The three at the end of the half I just had a terrible feeling.  It was one of those momentum swinging plays and that is why I get so mad.  I knew coming out they had the momentum and they got down to one and Rager had two big threes.  I mean what a way to play,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “They played off of him the first half and I know he can shoot the basketball.  If he makes one or two, he gets really confident.  Then Dylan (Hohler) just took late in the third and fourth quarters.  He’s that good.”

          Rager had 19 points in the game and Norwalk coach Steve Gray felt he was the difference for Huron.  “Rager hit two big threes and he is averaging six a game and I thought he was outstanding (Thursday) night.  I thought he was the different in the game.  We tried to pick our poison.  We chased (Tait) Fischer and Hohler and Schade.  We were trying to force another player to step up and he did it,” said Gray.

          Hohler, the district 6 player of the year had 21, including a two hand dunk on a fast break and Joey Schade added 11.

          Gray says his played hard and they were right there in the third.  “We had a glimmer of hope there for a while, didn’t we?  They are really good.  They are well coached, they are very talented.  I said this week they are one of the better passing teams we have faced all year.  They are just so unselfish with the ball.  Our kids up until the last three or four minutes they competed their fannies off and I couldn’t be more proud of them.  We had it to one and we had a chance and then in a blink of an eye it got away from us,” said Gray.

          Huron also had an (11-2) run to start the game and a (16-4) run in the second quarter.

          James says during those times they played well on defense and controlled the glass.  “I thought we did a really good job of when we were making our runs.  When they made their runs we let them offensive rebound and when that happened we paid the price for that.  If that happens on Saturday that will be the end of the year for us,” he said.

          Gray says their strategy was to hang around and make a game in the fourth quarter.  “We had about three or four threes rim out on us and if those go down maybe it’s a little bit different.  All we wanted to do was in the fourth quarter be in position to put pressure on them, but we never quite got there,” he said.

          The Norwalk coach reiterated that Huron is very good and he hopes they win on Saturday night.

          Huron (21-2) plays Lexington (15-9) in Saturday night’s district final.  The Minutemen beat Mansfield Senior (44-33) in Thursday’s first semifinal.

          James says he is not surprised to be playing Lexington.  “They are big, they are strong and they are very good.  I thought they were probably best team in the district when we started voting.  I know their record didn’t match that up.  Luckily, we are meeting in a district championship not sectional finals or the district semis.  We are going to have our work cut out for us.  We just have to do the things we do and hopefully not let them get going,” he said.

          James wants his kids to come out Saturday night and play loose.  “I told the kids, the Willard game we had to win, to win the league, we had to win.  I thought we had to win the sectional or it would have been a disappointing year.  Now, this is just fun.  Anything can happen in the tournament.  We are going to go out and have fun and play our game.  If we win, we win, great, we move on, if we lose, we lose, but right now this is all fun.  The kids are enjoying it and I’m enjoying it.  This is great,” said James.

Published 3/04/22

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Norwalk Better Prepared This Time

          Norwalk takes on Huron in a division II district semifinal on Thursday night at Ashland High School’s Arrow Arena.

          The winner gets either Mansfield Senior or Lexington in Saturday night’s district final.

          Norwalk won its fourth straight sectional title by downing Upper Sandusky (47-36) last Friday.

          Coach Steve Gray says they did an outstanding job on defense and executed better on their end in the second half.  “Well, we played pretty well defensively.  We put great pressure on their perimeter people.  The couple of looks they did get that were open we were lucky they didn’t make them.  In the second half we finally relaxed offensively and we did a great job.  Minor got eight points in the second half after not scoring in the first.  We eventually pulled away and were up by 20 late in the game and it was a good win for us,” said Gray.

          Norwalk (13-11) meets Huron (20-2) on Thursday night.  The Tigers got past Ontario (65-54) to win their sectional title.  They are the top seed in the district.

          Gray says the district 6 player of the year Dylan Hohler is really good.  “They are probably the best passing team I have seen all year.  They are probably the most consistent team in terms of they get good perimeter shooting.  They get good post play, especially out of Hohler, who could be the best player in division II in our district and the Toledo district combined.  He just does a great job.  He rebounds and shoots and he is so unselfish with the basketball,” he said.

          Back on January 15, Huron destroyed the Truckers (61-23) in an “SBC” crossover.

          Gray says they will be much better prepared this time.  He says they have to be improved in everything they do.  “It sounds simplistic, but everything.  That was a tough week for us.  We are not big on making excuses, but our kids had no energy and we just didn’t play well and Huron just kicked us.  We played Tiffin on Tuesday, and that was a big win for us, and Clyde on Friday, and that was a three point game.  I just think we ran out of juice that week,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Sort of like Ohio State did Sunday against Maryland.  Our preparation is better.  We have a better feel for what Huron will attempt to do to be successful.  Hopefully, we will get a great effort from our kids.  They are a great team.  Bobby (James) has done a great job with them.  We have to find a way to keep it close and have a chance in the fourth quarter.”

Published 3/02/22

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Norwalk Plays Bellevue Again

          Norwalk just beat Bellevue on Friday night in a game in the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division and now they play them again Tuesday night in a sectional semifinal in division II at Willard High School.

          Coach Steve Gray, in the coaching profession for more than 30 years, says you don’t play a team, even in your own conference again this quickly.  Norwalk, the #4 seed, was on the bracket when Bellevue (11-11), the #6, chose to matchup with them.

          Gray says he would rather play someone else.  “It is uncommon to play them this close together as it is.  It is what it is and I wish we were playing someone else on Tuesday night.  I think they are very talented, I have said that before, they are long, they are athletic.  Fortunately for us on Friday night, they didn’t shoot as well as they are capable,” he said.

          Norwalk (11-11) win (49-39) at Bellevue last Friday and also beat the Redmen (47-44) on January 6 at Norwalk.

          Gray say the Redmen have shooters and they have proven that.  “Well, they beat Clyde about two weeks ago and they made eight or nine threes.  They do have that ability to knock down shots and that is what scares us quite a bit,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “They do want to get up and down and I bet Bellevue would want the tempo a little quicker, but it is what it is and we are more than willing to play at a slower tempo.”

          When Norwalk has struggled this year, it has been with putting points on the scoreboard.  Gray says they must be better at running their offense than they were last Friday, especially in the fourth quarter.  “We have to learn to pass the ball better.  Against Bellevue in the fourth quarter that was as bad a six minutes as I have seen us play in a long time.  Our guards just didn’t do a very good job.  We watched films, we talked about it, we worked on it, and hopefully we will see marked improvement on Tuesday night,” said Gray.

Published 2/22/22

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Norwalk Finishes Regular Season With Bellevue

          Norwalk plays its final regular season game on Friday night at Bellevue in Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division play.

          The Truckers dropped two games last week.

          They held a (17-9) lead after the first quarter, but lost (68-43) to Lake Division champion Sandusky on Friday night.

          Coach Steve Gray says they dared the Blue Streaks to make perimeter shots and they did.  “Sandusky is a very talented team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We knew going into the game we couldn’t take away dribble penetration, rebounding, and three point shooting, so we played the odds and forced them to shoot perimeter jumps shots and they, unfortunately for us, made eight or nine in the game.”

          Norwalk fell (50-40) to Western Reserve in a non-conference game on Saturday night.

          Gray says the Roughriders do a lot of good things.  “Well, I don’t know if they are third best team in the state, but they are definitely top 10 or so in division three.  They are athletic.  They really guard you well and their ball movement was just outstanding,” said Gray.

          Norwalk (10-11,5-6) plays at Bellevue (11-9,5-5) on Friday night.  Bellevue beat Clyde (66-49) in a Lake Division game last Friday, but lost (58-41) to South Central in a non-conference game on Saturday.

          The Truckers won the first matchup (47-44) on January 6.

          Gray says the Redmen affect the game defensively with their athleticism.  “They are tall, they are long, they are athletic and defensively whey really get after you.  Obviously, we have our hands full,” he said.

Published 2/15/22

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Norwalk Must Handle the Ball

          Norwalk is the only thing in the way the Sandusky Blue Streaks claiming an outright Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division title, but if their game a couple of weeks ago is any indication, Norwalk isn’t going to make it very easy.

          The Truckers and Streaks meet on Friday night at Sandusky High School.

          Norwalk won its third game in four tries on Monday in beating Vermilion (49-42) in a division game,

          Coach Steve Gray says they played solid defense and got on the boards.  “Coach (Kurt) Habermehl from Vermilion called us on Tuesday and said we were the first team all year to out rebound them and I think that is a positive.  We have played pretty well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “We had a chance maybe to open up a bigger lead, but every time we pushed it out a little they would hit a three or get an offensive rebound or something like that.  We played hard, we defended, we rebounded and I think that got us a little more prepared for Sandusky.”

          Norwalk (10-9,5-5) plays at Sandusky (15-4,10-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday night.  The Blue Streaks wrapped up no less than a share of the division title by beating Perkins (85-63) last Saturday.

          The Truckers took Sandusky to the end before losing (71-67) in overtime on January 27.

          Gray says they have to do a lot of things very well, especially handle the ball.  “We are talking one possession and the outcome would have been different.  It is a typical Sandusky team.  You have to stop dribble penetration and then you have to finish the play with a rebound.  Then offensively you have attack the basket, but more importantly take care of the ball.  If you allow them to get run outs off steals you are in big trouble,” said Gray.

          Norwalk hosts Western Reserve (17-0), #2 in the small school poll, and Firelands Conference champion, on Saturday night in a non-league game.

          Gray says that should be a fun one.  “I think it is going to be a tough challenge for us.  Chris Sheldon does a great job with them.  He has implied that they are going to kick our butts, so we will see how that goes,” he said.

Published 2/10/22

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Norwalk Matches up With Vermilion

          Norwalk plays its second game this season against the Vermilion Sailors in a Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division game on Friday night.

          Well, if road conditions get better that is.

          The Truckers have played four overtime games this year, including two last weekend in losing to Sandusky (71-67) in a division game on Friday and beating South Central (57-55) in a non-league game on Saturday.

          Coach Steve Gray says fans have different thoughts about such games.  “We have had 11 games that have been decided by five points or less.  If you like the coach he is putting his kids in a great position to win it.  If you don’t like the coach, they will say you can’t get over the hump and he can’t put your kids in a position to win it.  It is quite comical,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “My kids, I think they play quite hard and play pretty close to their ability.  We have been fortunate to win some of those games and unfortunate to lose a couple of them.”

          Gray says you need to remember that it is a lot of little things in tight games.  “I think that is what a lot of people don’t realize.  It’s a turnover in the first quarter or it’s missing a boxout.  It’s just a lot of little things.  I was watching Ashland University play (Wednesday) and I’ll put a plug in for Brandon Haraway, he scored 41.  Ashland is up two with 18 seconds to go and Tiffin can’t get a shot off and they throw up a 25, 26 footer at the buzzer it hits the side of the backboard and Tiffin gets the rebound and puts it in and they win in overtime.  So, it is a lot of little things,” said Gray.

          Norwalk (9-9,4-5) entertains Vermilion (2-16,0-9) on Friday night in a Lake Division game.  Norwalk won the first meeting of the season (40-32) on December 22.

          Gray says the teams are similar in makeup and it leads to a competitive game.  “They got their point guard back this week, so that will help them tremendously.  They match up really well with us.  They have two big, strong post players inside.  Their guards are athletic and can defend.  We expect a close game just like the first time we played them,” he said.

Published 2/04/22

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Norwalk Has to Slow Down Sandusky

          Norwalk has a huge challenge in front of it this week as they host Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division leader Sandusky on Thursday night.

          They also play at home against small school power South Central on Saturday.

          The Truckers beat Northwestern (74-69) on Saturday in a non-league game.

          Coach Steve Gray says they needed to get a win.  “We needed a win in worst way just for a boost in confidence.  We have played a really good schedule.  Perkins played the way we expected them to.  They are long, they are athletic, and quite frankly they don’t look like a three win team,” he said.

          Perkins had beaten the Norwalk (48-39) in a Lake Division game on Friday night.

          It seems that every game in the Lake Division is competitive.

          Gray says there are no secrets.  “The trouble with league play is you get to know each other so well I think it makes it twice as difficult.  I think the biggest change over the last four, five, six years is use of the Huddle,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Coaches can sit home at night and watch four or five games.  At one point in time, you could go out and scout and outwork people and it has sort of leveled the playing field.”

          The Truckers (8-8,4-4) have the ability to play up to their competitors a lot of times and they will need to do that Friday with the Blue Streaks (12-3,8-0), #4 the Swakonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division.

          Gray says they can’t allow Sandusky to turn live turnovers into easy points.  “Well, we have to take care of the basketball because they put a great deal of pressure on your guards.  If we allow them runouts on turnovers we are in trouble.  We have to keep it a halfcourt game and find a way to beat the pressure and get into our sets efficiently,” said Gray.

Published 1/25/22

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Norwalk to Slug it Out with Perkins

          Norwalk bangs heads with Sandusky Perkins in a Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division game on Friday night at Norwalk.

          After their big win over Tiffin Columbian (56-55) last Tuesday, the Truckers lost twice over the weekend to Clyde (53-50) in a Lake Division game and to Bay Division leader Huron (61-23) on Saturday night.

          Coach Steve Gray says against Huron the Tigers were outstanding and they were sort of out of gas.  “I would rather talk about Tuesday when we played a great game defending our fannies off against Tiffin and came out of their with a great win. Then on Saturday it was our third game in five days.  As people say, we laid an egg,” he told Swnakonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “Part of the problem though was Huron, they played exceptionally well.  They went like 15-16 from the three.  When you shoot that well you should win.”

          Norwalk (7-7,4-3) is at Perkins (2-9,1-6) on Friday night.  Perkins lost to division leader Sandusky (73-51) on Tuesday night.

          Norwalk won the first matchup between the teams (52-49) on December 16.

          Gray says the makeup of teams is a lot alike.  “They are big, they are strong, they are athletic.  If you look at our stats, we are similar, so it should be a close game.  Whoever makes the most plays down at the end will probably come out on top,” he said.

          Norwalk averages 46 points a game, Perkins 47.  Both shoot just over 40% from the field this season and 33 percent from behind the arch. 

          Gray says they always seem to play competitive games with Perkins.  “It is kind of funny when we were really good in 2013, 2014, they were also loaded and got to the regionals and those games where really close.  Now, we are both rebuilding just a little bit and the games are still really close.  We sort of follow each other around in terms of our scores, our programs, and our records,” said Gray.

Published 1/20/22

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Norwalk Takes on Balanced, Efficient Tiffin

          Norwalk pays a Tuesday night visit to Tiffin Columbian to face the Tornadoes in an important game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

           They are likely facing the same thing as last week.  A loss is going to drop them out of the division race, while a win keeps them alive.

          They beat Bellevue (47-44) last Thursday in a Lake Division game.

          Coach Steve Gray says defense was the difference for them.  “We played pretty well Thursday night defensively.  We were sound.  Offensively we made enough plays to come out on the correct side of the scoreboard,” said Gray.

          Norwalk (6-5,3-2) play at Tiffin Columbian (9-1,5-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Tuesday night.  Tiffin outscored Clyde (82-68) last Thursday in their league game.  Columbian beat Norwalk (57-52) on December 3 in their first meeting.

          Gray says the Tornadoes pass the ball very well and that gets them open shots and they make a lot of those.  “They do two things exceptionally well.  They shoot the ball and they pass the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “We keep telling our kids that if we want to be a really good team we just have to learn to pass the ball a lot more efficiently.”

          Gray says they have not been efficient on offense and that was evidenced in their (47-31) loss to Port Clinton in a crossover game on Saturday.

          Columbian shoots almost 40 percent on threes this year and they have made 84 of them in 10 games.  Gray says they look to take a lot of shots form beyond the arch.  “They have a lot of confidence offensively.  It is just not one or two kids that can knock down the three its’s four or five.  One any given night it seems they have somebody step up and make the big shot when needed,” said Gray.

          Logan Beaston has made 40 threes himself this season and the Tornadoes have five players who have made a least six.

          Beaston leads the Lake Division in points per game (20.1) and Bryce Burns is second (16.6), but Gray says Columbian has other guys that can hurt you.  “At times we have done a good job with them, but them (Cyrus) Burdon or one of the (Roggow) twins will step up and knock down a couple of big shots for them.  They really feed off of their ability to make threes and that’s makes them more aggressive offensively.  It makes them just a tough matchup for a lot of teams in our area,” said Gray.

Published 1/11/22

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Norwalk and Bellevue in Crucial Matchup

          Norwalk entertains Bellevue in an important game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Thursday night.

          The loser likely falls from contention in the division race, plus the winner improves its chances of getting a better seed for the postseason tournament.  That draw is in about a month.

          Last Monday, the Truckers smoked LaGrange Keystone (71-47) in a non-conference game.

          Coach Steve Gray says their offensive execution was sound.  “I said after the Madison game when we scored 30 that we should fire our offensive coach, but we got a new one and we played really hard,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They got up and down the floor and we were able to beat them in transition and started to wear them down.  It was a really good effort offensively.”

          Norwalk (5-4,2-2) hosts Bellevue (5-5,2-2) on Thursday night.  Bellevue lost (45-42) to Eastwood in a non-conference game last Thursday.  Both schools trail Sandusky by two games in the division standings.

          Gray says the Redmen have height and skill.  “The thing that sticks out first of all is their length with 6’7”, 6’4’, 6’3” and they are long.  They do a good job getting hands on passes and altering shots when you get close to the basket.  Then they have two really good guards that can score the ball,” he said.

          Gray believes this game has postseason implications.  “I think the loser is probably out of the league race, but more importantly I think the winner of this game and if the rest of the season plays out you are looking at fourth, fifth, sixth seed.  The higher the seed the better chance you have of advancing in the tournament,” said Gray.

Published 1/06/22

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Norwalk Has to Get Back on the Beam

          Norwalk tries to get things moving again on offense as they host LaGrange Keystone in a non-conference game on Monday night.

          Last week, the beat Vermilion (40-32) in a game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Wednesday an then lost (33-30) to Mansfield Madison in a non-league game on Thursday.

          Coach Steve Gray says they were discombobulated on offense on Thursday night.  “Well, obviously, defensively we played really well.  We kept Madison out of the paint and we did a good job at that end of the floor.  At the other end of the floor though we should fire our offensive coach because he did a crummy job.  We turned the ball over too much, we took bad shots and we stood around.  We just didn’t play up to our abilities,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday night, “It sounds like an excuse I guess, which it is, but I threw players out of practice on Monday because they were sick.  We were just under the weather and didn’t play well.  I thought Madison did a nice job and obviously came out on the correct side of the scoreboard.”

          Gray hopes it’s a good idea that they are getting back on the court as soon as possible.  “I haven’t had a lot of experience playing on Monday, but we had a practice (Sunday) night and we had a good practice.  Right now, after that performance last week we are more concerned about Norwalk than we are Keystone.  It should be a good game, they can shoot it.  They have some bigs that can step out and if we don’t play well it is going to a long night,” said Gray.

          Keystone, out of the Lorain County League, has some inside guys that can shoot and Gray says that will stretch their defense.  “I saw them play last week.  They have four kids that are 6’3”, 6’4”.  They like to step out and shoot the three.  You just have to go with them.  That three point line has changed the game dramatically.  You just have to guard more space,” he said.

Published 12/27/21

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Norwalk Not in Charitable Mood

          Norwalk plays at Vermilion on Wednesday night in a game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          After two tough losses to start division play, Norwalk beat Perkins (52-49) last Thursday.

          Coach Steve Gary says they have stared to find an identity.  “It is a situation where we are breaking in new perimeter players, new point guards, and it just took a while for us to figure out who we were.  Then defensively we play hard an do a pretty good job of guarding people,” he said.

          Norwalk (3-3,1-2) plays at Vermilion (0-7,0-3) on Wednesday.  The Sailors were thumped (45-16) by Bellevue last Saturday.

          Gray calls Vermilion dangerous.  “I think they are a little bit better than their record.  They have some athletic kids that play hard and sit down and defend.  They could give us a tough time (Wednesday) night,” said Gray.

          The veteran Norwalk coach says his players must approach this game with a serious attitude.  “Christmas is a time of giving and I hope we don’t give one away (Wednesday) night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “It’s all about attitude and how you approach each game.  We are doing our best to make sure we stay of that even keel and we compete at a high level every night.”

Madison out of the Ohio Cardinal Conference has been pushing the pace of the game with new coach Chris Armstrong and he says the Truckers are going to have to avoid turnovers.  “I know they are athletic.  I know they are going to press us full court man to man.  If our guards can’t handle the pressure it is going to be a sad Christmas for us,” he said.

Published 12/22/21

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Norwalk to Mix it up With Perkins

          Norwalk takes its act to Sandusky Perkins for a Thursday night game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          On Tuesday night, the Truckers edged Willard (55-50) in overtime.  It was their second straight overtime game.  The had lost (42-40) to Clyde in a Lake Division game last Friday.

          Coach Steve Gray says it was a quality win over a quality program.  “It was a really good win.  I think Joe and “Hirsh” do a great job.  They are well prepared, the kids play hard.  We were fortunate to get a very good win on Tuesday night,” he said.

          It has been a year that started with a lot of inexperience, but Gray says the Truckers are improving.  “(Tuesday) night, Mason Gamble, a freshman, had eight points for us and I thought her played really well.  Eli Obringer didn’t play last year and he had a really good game (Tuesday) night too.  Our young kids are getting better and I hope it continues,” said Gray.

          Norwalk shared the Lake Division title last season, but they have lost their first two division games this season to Tiffin Columbian (57-52) and Clyde, so this is an important game for them… and Perkins too.  After a late start due to football, Perkins (0-3,0-1) is still looking for its first win.

          Gray believes the Pirates are a team that is improving and capable of getting a lot better.  “I think Scott (McVeigh) is a great coach and does a great job with his kids.  I think he is like us.  He has some young kids.  They lost their best player from last year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They are going to continue to get better, so I would like to get them (Thursday) night because they will be much better by the end of the season.”

          Gray calls the teams pretty similar.  “Perkins is big and strong and athletic and we have some big kids inside.  I think we play similar styles, so I think it will be a game where we beat each other up a little bit,” he said.

Published 12/16/21

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Norwalk With a Defensive Challenge Against Clyde

          Norwalk, the defending co-champion of the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, plays at Clyde in a division game on Friday night.

          The Tuckers (1-2,0-1) led for most of the game last week against Tiffin Columbian before losing (57-52) to the Tornadoes, so that makes this game doubly important for the Truckers.

          Clyde (0-1) lost their opening game of the season last Saturday (57-43) to Lexington in non-conference play.

          Norwalk coach Steve Gray says the Fliers are going to play hard and show you a lot of pressure.  “I wish they would have won one more football game.  They are really well coached, Ryan Fretz does a great job.  You know they are going to play hard, they are going to pressure, double the ball, and this year they are senior dominated,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “I think they only have one junior and the rest of the kids on the team are seniors.  So, they will be physical, they will get into us.  We just have to accept the challenge.”

          Gray believes Clyde will try and push the pace of the game.  “I watched the Lex game and they are pushing it.  They really look quick.  They have about three or four kids that can put the ball in the paint.  So, stopping dribble penetration will be a priority for us,” he said.

          In order to control the pace of the game and reduce the number of possessions, Gray says they have to handle the ball and play great transition defense.  “The first thing is you have to take care of the ball because you can’t defend run outs.  You have to get back defensively.  You just have to be solid.  If you force them to make two or three extra passes that is all part of taking time off the clock.  So, if they want to push it and go they are going to go and we just have to accept the challenge,” said Gray.

Published 12/08/21

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Norwalk Downs Ontario

          Ian Minor scored 20 points and Ashton Coe was six for six from the foul line in final :55 seconds of the game and Norwalk downed Ontario (49-40) in a non-conference boys’ basketball game at the “O-Rena” on Saturday evening.

          Norwalk (1-2) raced to a (14-3) lead after the first quarter as they Warriors did not score until 4:10 left in the first quarter on a free throw by Carter Weaver and did not convert their first field goal until Alex Rathburn scored with just 1:17 left in the opening quarter.

          “I thought defensively we were outstanding.  We communicated and our rotations were good.  Our kids were really locked in in what we were attempting to do,” said Norwalk coach Steve Gray.

          Things didn’t get any better for the Warriors in the second eight minutes as Ontario did not have a field goal the entire quarter and Norwalk led (25-5) until Darian Delbrugge made three free throws with no time remaining and it was (25-8) at the half.

          Ontario coach Tim Mergel says they did not respond to the solid defense the Truckers showed them.  “I don’t know if you can ever expect any one thing from Steve Gray.  He is going to throw some junk at you.  They pressured the ball a little bit, they were in pass lanes and with any ball screen they were bringing some pressure at us,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “We didn’t react accordingly.  We just weren’t very strong with the basketball.  They were the hammer and we were the nail for the first half.”

          Norwalk was definitely the more physical team, especially over the first 16 minutes of the game.  Coach Gray says that is strength of theirs.  “You have to play to your strengths and with Parker Evans and Ian Minor and Ben Rothhaar we have three guys that go inside and mix it up pretty well.  We tried to get them as many touches as possible,” he said.

          Evans had 10 points for Norwalk, all close to the basket.

          Minor scored nine of his 20 points in the third quarter and the Truckers took their biggest lead (31-10) after a Minor basket with 5:31 to play in the third quarter. 

          Minor has accepted some of the point guard responsibilities for the Truckers after being a power forward for most of his varsity career and Gray says he has done an outstanding job.  “It was out of necessity.  We sort of felt this was coming during the summer.  The last three weeks or so he has really improved.  We are fortunate to have a kid 6’1” that can handle the ball and give Ashton Coe a little bit of a break when sort of tires out a little bit,” said Gray.

          Ontario (1-2) had more turnovers than points in the fist half, but things started to turn around for them in the later stages of the third quarter as they outscored Norwalk (6-5) over the final four minutes of the quarter to reduce their deficit (33-18) with one stanza to play.

          “That’s how you produce eight points at halftime.  We challenged the kids at halftime to be the more aggressor, to get inside and let’s get a good base and finish those shots.  To our kids credit, we gave ourselves a fighting chance at the end.  As a coach after a first half like that, I couldn’t ask for much more,” said Mergel.

          Ontario made it a game in the fourth, outscoring Norwalk (22-11) over the final eight minutes as Delbrugge had seven of his team high 15 and the Warriors go to within eight (45-37) with :40 seconds left.

          “We were able to take away a little of what they like to do, which is the inside presence.  We brought more physicality.  I couldn’t ask for much more form my kids form a second half standpoint.  At the beginning of the night, it didn’t look like we got better, but at the end it looked like we did, so we are going to build on it,” added Mergel.

          Gray says his kids lost some focus, but they were able to put it away with Coe’s free tosses.  “Well, unfortunately they are high school kids and I just think they thought they could lock the down and we lost interest and took a couple of bad shots.  Let’s give Ontario credit.  Tim’s kids continued to play hard and hit some shots.  It could have been really interesting if we didn’t hit a couple of free throws down the stretch,” said Gray.

Published 12/04/21

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Norwalk Has to be Solid on Defense

          Norwalk and Tiffin Columbian shared the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division title last season and they play each other in the first conference game of the season on Friday night in Norwalk.

          The Truckers led after a half, but lost (75-57) to Ashland in their non-conference opener last Friday.

          Coach Steve Gray says they made some mistakes in the second half that led to a flurry by the Arrows.  “We did play really well in the first half.  In the second half it is a three, four point game with two minutes to go in third and then some poor decisions in terms of passing the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Unfortunately for us, Ashland’s, I’ll call them non-scorers, because it is not Sturey or Dendow, they knock down about six threes and it went from four, six points to 16, 18 points in a hurry.”

          Gray says the players did exactly what they wanted them to do, but sometimes it doesn’t work out the way you hoped.  “We were pleased with our kids.  We played hard, we competed, and they did everything we asked of them.  Sometimes you wounder if scouting is worth it because we did a great job on their two top scorers for three quarters.  I think Sturey only had eight points and Denbow went off in the fourth.  When a team shoots 60 percent from the three you have to sort of tip your hat to them and say congratulations,” said Gray.

          Tiffin Columbian (2-0) picked up a pair of non-conference wins over the weekend when they beat Bowling Green (81-71) and Upper Sandusky (84-49) to start the season.

          Gray says this is a team that passes the ball very well and gets good looks.  “If they score 80 points on us, we won’t win.  The thing that Tiffin does that I think is the most impressive is they just pass the basketball so well.  They are going to be tough to defend, they have three or four kids that can knock down threes and we are going to have our hands full.  I would be very disappointed it we don’t compete our fannies off,” he said.

          When it comes to slowing down the Tornadoes, Gray just says they have to be fundamental on defense.  “We are still working on that, if I had an answer, I would have a lot more wins that I do have and a lot fewer losses.  You just have to be solid defensively and make sure you are in the right spot every single time and if not, they will exploit any weaknesses that we do have.  I think it a great test for us early in the year.  It will show us what we need to do to get better and we just excited about Friday night,” said Gray.

Published 12/01/21

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Norwalk Ready to be Tested

          Norwalk, the Sandusky Bay Conference co-champion from last year, opens this season opens the season the road Friday night at Ashland against the Arrows in non-conference play.

          Norwalk graduated its two leading scorers from last year, but veteran head coach Steve Gray likes the progress he has seen from his inexperienced group this month.  “I think we have seen tremendous growth this month from our kids.  We are in a situation where we are really young in terms of varsity experience.  We moved a JV wing to the varsity point.  We moved a post player on the varsity to the back up point,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “We are in a situation where we are going to play two freshmen.  We have a senior coming off the bench that didn’t play last year, but he has had a great preseason.  So, to see how much they have improved it has been a great feeling this preseason.”

          Gray says they have improved in their practice execution, but he knows playing games that count in the win-loss column are different.  “When I say improvement, I mean execution in drills has been significant.  We have had three really good scrimmages and one clunker.  Going against (Luke) Denbow and Ashland is going to be a tremendous challenge,” he said.

          It’s Ashland’s opener too and outside last year’s leading scorer in Denbow, Gray says the Arrows has some talented shooters.  “(Grayson) Steury on the wing shots 50 some percent from the three last year and they have a big post inside.  It is going to be quite a challenge for us and I’m excited to see how our kids do respond when the lights are on.  With Minor, Sommers, and Tracy back we have three pretty good seniors we can sort of lean on.  Hopefully, they can carry us through that first night,” said Gray.

Published 11/23/21

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Norwalk a Work in Progress

          Norwalk is one the more consistent boys’ basketball programs in the area and they at least have the building blocks to be pretty good again this season.

          They have won the Swankonsports.com coaches poll title twice in the last decade.

          Veteran coach Steve Gray, who led the Truckers to the 2014 division II state title, says he has a group of kids this year that want to get better.  “So far, very happy.  I have good kids that are just fun to be around and for the most part they work hard every night.  It is a situation where they want to get better and they want to be successful.  So, I think we are in a pretty good spot right now,” he said.

          The Truckers return quite a bit of talent to their roster, but Gray reminds that they also are replacing some kids from last year’s team that are going to be tough to replace.  “When you lose a guy like Chapin, who scored a thousand points and was the leading rebounder in our school’s history.  Will Gehlhausen, first team all district.  Those are two pretty big pair of shoes to fill.  We are moving some kids around to different positions and I am happy with the results so far.  It will be interesting we will have a scrimmage with Mansfield on Saturday.  My view may change a lot in the next 72 hours,” said Gray.

          A key to success for this year’s team, according to Gray, is to be very good at executing the little things in the game.  “We have to do all of the little things a heck of a lot better.  We are talking about defending, keeping people out of the paint, boxing out, offensively, taking care of the ball, running our offense more efficiently,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “It’s a situation where we didn’t have a great summer and it’s not the kid’s fault, it’s nobody’s fault.  We had kids that played a lot of baseball this summer, we had kids that had jobs, so we are still trying to figure things out here at Norwalk.”

Published 11/12/21

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Norwalk Plays Talented Tiffin

          Norwalk plays host to Tiffin Columbian in a game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday and there is a spirt of uncertainly about this game.

          But, first last week, Norwalk lost (41-14) to Clyde in a division game.

          Coach Todd Fox says the Fliers were just better than them in every way and it showed on the scoreboard.  “Clyde is a very good football team.  There was only one other game this year against Bishop Hartley that I felt like we were outmatched,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Clyde was just playing at a different level and we did not match that level last week.  We are looking at rebounding from that and move on to the next game in the Lake.”

          Earlier this week members of the Columbian football team were involved in the act of vandalism involving three homes in Tiffin.  A report stated that those involved would be suspended this week and any future playoffs games.  However, there have been some questions raised regarding the number of those suspended and the length of those suspensions.

          Fox says they are preparing for the possibility that everyone on the Columbian roster is available on Friday night.  “Our approach is this is a very good football team, a very good football program, a team coming off a state semifinal run last year.  So, they have next man up.  So, we just prepare to battle them and whoever plays Friday night we will be ready,” he said.

          A source not wanting to be identified told Swankonsports.com that seven players will be suspended Friday and not available to play against the Truckers.  It is the policy of this company not to release the names of the players involved.

          Based on what he has seen on film, Fox says Columbian has a lot of very good players and it is difficult to match the athleticism that Tiffin can put on the field.  “They have two phenomenal quarterbacks, Beaston and Roggow.  They just do a nice job dispersing the football.  Their skilled guys are pretty hard to match.  They are tough to matchup with all around.  They are fundamentally sound and Brody Conley is just a leader on both sides of the ball,” said Fox.

Published 10/22/21

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Norwalk Plays Balanced Clyde

          Norwalk looks to play spoiler as they as they travel to Clyde to face the Fliers in a Lake Division game in the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.

          The Truckers lost (35-7) to Perkins in a division game last week.

          Coach Todd Fox says they competed, but they game got away from them late.  “We had a lightning delay there midway through the third quarter and it was tied up 7-7.  We made adjustments, they made adjustments.  Their back a couple plays in scored a big one on us and they stopped us and then they scored on another big one.  The score ended up being 35-7.  It was one those things where we had to try and make some quick scores up.  That’s what happens in good football games,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We were in a good football game late in the third quarter.  Not happy that we didn’t finish it.  A testimony to our guys with what has happened through the year to us it was not like they packed it up.  It was a good football game and they tacked on a late touchdown to make it a little worse.  Our guys have been fighting and that’s all we can ask.”

          Norwalk (1-7,0-3) plays at Clyde (6-2,2-1) on Friday night.  The Fliers beat Sandusky (33-14) last week.  They trail Bellevue by a game in the standings and play the Redmen next week.

          Fox says Clyde is balanced with a solid defense and offense and they spread the ball around a lot on offense.  “Each week we get to wake up on Saturday and let’s turn the next page.  We get to turn the page to Clyde and they are a very good football team.  Coach (Ryan) Carter always does a great job getting his team around.  We have had some great wars over there between us over the last three years and we except no different.  Offensively, they are very balanced and talented on both ends.  They lead the league in total defense.  We have our work cut out for us, but we are ready to go to war,” said Fox.

          It is not easy to identity what to try to concentrate on containing when facing Clyde, Fox says they just have to play fundamental defense.  “You go into games usually defensively and pick your poison, let’s stop this and make them beat us with this.  Here is a team that can legitimately beat you both ways.  So, we have to be ready to go and play sound, fundamental defensive football,” he said.

Published 10/15/21

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Norwalk Looks for First Division Win Versus Perkins

          Norwalk travels to Sandusky Perkins for a game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.

          They are coming off another tough loss to Sandusky last week.  The Blue Streaks beat them (26-13) last Friday.

          Coach Todd Fox says unfortunately their season has been like a broken record and it’s like broken disco record.  “It really is the same song, just a different week.  We just get ourselves in a hole.  Make mistakes at the least opportune time an then you fall short of a comeback.  I just keep preaching to our kids that we have to keep our focus.  Focus on the little things and find ways to win,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Right now, I feel we are finding a lot of ways to lose a game and we just have to find ways to win.  I am proud of our guys they work hard.  Each week we have been in every game and with a tough schedule.  We try to do things the right way.  If you do things the right way eventually things will work out for you.”

          Norwalk (1-6,0-2) is at Perkins (5-2,1-1) on Friday.  Perkins was blanked by Bellevue (26-0) last week.

          Fox says they an improving team with a lot of athletes.  “They are having a great season.  They started on fire.  I expect that they are going to continue that way.  I think that shows what our league is like.  They beat Clyde, Clyde beat Columbian, and Bellevue turns around and thumps on Perkins last week.  Our league is tough.  They are a much improved football team.  Offensive they are huge threat and defensively they are young.  There are some kids that are going to around for a couple of years.  We just have to play football and do things the right way,” said Fox.

          Perkins running back Collin Nemitz leads the division in rushing this season with 1,227 yards.  He also have 13 touchdown runs this season.

          Fox say he is real breakaway threat.  “One of our coaches said (Tuesday) he is a track superstar on the football field.  Once he hits the lane, he is tough to stop.  We are focused on that this week trying to slow that down,” he said.

Published 10/06/21

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Turnovers Still a Problem for Norwalk

          Norwalk entertains Sandusky in a game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night at Contactor’s Stadium inside the Whitney Athletic Complex.

          Both need a win after a slow start the season.

          Norwalk fell (14-0) to rival Bellevue in division play last week.

          Once again, coach Todd Fox says they had too many turnovers.  “We played a great football team and when you play great football teams, it seems like I have said several times this year, you can’t turn the ball over.  We had five turnovers plus the safety where we basically recovered our own fumble there.  You just can’t do it,” he told Swankpnsports.com on Tuesday night, “We didn’t punt last week.  Now, having said that a good potion of that was because Bellevue’s defense was playing well, but then again so was ours.  We held a team that was averaging 41 points a game to 14 and we gave them two of those points.”

          Norwalk (1-5,0-1) hosts Sandusky (2-4,0-1) on Friday night.  Sandusky lost (40-13) to Tiffin Columbian last week.

          Fox says this year is no different than most.  He says the Blue Streaks have athletic players capable of big plays.  “They are athletic all over the field.  I have said this before, anybody in our league can win on any night.  They have had some tough games with St. Vincent/St. Mary and Padua.  Coach (Mike) Franklin has done a nice job.  His son is the quarterback, who is a great field manager and is a duel threat that we just have to be aware of.  It is going to be another battle, just like every night for us.  We have to be mistake free,” said Fox.

          Sandusky has played some good defense at times this year and Fox says they are going to have to execute to score on them and they have to quit shooting themselves in the foot.  “The good news is we have been playing against good defenses.  They are not different than any of the ones we have played.  It is just a matter that we can’t afford to turn the ball over.  We need to take advantage of opportunities in the red zone.  From there we will see what the triple zeros are.  I still think we have a good football team here that is capable of turning things around and still contend for the “SBC” title,” he said.

Published 9/29/21

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Norwalk Meets Fundamentally Sound Bellevue

          Norwalk travels to Bellevue on the first week of play in the tough Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          The Truckers (1-4,0-0) dropped a (34-21) decision to Columbus Bishop Hartley.

          Coach Todd Fox says they played a very good team and just didn’t have enough.  “Bishop Hartley was as advertised, they were very good.  They got on us early.  We got in the red zone a couple of times.  We had a turnover, kind of our story so far this year.  They have some great skilled players and we did the thing that we can’t do, we let them have big plays.  Then they let off the gas a little bit and we stormed back there late third quarter, fourth quarter, but just not enough time.  Just not enough to beat a great team.  That was the measuring stick we wanted and we see where we are not at,” said Fox.

          Bellevue (4-1,0-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, beat Toledo Start (49-14) last week in their final non-conference game.

          Fox says the Bellevue running game, leading the division in rushing yards this season, 294 yards a game, is tremendous.  “Well, it doesn’t get any easier for us the Bellevue Redmen are a very well coached team.  Their offense is moving the ball all over the place.  It all centers around their quarterback and a great running back.  That also means if both guys are running the ball they have a great offensive line,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Coach (Ed) Nasonti’s program is top notch and how they do the game and how they respect the game.  We are just going to go out there and we will have to play a great game to win this game.”

          Meanwhile, Bellevue has thrown only 13 passes a game.  Fox says they want to contain the run game, but they just have to play solid overall defense.  “I guess in the big scheme of things you want to top what their number one is and that’s running the ball, but at the same time we have to play solid on both phases of the game defensively because we want to make sure we can slow them down.  No one has been able to slow them down they are averaging 41 points a game.  They are a great football team and we are just going to have to be able to compete,” said Fox.

          Bellevue also leads the division with a plus nine turnover ratio and Fox they are very good on that side of the ball too.  “They are very fundamentally sound.  Again, their box seven is very good, their backers and their defensive line, which is very solid, very power oriented, fundamental.  They just do things the right way under coach Nasonti,” he said.

Published 9/23/21

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Norwalk with Big Challenge Against Hartley

          Norwalk continues its tough non-conference schedule this week as the Truckers host the Columbus Bishop Hartley Hawks in a non-conference game on Friday night.

          They won their first game of the season last Friday, when Plane Flores scored on a 57-yard TD run with the less than a minute to play and the Truckers beat Edison (20-13) in a crossover game in the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          Coach Todd Fox says they have been getting better on offense because Flores is settling in.  “We are breaking in a new quarterback.  We had been blessed with a great one for the last three years.  Plane Flores brings a different skill set that we have broken down and he is making better reads and the game is slowing down for him.  We are excited where we are going with our offense, but it has been a process and we don’t have an easy schedule so that process has to come under the heat of a tough game each week,” he said.

          With only five division games to play in the tough Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, it can be hard for those schools to find someone to play weeks four and five.

          Fox says they went out and tried to find tough teams to play.  “It is exactly why our schedule is set they way it is.  We were having a hard time finding games.  Sitting down we made a decision as a staff, and I drove it, so I’ll take the blame, we thought you know what, let’s prepare ourselves for our league, and the only way we can prepare ourselves for our league, which we feel is one of the best in the State of Ohio, is play the best up to that point.  We feel that after our 10 week grind that if we can get ourselves in the playoffs, we will be a battle tested and ready to go.  It is a challenge each week for coaches and players alike,” said Fox.

          Norwalk (1-3) hosts Bishop Hartley (2-2) in non-conference game.

          Hartley is coming off a (38-17) loss to unbeaten Cleveland Benedictine last week.  Their other loss came on week one (62-58) to Youngstown Ursuline.  Their wins were (21-14) over Harvest Prep and (48-21) over Canal Winchester.

          Fox says the Hawks are talented and they are used to winning.  “We have a big challenge in front of us.  They have a big line up front and a lot of skilled athletes surrounding them.  Coach (Brad) Burchfield does an amazing job with his program.  If you look back in the last 10 years it’s state finals, state semifinals, state champs, regional finals, that’s what their forte is,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We set this game up a couple of years ago and I was just honored for him to ask to play us.  It is a great earmark for our program and our season to see where we are at.  We were hoping we would be in a better situation record wise going into that game, but the goal is still to get better and compete with the top.”

Published 9/17/21

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Norwalk Heading in the Right Direction

          Norwalk goes in search of its first win of the season when they travel to Edison to face the Chargers in a crossover game in the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.

          Edison will be honoring former player Max Soviak, who was killed in attack in Afghanistan last month.  He served with the United States Navy.

          Last week, the Truckers (0-3) lost to Olmstead Falls (35-25) in a non-conference game.

          However, coach Todd Fox was pleased with the progress they made.  “I think probably to this point in the season this was the best football we have played.  We had a lead there early in the fourth quarter and had a couple of scores get away from us.  Went for two there in the fourth trying to get it to a one score game and didn’t make it.  It is one those things where at least we see the progress with what we need to do,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “Olmsted Falls is a very good program, a very good football team and we feel like we responded well.  So, we think we are headed in the right direction, but we have little things to make up.”

          Edison (1-2) dropped a (14-0) decision to Western Reserve last week.

          Fox says the Chargers run the ball well.  “It is a nice backyard rivalry between the two schools.  They have been very good as of late.  Right now, they have a very talented quarterback a group of guys around him that are doing great things.  Actually, their lines have been impressive.  They had a setback last week, but I do feel it is going to be a battle.  It will be an emotional week as they are going to honor the fallen solider Max Soviak.” said Fox.

          With Edison featuring the run, Fox knows they are going to have to win at the line of scrimmage of they are going to slow them down.  “We feel the strength of our team in our line week in and week out.  We like this matchup in those terms.  They have that wing-T, that triple option look and we have to be disciplined, swam to the ball, and take care of ourselves on both sides of the ball,” he said.

Published 9/08/21

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Norwalk Correcting Things

          Norwalk, still trying to figure things out on offense, plays host to Olmstead Falls in a non-conference game on Friday night at Contractor’s Stadium at Whitney Field.

          Huron beat the Truckers (17-0) last week and the Norwalk offense has scored only twice all year while turning it over five times, all in the first quarter of those two games, three against Mansfield Senior and two against Huron.

          Coach Todd Fox says they have been working hard at getting more efficient on that side of the ball.  “All we can do is try and get a little better each day.  We have had a good week of practice, so hopefully that translates to something on Friday night.  We went back to the drawing board to look at where mistakes were made and broke it down,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “These are high school kids and you have to find ways to get to them to correct the things we are doing wrong.  As coaches, we look at what we are doing wrong.  Hopefully, this week things will turn a little better for us on the offensive side of the ball.”

          The Norwalk defense, on the other hand, has been very good.  Fox says they have kept them in ballgames.  “We have put our defense is horrible situations.  The first two games we have started with five turnovers hose first two games, three in the first and two in the second, we put them in the hole all of those times.  Hopefully, we don’t do that again and they continue to be consistent while the rest of us rise up to adversity here with a big challenge in the Olmstead Falls Bulldogs,” he said.

          Olmstead Falls (1-1) beat Lorain (50-6) in their opener and then lost to Brunswick (28-21) last week.

          Fox says the Bulldogs have great tradition.  “They are an outstanding football program coming down the suburban Cleveland area.  Coach Tom DeLuca is a Norwalk alum.  His dad coached 47 years at Norwalk in various sports.  For him it is a coming home party, but he has a great football team, a perennial powerhouse in the playoffs, so we have to be ready.  We scheduled them intentionally to give ourselves a challenge each week.  We have to rise up to that challenge and be ready for it,” said Fox.

Published 9/03/21

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Norwalk Defense Will be Stretched

          Norwalk entertains Huron in a week two non-conference game on Friday night at Contactors Stadium at Whitney Field.

          In their opener, Norwalk fumbled three times the first three times they had the ball and fell behind Mansfield Senior (18-0), but they would rally and take the game down to the very end before falling (18-12) to the Tygers.

          Coach Todd Fox says they can’t turn the ball over like that, but they showed some grit.  “We shot ourselves in the foot against a good team and you can’t do that and that’s exactly what happened.  They are a good team and you can’t start behind the eight ball like that.  What we liked was our guys kept their eyes up driving forward,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We kind of found our identity on the offensive side of the ball.  We learned a lot from that.  My favorite part was they didn’t stop fighting until triple zeros.  I think that is going to prove to be pretty beneficial for the rest of the season.”

          Fox says they didn’t quit and that shows a lot about this football team.  “In the first four minutes of the game we had turned the ball over three times.  We could have packed it up and the next 44 minutes would have been just miserable, but they didn’t do that.  They got in a grove and found out they could claw their way back into a game and that’s a good mentality for the future,” he said.

          Huron lost its opener too.  Norwalk St. Paul beat them (10-0) on Saturday night.  They turned it over three times near the Flyers goal line.

          Fox says they have some tremendous speed on the roster.  “Huron they have a lot of speed.  They are a very fast football team in all area, even their line has some speed on it.  They have a great quarterback that is a dual threat.  I think he had 150 yards passing and rushing last week.  He is also a big focal part of their defense.  We have to contain him.  It is a storied program that we have not had a lot of success against, so we have to get to work and be ready to roll on Friday night,” said Fox.

          Fox says they must have great pursuit because the Tigers have great breakaway ability.  “This is not a one man tackling team right now, we have to be 11 hats to the ball.  11 men to the ball on every hit because whoever has the ball they just go.  They have great moves and they have the ability to avoid tacklers.  We have to gang tackle and play sound defense.  Our defense is very solid.  We are excited about what they can do for us,” he said.

Published 8/25/21

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Norwalk Defense Must Contain Tygers

          Norwalk travels south to play Mansfield Senior in a non-conference football game on Friday night at the renovated Arlin Field.

          The two teams have spilt the series so far with Norwalk winning in 2018 and the Tygers in 2019.  They did not play last year, although the game was originally scheduled for after the playoffs in the disjointed 2020 season.

          This year, coach Todd Fox says they have done some good things and found out where they need to be better during the preseason.  “We have seen some of the things we wanted to see in terms of how we can time up our passing game in the short preseason here with the line of scrimmage and stuff like that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “We felt our defense has played really well.  The reason you have those scrimmages and previews is you learn all of the areas we need to get better.  We found those things are we are going to focus on that this week to prepare for the Tygers.”

          When looking at the Tygers on tape, Fox says they are well prepared to play and as usual they are going to feature some athletes.  “They are a well coached team with coach Bradley and coach Adams on the defensive side of the ball.  It is one of those things where they are a well coached team with athletes all over the field.  We are going to have to be our best to compete with them and do our best to give them a fight for 48 minutes,” he said.

          Fox says when you play against a big play team like Mansfield Senior you have to make them drive the ball if they are going to score.  He says you have to make them earn it.  “You have to try and contain them because I don’t think you can stop, stop them, but you have to contain them.  Make them drive for those touchdowns.  At the same time when we have the ball make sure we don’t make those mistakes and we can get down the field to score.  Containing them and not letting the big plays happen has to be to be one of your goals,” said Fox.

Published 8/17/21

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Enthusiasm High at Norwalk

          Norwalk, part of the that tough and well balanced Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, will have a senior led squad that features a lot of guys that can play.

          Coach Todd Fox says due to the OHSAA trimming the number of weeks from three to two forced them to get busy a lot quicker.  “It just changes your install plan.  You have to do a little more in the summer, but we didn’t change much in that regard as in days.  You have to be a little faster.  For us, we put more focus on our kids making sure that they took ownership of themselves too.  Ultimately, with install and getting everything done by game one is a lot different this year,” said Fox.

          Norwalk scrimmaged Crestview last week and will tune up with Shelby on Friday before opening the season in non-conference play at Mansfield Senior on August 20.

          Fox says his guys can’t wait for the season.  “We are excited about our kids and our team this year.  We return a lot of players on both sides of the ball.  The roster numbers are big.  We have a lot kids.  We have 90 plus on the roster.  We just have to put the pieces together and see which ones rise to the top,” he said.

          The Truckers have a lot of players with experience back, but they are looking for a quarterback.

          Fox says they are replacing quarterback skills, but more a leadership that Garrett Chapin supplied the last couple of years.  “Garrett Chapin it wasn’t just he quarterback skills that he had it was his leadership and the way he led our team.  Replacing that has been my biggest worry in terms of his leadership,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We have a big senior class of players that have been starters and have taken that ownership.  I don’t think we have one guy that is a vocal leader, we have a team of 15 seniors taking charge of that role.”

Published 8/11/21

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Norwalk Edges Vermilion

          In a possible preview of a sectional final next week, Norwalk beat division champion Vermilion (1-0) on Monday night in a Sandusky Bay Conference River Division game.

          Norwalk would score a run in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI hit by Ian Minor.  Thomas Gfell would go the distance throwing a shutout for the Truckers.

          Coach Wes Douglas says it was a very good win for them.  “I am feeling pretty good about our team (Monday) night.  It is an up and down process with us.  It was a well played game by both teams.  We scored a run in the bottom of the first.  Their pitcher Jacob Krausher pitched outstanding and our pitcher Thomas Gfell battled all night and maybe pitched the best game of his career,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “After a couple of tough losses the last couple of games it was a great win.  We actually threw out the tying run at the plate to end the game.”

          If Norwalk (14-10) would be Perkins in a sectional semifinal next week they would advance to play at Vermilion (17-6) in division II sectional final.

          Douglas identified Monday night as perhaps Gfell’s best outing as a Trucker.  He says he was able to throw all of his pitches for strikes.  “He has been our number one for the last couple of years.  He struggled a little bit the last time we played them, but he was on his game (Monday) night.  He had four pitches working and kept them off balance.  Neither pitcher walked a guy.  We had one error late and I think maybe they had one error.  It was a pretty well played high school baseball game,” he said.

          The lone run in the game was scored by Sam Battles, who had singled to lead off the bottom of the first inning, and scored on Minor’s single.

          Douglas says the Battles and Nate Adleman combined to retire a Vermilion runner at home plate for the last out of the game.  “Sammy Battles led the game off with a hit, which he has done more times than not this year, stole second base, and with two out Ian Minor had a clean hit.  We threatened one other time.  They threatened maybe once and that was in the seventh inning.  They had runners at first and second and they hit a little blooper over first.  The runner on second, they sent him, which I would have too.  Nate Adelman threw a strike and Sammy Battles put the tag on and the ballgame was over.  It was a fun ballgame,” said Douglas.

Published 5/11/21

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Norwalk Gets Back in Race

          Norwalk earned a crucial win on Monday evening as they beat Sandusky Perkins (8-5) in a Lake Division game in the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          They trail Vermilion by two games in the division standings.  They tail Perkins by one.

          Coach Wes Douglas says Monday was a must win for them.  “If we have any hope at all we couldn’t fall another game back.  A quality Perkins team had beaten us earlier in the season.  We always seem to have back and forth games with them.  We got down 3-0 early (Monday) night and fought back for a nice win.  We feel really good about it,” he said.

          Perkins (10-5,7-2) took a (3-0) lead in the first when Luke Walton hit a solo homer to start the game and two more runs scored on errors.

          The Truckers (10-7,5-3) started their comeback with a run in the third.  Nate Adelman produced an RBI double in the fourth to make it (3-2) and Norwalk took the lead (4-3) when two more runs scored on errors.  Perkins tied it the bottom of the fourth (4-4), but Norwalk took the lead for good in the fifth on a two-run double by Adelman.  They added two insurance runs in the seventh on a two-run single by Thomas Gfell.

          Ian Minor pitched six innings of relief to get the win.

          Douglas says they kept fighting to get the win.  “That’s what we keep talking to the guys about.  Sometimes they have had that energy to keep going.  A couple of times they haven’t.  We made a point of it after the game that we were really happy that the energy stayed up, the focus and the belief, and our course you transfer that to some life lessons along the way.  Things don’t always go as planned and you just keep working as hard as you can until it’s said and done and usually things will turn out the way they are supposed to,” said Douglas.

          When they made some mistakes early and got behind, Douglas says you have to put that in the review mirror.  “Every coach talks about that with their players in every sport.  In baseball, you are kind of on that island on that one play.  Everybody knows you didn’t make the right play.  I made a call that I questioned myself on against Defiance a couple of Saturdays ago in a 1-0, 10 inning loss that ended up costing us the game.  It ate at me for a while, but I told the players that I had to move on to the next situation and keep coaching.  It’s not always easy and sometimes it’s a thing you have to learn in any sport, but I think it is very visible in baseball,” said Douglas.

          With four games left to play in the league, Vermilion and Perkins have three, the Truckers are still alive, but Douglas says they have to keep playing.  “Vermilion won 4-3 over Tiffin (Monday) night, so that puts them in the driver’s seat.  They are a really good baseball team.  We have another shot at them.  Our loss to Tiffin last week we knew at the time was a tough one to swallow with the league race, but we are still alive.  We will keep playing until the last pitch and see where we fall,” he said.

Published 4/27/21

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Norwalk Beats Sandusky; Plays Vermilion Next

          Norwalk got back in the win column in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference with an (8-4) win at home over Sandusky on Tuesday evening.

          They trail Perkins by a game in the division standings.

          Sam Battles opened the bottom of the first inning with a double and Eli Obringer followed with an RBI double.  Ian Minor had a RBI single and the Truckers used some small ball to get a (4-1) lead after one.

          The Blue Steaks got back in the game and trailed (6-4) going to the bottom of the fourth.  Norwalk pushed two more across in their half of the fourth when Jessie Cole singled and Battles followed with another single.  They scored on a ground ball and a sacrifice fly.

          Coach Wes Douglas says it was a good way to start the game for them.  “We came out in the first inning, first pitch double, second pitch double, followed that with some small ball and got four runs in the first inning, pushed it out to 6-2, they cut it to 6-4 and it ended up 8-4.  So, it was a beautiful night for baseball and we played pretty clean defensively.  Got a win in the league and looking forward to a game at Vermilion (Wednesday),” said Douglas.

          Cole started and got the win, Obringer pitched the final three innings for a save.

          Norwalk (7-4,3-1) suffered their only loss in the division to Perkins (5-3) April 7 and Douglas says it was key to get back on the winning track on Tuesday.  “That was a tough loss.  We had one bad inning defensively.  They played cleaner than us and they put the ball in play a little bit better than us.  So, it was good to play solid (Tuesday),” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “I thought we had some really good at bats and extended some at bats and got some momentum going into a big week with Vermilion and Bellevue.  We are playing Defiance over at Bowling Green on Saturday.  So, it is a very good week to compete against some good teams.”

          The Truckers play at Vermilion (6-4,4-1), a (3-0) loser to Perkins on Tuesday, a big early season game in the Lake Division. 

          Douglas says they can’t afford to get too far behind.  “Perkins has a one game lead over us and Vermilion now, so whoever does not come out on top (Wednesday) will be two back in the loss column.  You are digging a little bit of a hole.  I don’t know what is going to end up winning the league.  We can’t afford to fall much farther behind than that.  We are going to need our best effort (Wednesday).  We have our top two pitchers both healthy and fresh.  So, we will go over there and compete and hopefully we will play well,” he said.

Published 4/14/21

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Norwalk Downs Columbian

          Norwalk scored four runs on only two hits in the sixth inning on Wednesday to beat Tiffin Columbian (5-2) in a game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          Two Truckers were forced in on walks by Columbian pitchers and two more scored on an error.

          Coach Wes Douglas thought it was important to go to Tiffin and play well.  “It is really early in the season, but I just thought this was a big game, a good test, to see where our team in at.  Even if we would have lost (Wednesday) night we needed to play well in all phases and we did and to come out with a win against a quality team and a good lefthanded pitcher in Carson Mellott,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “So, we were really excited to come out of there, both teams played pretty good.  A lot of hard hit balls for outs and a lot of action.  It was a quick moving game and pretty clean for the most part.  With a road win to start the league I am really happy.”

          Eli Obringer, Nate Adelman and Ian Minor all had two hits for the Truckers (2-1,1-0) on Wednesday.

          Thomas Gfell went six and 1/3 innings, allowing one earned run on eight hits, all singles.

          Douglas says they got a strong performance from him and Minor, who closed the game getting the final two outs.  “Thomas Gfell, our senior number one, gave us a good start and got us to the seventh with one out and Ian Minor, our junior, came in and closed it out for us.  We got a nice back pick in the seventh that saved us a run.  They had guys on when the game ended.  They had a little really themselves going, but we got out of some jams.  I think everybody on the team contributed in some way (Wednesday) night.  A good team win for us,” said Douglas.

          Douglas feels their defense was a big factor in the win over Tiffin.  “We are not going to strikeout a ton of guys.  I not sure when they struck out (Wednesday) maybe five?  I think our team struck out four, so both defenses were tested.  I think we played a little bit cleaner and manufactured a run in the first inning.  They had a little defensive miscue that cost two more runs.  I think our defense definitely was the difference,” he said.

Published 4/01/21

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Norwalk to Field Another Good Team

          Norwalk lost a ton of seniors to graduation last year, but they still expect to be one of the better baseball teams around again this year.

          That’s not surprise, the Truckers have been among the more consistent baseball programs over the last 25 years.

          Coach Wes Douglas says with the plug being pulled on last year, they are excited to get started this spring.  “I think fans of any sports are glad to see things getting a little closer to normal.  If you are a baseball fan, I think they are really excited to see some sunshine and be back on the ballfield,” he said.

          They are scheduled to play their first game against Ontario March 27.  They open play in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference by facing Tiffin Columbian on March 31.

          The Truckers were expecting to be very good last year in the season that wasn’t and Douglas says this spring they expect to be pretty competitive once again.  “We still have a good solid core.  We lost a nice group of seven seniors last year, but we had a lot of depth on the mound and in the dugout.  I think we still have a really good nucleus.  Maybe not the depth we had last year.  Our kids have worked had this winter.  They have played a lot of ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “This junior and senior class were on a league championship team 2019 as freshmen and sophomores, so they will be our leaders.  We have filled in with some players around them.  We are ready to do.  We have packed a very competitive schedule along with our normal league games.  So, we have our hands full, but I think we will compete.”

          Douglas stresses the kids on the varsity this season have matured quite a bit since the last time they played a high school baseball game.  “It was pretty evident when we put uniforms.  We passed out uniforms and the guys wanted the same number the had two years ago and they couldn’t get them to button.  They have to move them around a little bit and make sure.  They may not have gotten the number they wanted in the uniforms that are a couple of years old.  It was kind of good to see, you haven’t worn that in two years, so it was kind of funny to see them try and squeeze into them,” said Douglas.

3/16/21

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Shelby Advances to Regional With Win Over Norwalk

          Shelby raced to a (21-12) lead after the first quarter and never trailed in beating Norwalk (64-44) in the division II district title game on Saturday night at Ashland High School.

          Cody Lantz drilled a three and added a layup with 6:22 to play in the first and Norwalk called time out after the Whippets took a (10-2) lead with 4:48 in the first on a T.J. Push basket.

          The Whippets were running the floor and that is what the scouting report said, according to Shelby coach Nathon Loney.  “That was exactly what we needed to do was set the tempo from the get go.  We had a really solid first quarter again, but really Saturday night I think it was the second quarter that was more impressive.  We really turned the pressure up the second quarter and got the ball rolling pretty good,” said Loney.

          It quickly became (30-15) with 4:36 to play in the half after a three-pointer by Jeremy Holloway.  The lead grew to as much as 21 at (38-17) on a Pugh hoop with :23 seconds left in the half.

          Norwalk had 10 turnovers in the first half and Loney says they expected to make their pressure a factor.  “That is to be expected and that is what we want to do.  Our defense leads to our offense.  When you are getting steals like that and it leads to easy layups it is hard to compete with,” said Loney.

          Norwalk (17-9) was co-champion in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.  Coach Steve Gray says they lacked confidence in their play.  “We didn’t play our best game (Saturday) night.  They are very talented.  They are long, they are athletic.  We just didn’t play with the confidence that we needed to be successful,” he said.

          Pugh had 18 points and Lantz 16 for the Whippets, but everybody contributed.

          Loney points out the play of Andre Hill.  “Andre hit some really big shots for us.  I can’t credit Andre enough for his defense though.  Last year, we had Grant Gossom and this year with have Andre Hill.  Eventually somebody is going to say are they ever going to get rid of that guy.  Andre was so good, I can’t praise him enough with how good he was defensively.  Not only, him but everybody.  Our defense was suffocating that first half,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “Everybody was buying in and diving on the court for loose balls.  That’s what it takes to win this game if we want to give ourselves a chance to win next Thursday it is going to have to go up another notch.”

          Shelby (20-3) will play Lima Shawnee (23-1) in the regional semis on Thursday night at Elida High School.

          Norwalk was in the regional tournament two years ago and they have accomplished a lot on and off the floor.  “All we wanted to do was get it to the fourth quarter and put some pressure on them and see how they reacted.  Think about this, (Garrett) Chapin has played in 104 games, started 104, we have been to three district championships, we have won two league championships with these kids.  So, we have a lot to be proud of. We have an excellent group of kids.  Our top seven are National Honor Society kids and I think that is pretty neat,” said Gray.

          Loney says he and this team have been able to take the Shelby basketball program to new heights.  “I know to me and the kids it is huge.  The community is starting to see some success out of the basketball program.  I know Shelby is known as a football town, kind of like where I grew up, Danville was the same way, a football town, now they are starting to see some success in the basketball program.  I can’t say enough about our athletics as a whole at Shelby,” said Loney.

Published 3/06/21

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Norwalk Survives in Overtime

          Norwalk outscored Ontario (28-19) over the game’s last 12:44 to force overtime and then beat the Warriors (66-62) in a division II district semifinal on Wednesday night at Ashland High School.

          They advance to play Shelby, who beat Huron (75-49) Wednesday, on Saturday night for a district title.

          After trailing (35-26) with 4:44 to play in the third quarter after Ontario guard Darian Delbrugge canned a three, the Truckers went on a (23-5) run over eight minutes to claim a (49-40) lead with 3:55 to play following an Ian Minor three.  However, Ontario battled right back as Kolten Kurtz and Griffin Shaver drilled back to back threes to make it (49-46) with 3:04 left.

          Shaver’s two free throws with :15 seconds left in regulation sent the game to an extra four minutes.

          Norwalk took a (58-54) lead on a field goal by Kyler Kromer and two free throws by Will Gehlhausen with 3:07 left in the extra period.  Ontario again would tie it at (60-60) on a Shaver hoop with 1:14 left in overtime.  Gehlhausen put a dagger in the Warriors with a three with :58 seconds left to give Norwalk a three point (63-60) advantage.  After Gage Weaver was called for a charge, Garrett Chapin sealed the deal with two free throws.

          “I thought we played really well in the second half.  I don’t know how many turnovers we had, but we did a great job.  Hats off to Ontario, Joe has a great team with Shaver and Kurtz.  I thought the three was going to be our downfall (Wednesday) night, but fortunately we survived the first half a got back in it,” said Norwalk coach Steve Gray.

          Ontario converted 11 three pointers on the night, six by Kurtz.

          Gray feels the start of the overtime period was key for them.  “We got the early lead and then they sort of panicked just a little, fouled, that type of thing.  Overtime was good because they took the press off and allowed us to execute a little bit better,” he said.

          Ontario coach Joe Balogh is proud of his players.  “We put ourselves in position.  We controlled what we could control.  Some of the uncontrolables hurt us in this basketball game,” he said.

          The hall of fame coach disputes a couple of charge/block calls made by the officiating crew in particular.

          In referencing the (23-5) run from the middle of the third to the middle of the fourth, Gray says the coaching staff pointed out what makes the Truckers good.  “We just challenged them.  We run a lot of sets.  We do it because we don’t have time to work on our offense because we spend most of our time on our defense.  Shaver just went and got his late in the game and he was unbelievable and Kurtz, we made a star out of him (Wednesday) night,” said Gray.

          He also pointes out that their offensive rebounding in the second half was a huge factor for them.   “We talked all week about they take long shots and there will be long rebounds, but we never went and found them in the first half.  We didn’t box out and we leaked out early and that was disappointing.  How about the sequence when we got five offensive rebounds and Minor ended up scoring,” said Gray.

          Balogh says the Truckers did hurt them on the offensive glass, but adds he feels they didn’t get any breaks in the game and that hurt them too.  “The one where they had about four was huge, but a couple of charge calls against us were huge also.  I guess that is part of the game.  We just didn’t find a break.  We tried to make some brakes, but we didn’t find a break,” said Balogh.

          Minor led four Truckers in double figures with 17 points, followed by Chapin with 16, Kromer with 14 and Gehilhausen with another 13. 

          Gray says both Minor and Kromer, not considered stars, stepped up big time in the win over the Warriors.  “Joe said this week that somebody that is not one of the so called stars on both teams was going to be the difference.  For us I thought (Ian) Minor and (Kyler) Kromer were just unbelievable.  So, those two stepped up big time, said Gray, and adds another player.  “Nobody will mention his name, but (Carson) Bauman gave us three or four great minutes in the end of the third and I thought he was outstanding.”

          Kurtz had five three pointers in the first 8:16 of the game and finished the night with a game high 23 for Ontario.  Fellow senior Shaver did not score until a big corner three with 3:04 left in regulation, but finished the night with 13 points, eight of them coming in overtime.

          Balogh says both kids have meant a lot to the Ontario program.  “(Kurtz) was big for us.  I thought Griff got the crap beat out of him all night, like he has all year, but he persevered and made a lot of great plays down the stretch.  Those two guys were huge (Wednesday) night for us as always.  Two guys that kind of define Ontario basketball with how hard they play, the passion they have for them game.  Just disappointed to see it end this way for them,” said Balogh.

Published 3/04/21

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Defense Again Has to be the Difference for Norwalk

          Norwalk tangles with Ontario in a division II district semifinal on Wednesday night at Ashland High School.

          It will be the second game of the night.  Shelby and Huron play the first.  The winners square off Saturday night for the district title.

          Norwalk (16-8) stuffed Upper Sandusky (52-38) in a sectional championship game on Friday night at Norwalk.

          Coach Steve Gray says hey locked down a very good Upper Sandusky team on defense.  “We did play really well.  Upper Sandusky was a good opponent.  Jeff Winslow does a great job with those kids.  He has two good posts, he has got a kids that can just flat out shoot the ball.  We were very concerned going in about how we were going to contain their weapons.  Defensively, we were just really good.  We were fortunate, we put a lot of pressure on Adams and he didn’t make a shot for them game and that helped our cause,” said Gray.

          Ontario (17-5) as the runner up in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.  They beat Mansfield Senior (57-53) in their sectional final.

          Gray says Ontario is going to be fundamental at both ends. “Everybody knows what you are getting when you play Joe (Balogh),” he told Swankonsports.com, “They are going to defend their fannies off, they are going to get out in transition, they are going to play hard for 32 minutes and they will be well prepared.  Joe is a good friend and we are excited to just play in the districts and maybe have a chance to get to the finals.”

          Between the two there are 1,065 wins at the varsity level.  Balogh (598) is in the coaches’ hall of fame and Gray (467) would seem to be headed that way.

          Gray say they must play the same kind of defense against the Ontario guards that they did last week.  “Our focus was on Adams from Upper Sandusky.  I think we really have to concentrate on (Griffin) Shaver and (Kolten) Kurtz because I think they are two really good players.  We are going to have to kind our p’s and q’s defensively,” said Gray.

          He says they must be patient on offense and try and get the best shot possible.  “I think you have to make one or two extra passes.  Initially defensively they are outstanding, bur like most teams the more passes you make, you cut hard and you take care of the ball maybe you can get a better opportunity to score,” said Gray.

Published 3/02/21

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Norwalk With Tough Assignment

          Norwalk, co-champion of the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, is at home for Upper Sandusky, of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, for a division II sectional final on Friday night.

          It is a rematch of last year’s district final won by Upper by a point.

          Norwalk (15-8), the number three seed, chose not to take the bye, and beat Galion handily (68-31) in a semifinal on Tuesday.

          Coach Steve Gray says there are a number of reasons why he wants to play that semifinal.  “We usually chose to do it.  Number one, kids don’t want to practice anymore.  Then to play last Friday night and then have to go a full week it is hard to keep their interest.  They want to play and I don’t blame them.  It allows you to let your kids play in a different situation with no JV game.  We were fortunate, we were able to get our young kids significant playing time.  I just think the positives far out weight the negatives,” he said.

          Upper Sandusky (14-8) shared second in the “N10” this season.

          Gray feels the Rams have a great inside-outside combination in Gavin Carey and Cade Adams.  “I think Jeff (Winslow) does a great job with them.  I think their big two (Gavin) Carey, who plays inside, great hands, great feet, he is probably the best post player we have seen all year in terms of playing on the block with his back to the basket, but he can also step out and shoot the three, so our hands are full with him,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “The (Cade) Adams kid has shot 185 threes and 25 twos, so you know what you are getting with him.  A big kid inside and a shooter outside and they have great kids that complement those players.”

          When it comes to the execution of their game plan, Gray says they need to be able to adjust because he isn’t sure what he is getting from Upper Sandusky.  “They want to play fast, but I don’t know what they are going to do with us defensively.  If they are really going to go after our point guard (Will) Gehlhuasen, which most teams have chosen to do or if they are going to concentrate on (Garrett) Chapin.  As far as if they want to go fast or slow, I really don’t know and it will be interesting to see what Jeff chooses to do.  We are ready to go against their press, hopefully he will just let us run our sets and we will be really happy,” said Gray.

Published 2/26/02

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Outright Title Within the Grasp of Norwalk

          Norwalk has got a little something, but they want very much the have a celebration on Friday night and the only way that is going to happen is if they beat Tiffin Columbian at home.

          They have earned no less than a share of the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division title after beating Perkins (56-53) in overtime last Saturday.  They get that title all to themselves if they beat Columbian on Friday night, if not they will be forced to share it with the Tornadoes.

          In the last couple of games, coach Steve Gray says they have gotten some clutch plays from Ian Minor.  “Fortunately for us, against Perkins Ian Minor made a big shot to send it to overtime.  Then (Wednesday) night he it a big shot in the closing seconds to put us up to win the game.  Ian did great and on defense we have been pretty good the last month or so,” he said.

          The Truckers beat South Central (42-41) in a non-conference game on Wednesday night.

          Norwalk has been known for its defense this season, and in a lot of its seasons, and Gray says that a key is the players trust each other.  “First of all, they trust each other.  I had an interesting conversation with one of my dads.  He was talking to his son about guarding people and he wanted to know why he was forcing his man to the middle and he goes because I know Ian Minor is there to block the shot.  I think it is that kind of trust that allows us to be pretty good at that end of the floor,” said Gray.

          Norwalk (14-7,10-1) is at home for Tiffin Columbian (17-4,9-2), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday night.  Columbian gave themselves a chance to earn a share by beating Clyde (81-74) last Friday.

          Gray says the Tornadoes are able to stretch their defense more than about anybody they play.  “We are not nearly as good when we have to guard five guys on the other team and with Tiffin they have five guys that can score.  They spread you out and they have two great three point shooters.  They are just very difficult to defend,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “For us to win (Friday) I think we have to score in the high 50’s, maybe low 60’s to have a chance.”

          Columbian beat Norwalk (58-57) on January 22 when Logan Beaston made a three at the horn.

          Gray says Friday night they have to beat double teams and be aggressive.  “They are going to double team our point guard the whole game.  If we make the extra pass and attack the basket we are going to be okay, but if we play as timid as we did the last game against them then it is going to be a long night for us,” he said.

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Norwalk in First Place

          Norwalk holds a one game lead on Tiffin Columbian in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference and they have two division games to play this weekend, and both on the road, at Bellevue on Friday and at Sandusky Perkins on Saturday.

          They allowed only one point in the fourth quarter last Friday in beating Sandusky (53-35) in a division game.’

          They hold that one game lead in Tiffin Columbian in the league standings and they play the Tornadoes next week.

          There is an old saying that is easier to be the pursuer than the school with the lead.  “I would rather be one game up than one game down, I don’t know who said that. We are excited about the possibility of getting a big win Friday against Bellevue and then see what happens in Saturday,” Norwalk coach Steve Gray told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night.