Sandusky closes in on Lake title with overtime win in Norwalk

NORWALK — DeMar Moore has been around the game at nearly every level for most of his college and adult life. The first-year Sandusky coach knows there is no such thing as a clean and easy path to a league championship. And if his players didn't know that, they certainly did following Thursday night's SBC Lake Division game at Norwalk. The Blue Streaks trailed by 17 points in the first half, and were down six with under two minutes left in the fourth quarter. However, the first-place Streaks closed the game with 19-9 scoring run to claim a 71-67 overtime win at Norwalk High School. Sandusky remained two games in front of Clyde (9-7, 6-2) and improved to 14-3 overall and 9-0 in the league before it visits the Fliers on Saturday with a chance to clinch the league title outright. To win a league title, teams will have nights on the road when they have to overcome a 42-20 deficit in rebounding, which the Streaks did in the victory. "And that's exactly what I told these kids just a minute ago," Moore said. "Tonight was just another hurdle we had to get past to get where we want to be. We just had to do what we needed to get the win, and it's on to the next one." The Truckers (8-9, 4-5) led for nearly the entire game, including from the 2:13 mark of the first quarter to the 6:13 mark of the fourth. But they were were unable to overcome 28 turnovers and ran out of gas in overtime as two starters fouled out of the game. "I think foul trouble hurt us and I think a little bit of fatigue in the overtime really hurt," Norwalk head coach Steve Gray said. "We had a lot of turnovers, but they didn't turn into a ton of baskets for them for the most part. "We couldn't have them getting a bunch of run-outs, but for whatever reason we just didn't quite finish in some other areas." Sandusky trailed 45-41 entering the fourth quarter, but appeared to settle in once it went ahead 49-47 on a steal and a basket from Daylen Green with 6:30 left. Green put the Streaks ahead 52-49 with a three-point play at the 5:23 mark of the fourth, but the Truckers found another way to regain the lead. A 3-pointer by Ian Minor quickly tied it. Leading 53-52, Ashton Coe scored his lone basket to push the Norwalk lead up to 55-52, then Minor split two free throws and Parker Evans scored inside to go up 58-52 with 2:24 remaining. But the Streaks ended the final 1:50 on an 8-2 scoring run to force overtime, starting with a three-point play by Green, then consecutive scores from Jarrie Alexander to tie it at 60 with 36.6 seconds left. The Truckers ran down the clock inside 10 seconds left in regulation, but the most critical of their 28 turnovers resulted in no shot attempt and sent the game into overtime. In overtime, Daniel Traczek opened with a basket for Norwalk, but Sandusky tied the game on foul shots 28 seconds later from Green. After a Norwalk turnover, Kye Scott scored on a point-blank putback to put Sandusky ahead 64-62 with 2:51 left in the extra session. After a Norwalk miss, Alexander scored for the Blue Streaks for a critical two-possession lead with 2:12 left. Another empty Norwalk possession led to two foul shots at the other end for DeMar Moore Jr., which he sank with 1:04 left to push the lead to 68-62. The Truckers were able to cut the lead to 70-67 with 15.3 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Traczek, but Sandusky's Scott split two foul shots with 10.6 seconds left to go back up two possessions and clinch the game. "Norwalk killed us on the glass," Coach Moore said. "We couldn't rebound for nothing or hold on to the ball for whatever reason. But our defense once again came through for us, and that has kind of been our staple all season. When we needed stops, we got them, then were able to get out in transition a bit. "Just a heck of a game," he added. "Norwalk is always a well-coached team under Coach Gray and they forced us to play slower than we would have liked to play — and we settled for some jump shots. But ultimately I thought our defense was the difference tonight." It could not have been a better start in the first half for the upset-minded Truckers. After an early 5-0 deficit, Norwalk went on a 14-0 scoring run. That included 10 straight points from Caleb Sommers — three 3-pointers, including one where he was fouled and added the free throw. That put his team up 14-5 with 1:50 left in the first quarter. Ian Minor ended the quarter with a basket with 36.4 seconds left to put Norwalk ahead 17-10. A Parker Evans basket from point blank range to start the second made it 19-10. Sandusky stopped the bleeding with a basket from Issiah Taylor, but the Truckers went on an 8-0 run to extend the lead to 27-12 with 4:56 left in the first half. But after the Truckers went up 29-14 with 3:31 left on a basket by Evans, the Blue Streaks closed the half on a 10-0 scoring run to get back in the game. Taylor scored to start it, then Alexander converted a three-point play, and also scored off a steal with 18.3 seconds left to trim the deficit to 29-24 at the break. "We've proved to everybody that we can play with anyone," Gray said. "We split with Columbian, and lost tight games to Sandusky and Clyde twice. "If our kids continue to work and do the little things that we ask of them, we have a chance to maybe sneak out of the sectionals." Alexander scored 25 points for Sandusky, with Green adding 22. Traczek paced Norwalk with 23 points and seven rebounds. Minor finished with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Evans was strong with 13 points and 14 rebounds. SANDUSKY (14-3, 9-0) PJ Brown 1-4—6; Daylen Green 8-6—22; Kye Scott 1-1—3; DeMar Moore 2-2—6; Jarrie Alexander 9-6—25; Darrion Durham 1-1—3; Issiah Taylor 3-0—6. TOTALS 25-20—71 NORWALK (8-9, 4-5) Daniel Traczek 10-1—23; Ian Minor 5-8—17; Parker Evans 6-1—13; Caleb Sommers 4-1—12; Ashton Coe 1-0—2. TOTALS 26-6—67 Sandusky 10 14 17 19 11 — 71Norwalk 17 12 16 15 7 — 67 Three-point goals: Sandusky 4 (Green 3, Alexander 1); Norwalk 9 (Minor 4, Sommers 3, Traczek 2)