Norwalk controls Perkins wire-to-wire for district title

ASHLAND — The thought had been there since the summer. Then early in the biggest game of the season, it was Summer time. Over her past three games, Norwalk senior Summer Moehlman was searching. The team's 3-point leader (32) — third-most in the SBC Lake — was just 1-of-11 since the regular season finale vs. Bellevue on Feb. 9. But facing Perkins in Saturday's Division II district championship game, Moehlman delivered early. Her back-to-back 3s gave the Truckers an early 11-1 lead that never got closer than six points the rest of the way in a 49-35 win at Ashland High School. With the win, the top-seeded Truckers (22-3) won their second-ever district championship, and advanced to Tuesday's regional semifinal at 8 p.m. vs. Toledo Rogers (15-10) at Mansfield Senior's Pete Henry Gymnasium. "I just wanted to relax," Moehlman said. "Everyone just kind of reminded me to do what I know, which is just shoot it. That's kind of what I did … I relaxed, got my feet set and shot. They (the shots) just felt right. "This is surreal … (winning a district championship) is what we've worked for since the summer. To go from where we were after the Bellevue loss, it's a complete turnaround." The Pirates (14-11) made it clear early the goal was to take away Norwalk senior Brooklyn Davis, who had 46 points and 21 rebounds in two prior tournament wins. But with Perkins double-teaming Davis from the start, sophomore Kenzie Smith opened the game with a 3 to set the early tone. Two foul shots by Abby Koenig — she was 7-of-8 for the game — made it 5-0 less than two minutes in. After Perkins' Camryn VanVlerah split two free throws, Moehlman came down for her first triple just 17 seconds later from the left wing. After a Pirate turnover, Moehlman again didn't hesitate, drilling a second 3 less than a minute later, and the Norwalk lead was 11-1 at the 4:51 mark of the first quarter. "We did not rise to the occasion," Perkins coach Ryan Orshoski said. "The moment got to us. We have a whole offseason to work on this. This was a great benchmark to see where we were at, and we'll get better from it. "The hurt will wear off, but it was a great little tournament run we went on. Norwalk played very, very well. As well as I've seen them play … they were the better team and deserved the district championship today." The third quarter proved to be a struggle for both teams, but especially the Truckers. Finally, a basket by Moser at the 4:15 mark snapped a 7:06 scoring drought to give Norwalk a 26-16 lead. Perkins trimmed the deficit to six points twice, the last at the 2:03 mark on a foul shot by VanVlerah. But Koenig made a short jumper with a minute left, then Smith scored on a driving layup with 27.2 seconds to go, pushing the lead to 31-21 entering the final eight minutes. "We talked as a staff that we needed the fast start to get confidence and calm our nerves a little bit," Norwalk head coach Brock Manlet said. "But credit to Perkins. We went a long stretch without putting the ball in the basket, and a lot of that was their defense and aggressiveness." Perkins made one final push, getting consecutive baskets by VanVlerah with 6:10 left to bring the Pirates back to within six (33-27). Leading 38-32, Smith was fouled and made both with 3:15 left. After Cameron Kaufman split two foul shots for the Pirates, Koenig was then fouled with 2:54 left and made both. That was followed by a deep jumper from Smith that was good with 2:39 left, and the Norwalk lead was 44-33. When Moser added two free throws 35 seconds later, the victory became a formality. Smith finished with 19 points for the Truckers, with Moser adding nine points and seven rebounds. Koenig had nine points and five rebounds, and Moehlman had the two 3s for six points to go with three assists. For Perkins, Kendall Zeiher scored eight points and had five rebounds. She broke the program record for 3s in a season (65), previously set by Bethany Caudill in 2009. VanVlerah had 13 points and seven rebounds. Perkins had 21 turnovers and struggled from the free-throw line, making just 8 of 21. "We knew we were going to take some losses, but we accomplished a lot," Orshoski said. "Cameron Kaufman is as decorated as a female athlete to ever come out of Perkins High School, and it's been a pleasure to have her on our bench. "We return a lot, but lose two model student-athletes in Cameron and Topanga Farlow, who we will miss dearly," he added. "They bought into what we're trying to do here, and they were a big part of that." PERKINS Cameron Kaufman 2-1—5; Ellie Manion 2-0—5; Kate Ulery 2-0—4; Camryn VanVlerah 3-7—13; Kendall Zeiher 3-0—8. TOTALS 12-8—35 NORWALK Emily Koenig 1-0—2; Abby Koenig 1-7—9; Kenzie Smith 6-5—19; Davis 1-2—4; Kylie Moser 3-2—9; Summer Moehlman 2-0—6. TOTALS 14-16—49 Perkins 9 6 6 14 — 35Norwalk 16 8 7 18 — 49 Three-point goals — Perkins 3 (Zeiher 2, Manion 1); Norwalk 5 (Moehlman 2, Smith 2, Moser 1)