Norwalk slugs past Gibsonburg, improves to 2-0

GIBSONBURG — Kenzie Smith saw the opportunity. After Gibsonburg made a couple free throws, Norwalk pushed the ball up court. Smith's 3-pointer near the out-of-bounds line opposite the Truckers' bench then found nothing but the bottom of the net as the third quarter ended. "I saw they weren't getting back on foul shots, so I knew it was a good time," Smith said. "I made sure to give the eye to Abby (Koenig) so she knew to throw it. I knew it was a good shot to get up before the third quarter ended. I thought it brought us a lot of energy going into the fourth quarter." After being tied at halftime and trailing in the third quarter, Norwalk used Smith's triple and consecutive buckets to open the fourth quarter to help put away the Golden Bears, 58-47, in non-league action Tuesday. "That was a huge shot and we've seen Kenzie make shots like that all summer," said Norwalk coach Kyle Brubaker of the senior. "I don't think it surprised anybody on the Norwalk side that it went in. That was a huge shot for us to cap that little run we had and helped us going into the fourth quarter." The Truckers (2-0) trailed 34-33 at one point in the third quarter, but Smith gave Norwalk a 46-39 edge after three quarters. Buckets by Alyssa Gruhlke and Trinity Lazzara opened a 50-39 lead just 31 seconds into the fourth quarter. All seven points came with Gibsonburg standout sophomore Elly Evarts on the bench. She came down hard on her leg with 19 seconds left in the third quarter. She returned after a Golden Bears timeout and tallied a three-point play to cut the deficit to 52-45 with 5:23 to play. But Emmie Leber scored down low just 15 seconds later to push the lead back to nine. A score by Delaney Illuzzi extended the margin to 56-45 as Evarts sat out the last few minutes of the game. "We talked about the size advantage and we wanted to look post to post," Leber said. "We had to bring the energy a little bit more because they were pressing us. We focus a lot on energy and being a high-energy level team." The three-point play from Evarts was the last field goal of the game for Gibsonburg (0-1). "This team wasn't going to quit," said Brubaker of the Golden Bears who won 23 games and a district title in Division IV last year. "It is a championship level culture that they've built here. The size of school doesn't mean anything to us. "When you have a player that's being looked at by pretty much every Division I school in the state of Ohio, it's like the saying goes, 'a rising tide lifts all boats.'" Evarts finished with a game-high 20 points, but made just 7-of-23 shots on the evening. "We just wanted to make it tough for her to get the ball and luckily for us, I feel like we have athletes at the guard position that can at least make things difficult for her," Brubaker said. "I can only think of one shot where we lost contact with her and she had a shot she was probably really excited to take. Everything else was challenged." It looked like Norwalk was going to run away with a one-sided victory early. The Truckers got out and ran and strung together an 11-0 run to open a 16-2 lead just over six minutes in. Gibsonburg settled in, getting within 18-8 after one quarter. Norwalk went ice cold from the field, scoring just two points over a 6:22 stretch. That allowed the Golden Bears to push a bit more and claw within 18-16 with 3:26 to go in the first half. Gibsonburg even took a brief lead on a 3 by Ava Dawson, but Isabella Hernandez hit a baseline jumper to tie the game at 24 at halftime. Norwalk was able to open a 31-26 lead on a Smith 3-pointer early in the third quarter, but the Golden Bears answered with the next six points. Down 34-33, Smith scored on an offensive rebound, Koenig made it 37-34, and a 3 by Gruhlke gave Norwalk a 40-34 lead. "I think in the second quarter of our own accord, we got sped up offensively. We didn't need to," Brubaker said. "I think we slowed down a little bit in the third quarter and started getting the looks we wanted. At the same time, defensively we were going up against a great player and we had a specific game plan for it. But, our girls were so excited that sometimes they'd get themselves out of position. "It was really going back to fundamentals and not beating ourselves." Leber finished with 18 points for Norwalk. She was able to use her frame to get up and over the shorter Gibsonburg defenders and finish at the rim. "That was definitely part of the game plan," said Brubaker of getting the ball to Leber. "We felt like we had an advantage in the paint. We wanted to use that as much as we could, whether it was getting it to her right away or through offensive rebounds. When she plays with a high motor, she's tough to stop." Smith tallied 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Numerous times she went up and grabbed offensive rebounds to keep possessions alive for Norwalk. Koenig added nine points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. "It definitely helps knowing that if nobody is going to box out, we have to go in there and get the rebounds," Smith said. "Even if the posts can get them, the guards have to do it, too. "It helps getting the ball up and down the floor. Offensive rebounds are really big for our team right now, so I was just doing my part." NORWALK (2-0)Alyssa Gruhlke 3 0-0 8, Abby Koenig 4 1-1 9, Kenzie Smith 3 2-2 10, Emmie Leber 7 4-6 18, Trinity Lazzara 3 0-0 7, Delaney Illuzzi 2 0-0 4, Isabella Hernandez 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 23 7-8 58GIBSONBURG (0-1)Emma Jividen 4 2-4 12, Elly Evarts 7 4-5 20, Ava Dawson 3 0-0 8, Taylor Rapp 2 1-2 5, Macey Kohler 0 2-2 2. TOTALS 16 9-13 47Norwalk 18 6 22 12 — 58Gibsonburg 8 16 15 8 — 47Three-point goals: Norwalk 5 (Smith 2, Gruhlke 2, Lazzara); Gibsonburg 6 (Evarts 2, Jividen 2, Dawson 2)