Norwalk Takes Triple Overtime Thriller vs Ontario at Districts
It took seven sessions of basketball to decide who would advance to the Division II Mansfield District Championship, with top-seeded Norwalk surviving a triple-overtime marathon to beat #8 Ontario, 52-48.
Offense was tough to come by for the Warriors in the opening half, scoring just six points in each quarter but only trailed 24-12 at the half. The narrative then flipped in the game’s second half where the Truckers could only muster eight points as Ontario closed out the fourth on a 9-2 run to force overtime with the contest tied at 32 apiece.
It appeared the Warriors were on their way to a second straight tournament upset with a 34-32 advantage and Shaquan Coburn, who scored a game-best 26 points at the foul line for a 1-and-1 with 7.4 seconds to play, but a front end miss led to a Brandon Haraway coast to coast game-tying layup at the horn to force double overtime.
A trio of Ontario starters would foul out, putting them at a talent disadvantage heading into the final session of action. Haraway struggled from the free throw line throughout the game, knocking down just 14 of 25 attempts, but would hit a pair of freebies late in triple overtime to ice the victory, giving him 20 points for the contest.
Next up for Norwalk (22-3) is a District title shot against #3 Vermilion (19-5).
Ontario finishes their season at 16-9 overall.
Lady Whippets Steamroll Norwalk For 20th Win
In the programs 1,001st overall contest, the Shelby girls basketball squad cruised to a 64-34 victory over visiting Norwalk to secure win number 681 in Lady Whippets history.
The lopsided meeting also put Shelby at 20 wins as they wrapped-up their regular season with a special senior night celebration. Four players competed in their final home game wearing a Lady Whippets uniform, where Emma Taylor, Jenna Holloway, Cierra Gurney and Bailey Walter combined for 20 points while Emma Randall carried the scoring load with a game-high 21.
Shelby (20-2, 14-0) also celebrated their undefeated MOAC Championship with former players and coaches following the win as they now turn their focus towards the OHSAA tournament and a sectional semifinal matchup against Vermilion on Feb 20 at Bucyrus.
Norwalk Takes Heavyweight Battle At Lexington
Much was riding on a mega non-conference showdown at Lexington with visiting Norwalk riding a 12-game win streak against the Minutemen and their run of 9-straight victories. The contest would end how you might imagine as well, with Lex taking a potential game-winning shot at the final horn in a tight 46-45 loss to the streaking Truckers.
Minutemen star senior forward Cade Stover attempted the final shot of the game after scoring a team-best 21 points to go along with 11 rebounds, but Norwalk defended the play extremely well and forced Stover into a deep, contested 3-pointer that clanked off the backboard. This coming after Truckers All-Ohioan Brandon Haraway, who netted a game-high 23 points, sunk a clutch free throw following a questionable foul call with just 8 seconds remaining to take the lead.
Norwalk (15-2) held an advantage following each quarter of the contest, finding themselves ahead of Lexington (13-4) 15-13 after the first, 31-25 at the break and held a 36-33 edge heading into fourth quarter action. The win is expected to propel the Truckers into the top-seed of the Division II Mansfield District where they very well could meet the Minutemen again.
Ontario Rides Meisse’s 4 Goals To Sectional Title
Lady Warriors stud senior forward Bria Meisse put her squad on the board in the opening minutes of their sectional championship match against Norwalk and continued to find the back of the net throughout Ontario’s 7-0 victory.
Meisse scored 4 goals and dished out an assist during the match as the third-seeded Lady Warriors dismantled a Lady Truckers team that had only lost twice all season, riding a 13 match unbeaten streak into the contest.
The win marks the fourth straight for Ontario after losing six of their previous seven games. The Lady Warriors outscored their opponents 17-0 during sectional tournament play.
#3 Ontario (10-7-1) will now move on to the Clyde District to face a #2 Clear Fork team that edged them 2-1 during the regular season. Norwalk wraps-up their campaign at 13-3-1.
Truckers Run Over Whippets To 49-0 Victory
Shelby lost their second consecutive road game by double-figures in a 49-0 blowout at Norwalk against the now 4-1 Truckers.
Whippets jr. QB McGwire Albert had a tough outing, finishing 9-27 for 107 yds & 4 Int's without his top weapon Uriah Schwemley as Shelby dips to 3-2 on the campaign.
Truckers sr. RB Trevon Raymore carried 30 times for 294 yds & 5 TD's as he closes in on 1,000 yds for the season with 12 scores.
This was the 92nd consecutive year these teams have met with their first game played in 1899 but is the last scheduled showdown for these two longtime rivals. Shelby has a 70-25-3 all-time series edge.
Next up for the Whippets (3-2) is a home game vs Huron (4-1) while Norwalk (4-1) will take on Bellevue (2-3) in their SBC Lake opener.
Norwalk Rolls Over Tygers In Home Opener
Mansfield Senior received a Week 1 eye-opener on the road in Norwalk, falling into a deep hole early and never recovering.
Behind an explosive offensive performance, the Truckers ran out to a 35-0 halftime advantage and rolled to a 42-21 victory. Norwalk senior RB Trevon Raymore racked up 252 yds and 2 TD’s on 26 carries while sophomore QB went 9-12 through the air for 196 yds and 2 scores.
Tygers junior QB Angelo Grose carried 14 times for 96 yds and completed 7-11 passes for 60 yds, TD & Int, while running back Ta Vion Harris was held to just 57 yds on 20 carries.
Next up for Norwalk (1-0) is a Week 2 trip to Norwayne (0-1) while Mansfield (0-1) will travel to play Sandusky Perkins (0-1).
Norwalk Rolls Past Rams To District Finals
The Lady Truckers returned to the district finals with a 53-45 victory over Upper Sandusky in the Division II Galion District Semifinals.
Norwalk led from start to finish receiving 17 points from senior guard Kaelyn Harkness and 16 by senior forward Jasmine Thomas. Northern 10 Conference leading scorer Abigail Fogle netted a game-high 18 points for the Lady Rams in her final high school contest but a slow start combined with 20 Upper Sandusky turnovers saw their comeback fall just short.
Ontario Beats Norwalk For Sectional Championship
It’s now 21 consecutive wins and counting for the streaking Ontario baseball squad. A 5-4 victory over Norwalk (13-12) on Friday evening kept the blue and gold undefeated in the state of Ohio this season and also clinched a berth to the Division II Heidelberg District.
As they’ve done all season long, the MOAC champs found a way to secure a win by capitalizing on their opponent's mistakes, coming up with timely hits and making clutch outs when they have to get them.
The Warriors capitalized on each of the Truckers four costly errors, scoring on a pair of missed throws and wild pitches that would make the difference in the game. Although they were out-hit 11-9, Ontario also made key defensive plays when they needed them most to keep Norwalk from having an explosive offensive inning.
Now at 21-3 overall, the #4 Warriors advance to play #9 Tiffin Columbian in the district semifinals on Thursday after the Tornados upset top-seeded Lexington 3-2 in their sectional final. First pitch is scheduled for 2 pm at Heidelberg University.
Sandusky Survives Norwalk For Sectional Championship
The Blue Streaks completed a 3-game season sweep of Norwalk with a 58-53 victory in the boy's basketball Division II Bucyrus Sectional title game.
It was a balanced attack for #4 Sandusky that helped them cut down the nets, with 4 players scoring at least 12 points led by Tahj Staveskie with 17. Brandon Haraway was a scoring machine for #6 Norwalk racking up a game-high 28 points but his late-game heroics fell just short of completing the upset.
Norwalk Rally Falls Short vs Lexington
The Truckers received a game-high 20 points from junior guard Brandon Haraway but the Minutemen got the 56-48 victory.
Cade Stover paced Lexington's attack with 13 points to go along with 9 rebounds.