Norwalk wins another OT district thriller

Mar. 4—ASHLAND — After about 30 straight seconds of instructions that covered three or four different topics, longtime Norwalk head basketball coach Steve Gray looked up at his team and offered just two words.

"Good job," Gray said as his team went back onto the floor the final 23 seconds of overtime in Wednesday's Division II district semifinal vs. Ontario at Ashland High School.

In a game fitting for a team that staggered from a 2-5 start to league champions, the Truckers can now add more program history and another trophy to the season turnaround.

Down nine with four-plus minutes left in the third quarter to a Warriors team that made 13 3-pointers, the Truckers rallied, then coughed up a lead — but then recovered to pull out a 66-62 win.

The No. 3-seeded Truckers (17-8) advanced to Saturday's 7 p.m. district championship game vs. No. 1 Shelby (19-3) back at AHS. The Whippets cruised to a 75-49 win over Huron in Wednesday's first game.

Saturday's game is a rematch of a 59-42 win by the Whippets on Jan. 30 in Norwalk, and a second straight district round matchup following Norwalk's 62-58 win in the semifinals last season.

The win also marked three straight district semifinal wins — two in overtime vs. Ontario — for Norwalk. It's the first time in program history Norwalk has advanced to three consecutive district title games.

Trailing 35-26, Norwalk went on a 16-2 scoring run that was sparked by the offensive play of Kyler Kromer and Ian Minor.

Minor started the run with a basket, followed by a 3-pointer from Kromer. Senior stalwart Garrett Chapin followed with a big three-point play to bring Norwalk within a point, then Minor buried a 3 and the Truckers had a 37-35 lead with 42.2 seconds left in the third quarter.

Ontario (17-6) got a basket to tie the game, but Kromer opened the fourth quarter with his fourth 3-pointer of the game, and Minor followed him with another basket for a 42-37 lead with 6:47 left.

"It's really the first game I've been feeling it like that, but give credit to my teammates for getting me open and then finding me," Kromer said after scoring 14 points — one of four Norwalk players in double figures. "One game it's Caleb (Sommers), one game it's Will (Gehlhausen), and tonight was me. It was a team effort.

"We got down by nine in the third quarter and we got ourselves gathered and came back. We kept fighting until the end."

Minor and Gehlhausen scored consecutive baskets after an Ontario free throw, and with a 46-38 lead, it appeared the Truckers were going to cruise home with the win — especially when Minor made it 49-40 on another 3 with 3:56 left.

But the Warriors answered with three straight threes around a Gehlhausen basket to make it a 51-49 deficit with 1:53 left in the fourth.

Norwalk recovered to take a 54-50 lead on a Chapin free throw with 22.9 seconds left, but the Warriors made four straight foul shots around a Gehlhausen miss at the line with 15.4 seconds left.

The last two free throws by Griffin Shaver tied the game at 54, and the Truckers came up empty on a possession to end regulation.

Norwalk won the tip to start the OT, and Gehlhausen quickly passed out of a double-team to Kromer, who went to the rim for a layup and two points for a 56-54 lead just 15 seconds into the extra session.

After an Ontario miss, Chapin grabbed the rebound. Gehlhausen was fouled with 3:07 left, and in the double-bonus, he made both attempts for a 58-54 lead.

But it was far from over.

Shaver was fouled by Kromer with 3:02 left and made both free throws. After a Norwalk miss, he made a pull-up jumper with 1:53 left to again tie the game at 58.

But at the opposite end, Gehlhausen took a pass from Chapin on the left wing, then dribbled past two defenders and shot over a third from about five feet and banked in a tough shot in the lane with 1:32 remaining.

Shaver responded once again with a 10-footer to tie it at 60 with 1:15 left.

But Gehlhausen was not to be outdone by the Ontario star. He dribbled straight down the floor, then stopped on a dime as Ontario's Darian Delbrugge bit on the fake and slid past him.

The senior then took a step back and from nearly two feet behind the line at the top of the key, drilling a 3-pointer for a 63-60 lead with 59.1 seconds left.

Shaver hit another deep jumper with 42.4 seconds to go, but the Truckers then ran the clock down to 23.4 seconds left and called timeout to regroup.

Minor was fouled with 21.7 seconds remaining, and split the pair for a 64-62 lead. After his miss, the Warriors got the ball on the block to Gage Weaver, who made contact with Minor. Though Minor blocked the shot, Weaver was called for the offensive foul to give the Truckers the ball back with 9.1 seconds left.

Forced to foul, the Warriors sent Chapin, one of the most decorated players in program history, to the free-throw line with 3.5 seconds left. He ran his career point total to 1,228 by making both foul shots for the two-possession lead at 66-62.

It was all but over from there, as an Ontario miss just before the buzzer sealed the game.

"I thought we played really well in the second half," Gray said. "We did a great job taking care of the basketball. Give credit to Ontario. Coach (Joe) Balogh has a nice team once again and Shaver and (Kolten) Kurtz were strong. I thought their three-point shooting was going to be our downfall tonight, but fortunately we survived that barrage in the first half and got back in it.

"Coach Balogh earlier this week said somebody that isn't one of the so-called stars for both teams would be the difference," Gray added. "For us, Kromer and Minor stepped up big-time for us tonight, and Carson Bauman gave us three or four great minutes at the end of the third quarter and was just outstanding."

Norwalk trailed 14-13 after one quarter and 24-17 at halftime as Ontario's first four baskets were four 3s by Kurtz. He added two more in the second quarter and finished with seven of Ontario's 13 shots from long-range.

"We talked all week about how Ontario takes long shots, which means long rebounds," Gray said. "But we never went and found them in the first half. We didn't box out, and that was disappointing.

"We just challenged them (to play better) in the second half," he added. "Shaver just went and got his late in the game, and Kurtz ... we made a star out of him tonight. He shot incredible, what can you say?"

With just over a minute left in regulation, Minor and Chapin were unable to finish at the rim — but combined to grab six offensive rebounds in one sequence before Minor finished for a basket.

"In the first half I was slacking I'll admit on the rebounds," Minor said. "But after halftime, Coach Gray told me I needed to find an animal in me, and in the second half I did.

"Finishing that sequence, that was a great relief," he added. "I think we were both looking for a foul, but at the end it's all good because we scored."

Gray said the difference in the game in overtime was scoring first.

"Then they sort of maybe panicked just a little and fouled," he said. "The overtime was good because they took their press off. It allowed us to execute a little better."

Chapin finished with an impressive 18 points and 18 rebounds to pace Norwalk, while Minor wasn't far behind with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Gehlhausen added 14 points to match Kromer, while Andrew Mozina added six points.

NORWALK (17-8)

Kyler Kromer 5-0—14; Andrew Mozina 2-2—6; Will Gehlhausen 4-4—14; Ian Minor 6-1—15; Garrett Chapin 7-4—18. TOTALS 24-11—66.

ONTARIO (17-6)

Ryan Brophy 1-0—2; Darian Delbrugge 4-0—11; Gage Weaver 1-3—6; Zach McCristall 2-1—6; Nolan Payne 0-1—1; Griffin Shaver 4-4—13; Kolten Kurtz 8-0—23. TOTALS 20-9—62.

Norwalk 13 4 20 17 12 — 66

Ontario 14 10 13 17 8 — 62

3-point FGs: (N) Kromer 4, Minor 3, Gehlhausen 2; (O) Kurtz 7, Delbrugge 3, Weaver, McCristall, Shaver.