Norwalk and Perkins survive close games to reach district final

ASHLAND, Ohio –Norwalk and Perkins walked away with close wins on Thursday night in Division II Northwest 2 district semifinals.

Top-seeded Norwalk defeated Shelby 50-47, while fifth-seeded Perkins defeated No. 2 Bellevue 23-19.

Norwalk (21-4) and Perkins (14-9) will face off at Ashland on Saturday, February 25th at 4:00 p.m. for a spot in the regional semifinals, which will be played on Tuesday, February 28th at Mansfield High School.

It will be the third meeting between the teams this season, with Norwalk taking the first two 35-32 on December 10th and 51-41 on January 19th.

Perkins 23, Bellevue 19

The third meeting of the season between the two teams looked much like the second one, as both teams struggled to score. But unlike that January 14th matchup won 30-24 by Bellevue, the Pirates came out on the winning side this time, their second win over the Lady Red this season.

After both teams scored just two points in the third quarter, the Pirates led 15-14 heading to the final quarter.

Dominique Weisz gave Bellevue a 17-15 lead with a 3-pointer with 6:37 remaining in the game, and then the two offenses again went stagnant.

But Cameron Kaufman scored through contact to tie the game at 17-17 with 4:17 left and Camryn VanVlerah gave the Pirates a lead by splitting a pair of free throws with 3:45 remaining. And then with just over two minutes to go, VanVlerah scored on a layup after a long offensive possession to give Perkins a 20-17 lead.

“Spreading out in the four corners offense allowed Cam to get behind the defense a little bit and our guard spotted her,” Perkins head coach Ryan Orshoski said.

VanVlerah led all scorers with nine points.

“Cam V has been playing real downhill ball right now,” Orshoski said. “When she is focused and engaged, she is a very good player.”

Defensively, the Pirates went to a zone against the Lady Red and held Bellevue to just seven points in the second half.

“We extended our defense and matched up with shooters,” Orshoski said. “They missed some shots that maybe they normally make.”

Perkins was more than content to run clock and be patient, especially once the Pirates got the lead in the fourth quarter.

“We didn’t want to get in a hurry to win the game,” Orshoski said. “When you get in a hurry to win the game, you start taking uncharacteristic shots and start forcing the ball.”

The Perkins coach summed it up perfectly.

“It was a knock-down, not very pretty offensive night,” Orshoski said.

Norwalk 50, Shelby 47

Brooklyn Davis was at it again for the Lady Truckers, as she ignited the team when it needed it the most.

As time was running out in the third quarter, Norwalk led by just a point as Abby Koenig had gotten a steal and a layup with 1:01 left in the quarter to give them the lead. Koenig finished with nine points.

On the next possession for the Lady Truckers, Davis scored on a layup with 25 seconds left. And then she got a steal before Shelby got to halfcourt and made a 10-foot jumper with 15 seconds left. She turned around and got yet another steal and turned it into a layup with 10 seconds remaining in the third to give Norwalk its largest lead of the game at 44-37.

“She single-handedly got some steals and got some layups for us,” Norwalk head coach Brock Manlet said. “I told them in the locker room that stretch was huge for us because we get up by seven and have a little bit of a cushion going into the fourth quarter because they made a run like they were going to do.”

Shelby wouldn’t go away, as they cut the lead to 44-42 before Davis knocked down another shot to push the lead back to four.

Audi Albert got a bucket and a foul and hit the free throw for Shelby to cut it to 46-45 with 5:43 left, but Koenig split a pair of free throws and Davis split two pair of free throws to give the Lady Truckers a 49-45 lead with 2:44 left.

“We just needed to go, we needed energy, we needed to pick it up a little bit,” Davis said. “And the energy that I brought, it just helped the whole team.”

The Norwalk defense held Shelby scoreless from that basket by Albert until Eve Schwemely, who led the Lady Whippets with 15 points, knocked down a 15-foot jumper with 24. 8 seconds left to cut it to 50-47 Norwalk.

“We kind of switched things up (on defense),” Manlet said. “We pressed the whole game and there I felt like we were doing a good job man-to-man wise in the half court. Kylie Moser, Emily Koenig, Abby and Summer Moehlman, those guys did a great job of keeping them in front of us and making it tough for them to score.”

After a missed free throw by Norwalk with 6.5 seconds left, Shelby had one more chance but the heave at the end of the game from just past halfcourt was nowhere close, sending Norwalk to the district final.

Davis led all scorers with 24 points, and it was the second straight game she had given the Lady Truckers a boost in the second half. In the sectional final against Mansfield Senior, Norwalk trailed 48-36 with just over six minutes left and went on 19-7 run to win 55-50. In that run, Davis had six points and multiple steals.

“I said it against Mansfield Senior, and I will say it again – there is no one more important to a team than Brooklyn Davis,” Manlet said. “To me, I think she is the best player in the district. In the last two games, she has put us on her back and find a way to get a win against two very good teams.”