Home win over Bellevue was years in making

Marissa Dellisanti had to marvel at the sight. When Bellevue visited Norwalk on Jan. 4 for a matchup of undefeated teams with a competitive history, the former NHS basketball player and 2003 graduate was blown away by the atmosphere. "I looked around and said, 'we never had this many people at home games combined all season,'" she said. And when the game delivered on the hype, the former Marissa Hipp — now married to Matt Dellisanti — was among several who were taken back in time that day. The Truckers rallied for a 41-38 win, snapping a 15-game losing streak to the Lady Red. But lost in the victory celebration was that more than two decades had gone by since Norwalk players had experienced that joy in their home gym. Plainly put, the Truckers had not won a home game against Bellevue since Dec. 1, 2001. That was the team's first-ever victory at the then-new Norwalk High School, which had opened in August 2001. The Truckers stayed with the Lady Red throughout the game and finally broke through in the final minute of a 49-44 win. How big was that upset? Huge: in the rematch at Bellevue, Norwalk lost by 48 points (78-30). How notable was the 2001 home win? The previous victory over Bellevue in a Norwalk gym was 40-35 on Dec.10, 1991 — when NHS teams played games at the Middle School. Dellisanti, who scored four points in the second quarter of the 2001 victory, recalls few details about the game. "What I do remember is the rivalry between us and Bellevue," she noted. "The mindset before playing Bellevue felt different than playing against any other team in the NOL (Northern Ohio League). "It was almost like, 'yes we lost against this or that team, but we beat Bellevue.' Beating Bellevue brought a sense of confidence and satisfaction that didn't happen with any other team in the NOL." Building a winner Marjoe Cooper was hired as coach in May 2001 — the fourth coach in as many years for that group of seniors. A 1993 NHS graduate himself, Cooper was just 26 when he was promoted from junior-varsity coach. Just two times in the stretch from 1982-83 to 2000-01 did the Truckers notch more than seven wins a season. "The year prior, we were 2-19, but as the JV coach that year, I realized we had some kids who could play," said Cooper, now superintendent of Lake Local Schools in Millbury. "Kids like Jenna Maddocks, Lauren Woods, Tiffany Mulder — athletic kids who were starting to come around to some summer things. "But at that time, you're fighting a monster with Grace (Hutchinson) and the volleyball program," he added. "And I don't mean that in a negative way at all. But they were dominant forever and the basketball program was the opposite, so we were having a hard time getting buy-in for the offseason from kids." Cooper mixed in some players, including Dellisanti and Victoria Kasten, and felt Norwalk was headed in the right direction. But the week before the Bellevue game, the Truckers fell apart in the second half of a 50-34 loss to Perkins on Nov. 24. The season-opener was the first official game in the new gym. Awaiting the Lady Red, not many outside the team were hopeful that the Truckers could win. Bellevue had won six straight in the series by an average margin of 22 points. "I thought we'd be OK if we prepared well," Cooper said. "Leslie King ended up a great player for Bellevue and was on those teams. But the mindset was, if we can just kind of hang around with the girls we had … maybe we weren't the most talented, but we had athletes who played hard." 'Kicking and scratching' Dec. 1, 2001, in Norwalk was a mild 46 degrees as players and spectators ventured to NHS for the Saturday afternoon game. A gallon of gas cost $1.08; a loaf of bread was a few cents less. The first installments of "Lord of the Rings" and "Harry Potter" movies ruled the box office. The No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 was "Family Affair" by Mary J. Blige, and Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch graced the cover of Sports Illustrated ahead of winning the Heisman Trophy. Bellevue jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, but Dellisanti came off the bench and cashed in on consecutive jump shots. The Truckers trailed 13-10 after one quarter. At halftime, the game was tied at 20. As Cooper hoped, they had done enough to hang around for two quarters. Norwalk then scored the first five points of the third, including a 3-pointer by Carrie Stoll. "I distinctly remember Carrie making that shot right in front of me to give us a lead," Cooper said. "And I thought, 'Oh my God, we can win this.'" Norwalk was up 33-29 going into the fourth quarter and led 39-33 with 2:35 on the clock. But nothing came easy against the Lady Red, especially in those days. Bellevue made three 3s in 91 seconds, but Norwalk got a huge triple from Mulder with 48 seconds left, to stay ahead, 45-42. After a miss by Bellevue, the Truckers were able to put the 49-44 win away at the free-throw line. Maddocks and Woods made seven foul shots alone in the final 1:28 to preserve the win. "We never shot good free throws," Cooper said. "We could shoot 150 a day in practice and we couldn't make them hardly ever in a game. Those girls had not been in clutch situations much before, and you're trying to build that culture of, 'we can beat people.' It was incredible to watch them do it." Maddocks had 14 points and 16 rebounds in the win. Mulder scored 15 points and Woods added nine. After the game, Bellevue coach Amy Mitchell said, "Norwalk is trying to build a tradition and trying to win, so they're going to come out every game kicking and scratching." Cooper well-remembers Mitchell's comment. "Because that's what we had to do," he said. "We were making progress. The NOL was so tough back then with Upper Sandusky, Willard, Shelby and Bellevue. At Norwalk, our backs were against the wall already. "The history of those teams — and we were historically not good," he added. "It was more of a credit to the girls and what we were doing. It was good for them to see they could win against one of the better programs. It was still Bellevue, and anytime Norwalk beat them in sports, it was a big deal." 'Just beat Bellevue' While Dellisanti's memories of the 2001 game aren't vivid, the value of the game still resonates. Her father, Dan Hipp, was the quarterback of the 1974 state championship football team at Norwalk, which won a tight game over Bellevue, 20-12. "He would always say, 'just beat Bellevue,'" she said. "It's been a long-standing rivalry. Fast-forward to the present day and being at the Bellevue-Norwalk game (on Jan. 4), and you could see the intensity and rivalry between these two programs still continues today." Norwalk finished that 2001-02 slate with a 10-10 record in the regular season and the first non-losing effort since 1981-82. Over the next two seasons, the Truckers were 11-11 with a sectional title and 11-10 in 2003-04. Cooper and his wife, Brianne, then moved to North Carolina for three years. They returned, and Cooper again coached the Truckers from 2008-11, but contending in the NOL became tougher. After driving 120 miles round-trip twice a week for a master's degree in administration as well as his superintendent's license from Bowling Green State University, Cooper left Norwalk. He became the assistant principal, then later principal at Fremont Middle School. He spent the past five years as an elementary principal in the Perrysburg school district before being hired at Lake prior to this school year. He and Brianne have two children, Kaedin, 17, and Caleb, 12. "It takes me back to the memories of how cool and fun those teams were," Cooper said. "The new gym and new attitude … it just gives you a good feeling to know what you were doing was probably right. "It's a core memory for those kids, and it showed we were on the right path to what we wanted to do." In a way, Cooper feels like his career path mirrored the 2001-02 team. Same goes for his first career coaching win in the victory over Bellevue. "That team had to grind for everything," he said. "It always made me appreciate that we had to work to get what we had. It allows me to reflect on where I've gone in 20-plus years. You hope that was a life lesson for them, because I know it was for me." In the years since, Norwalk beat Bellevue by a point, 52-51, in the 2004-05 season. The Truckers didn't beat the Lady Red again until a 45-42 win on the road in the 2013-14 season. Before the current season, the only other win was a dramatic 34-32 victory in a Division II district title game in 2017. Norwalk has just 19 wins all-time — including twice in the tournament — in the series that dates to 1974-75. Bellevue has won at least a share of the past 14 league titles in both the NOL and SBC Lake. Norwalk has never won a league title in girls basketball, but won the district title in 2017 and reached a regional championship in 2023. The Truckers lost in the regular season finale in each of the previous two seasons against the Lady Red in games that would have been a title share. As Dellisanti watched the Truckers rally for the 41-38 win on Jan. 4, she came away equally impressed with the level of play and the win. "Girls basketball has come so far and evolved over the years," she said. "It's awesome to watch. I am so proud of the players and coaches and the program they have built. So when those two undefeated teams packed the gym for an awesome performance, I was elated for the sport in general. "But then for Norwalk to come out on top and beat Bellevue at home for the first time since 2001 … I knew exactly what that meant for all those girls. It was definitely a game they will never forget."