NORWICH – It’s but all or nothing for Oxford in the Tom Schwan Tournament of late, and this year it was the “all’s” turn.
The Blackhawks survived several last-minute shot attempts by Norwich to tie or take the lead, and held on for a 46-45 victory Saturday. It was the second title in three seasons in this tourney for the Blackhawks, who sandwiched those championships around a last-place finish a year ago.
“I hope we aren’t peaking now, like we did two years ago,” said Oxford coach Tim Davis.
Oxford took the lead for good at the end of the third quarter. With a minute to play, Hugh Witchella tied the game on a layup, and junior Alex Champlin hit a running left-hander in the lane making it 37-35 entering the fourth quarter.
Most of Norwich’s looks at the basket were open jump shots, the last of which by senior Nate Foote caromed off the front of the rim. The Tornado’s Timmy Clark gathered the offensive rebound near the endline, but was whistled for a traveling call when he tripped over an unseen player’s legs. “I didn’t think we shot the ball that well against B-G last Wednesday, but that was nothing compared to this,” said Norwich coach Mark Abbott. “We had so many open looks that didn’t fall. There’s nothing you can do about that except keep shooting them.”
Oxford seemed to gain control of the game when Champlin hit John Witchella with a long inbounds pass for a layup that upped the margin to 42-37.
Norwich’s gritty defense force five Oxford turnovers over the last four minutes drawing a pair of charges, and then getting a steal and layup from Corey Dietrich with 13.2 seconds left to close the margin to one.
Oxford turned it over again on the ensuing inbounds pass setting up Norwich’s failed last-shot attempt. “Our decisionmaking with the ball wasn’t always the best,” Davis admitted. “I thought a key was that we were able to control the boards and hold them to one shot most of the time. We beat two Class B schools in this tournament, so I hope that gives us a good boost going into the league.”
Scott Seiler had 14 points to lead Oxford and was named the tournament’s MVP. He hit 4-of-6 foul shots in the fourth quarter to help key the win.
Vaughn Labor led Norwich scoring nine points. “Physically we played hard and we controlled the things we can control,” Abbott added. “Sometimes the ball doesn’t go in the basket, and that happens. We can control how hard we play, and we did a great job with that, as did Oxford.”
A spirited second half was not enough for Bainbridge-Guilford in the consolation contest
All-tournament pick Ryan Kramer led Oneida with 25 points and Joe McCormick had 22 in a 79-59 victory.
“Turnovers and defensive rebounding hurt us,” said B-G coach Ben Nelson. “It all comes down to execution. The guys are coming on, they just need to put four quarters together instead of a quarter or a half.”
McCormick hit for 16 of his points in the first half and Kramer added 15. Oneida led 41-10 at one point of the game before calling off an effective full-court press.
The Bobcats (0-4) scored the first 12 points of the second half and closed a 47-20 halftime deficit to 49-35 at one point. Six quick points for Oneida in the final minute of the third quarter reestablished a 22-point advantage entering the final session.
Tim Feyerabend had 16 points for B-G, Chris McGinnis netted 13, and Ricky Marjorum added 12. The Bobcats host Sidney Wednesday.
Championship Game
