Girls’ Basketball
Norwich Pennysaver Tournament
Greene 72, Oxford 43
Sidney 48, Norwich 40
NORWICH – Sidney forced 35 Norwich turnovers, and reached the finals of the Norwich Pennysaver Tournament beating the Tornado for the second straight season.
The Warriors received 16 points from Dani Gravel, and made 8-of-12 free throws in the final 1:12 to seal the win. Sidney meets Greene in the finals Saturday, Jan. 3 at Norwich at 6:15 p.m.
“We didn’t execute well, and at times we rushed things,” said Norwich coach Krista Porter. “We had a number of traveling calls. We threw the ball to the other team or we threw the ball away. Sidney played man-to-man, and it took us out of our rhythm.”
Tied at 20-20 at halftime, Elisha Eddy hit two free throws for Norwich at the 4:47 mark of the third knotting the game at 25-25. Sidney finished the quarter on a 12-0 run. Lindsay Delello had two layups in succession, the latter on a steal, Chelsea Pixley had a steal and bucket, and Stephanie Meno closed the quarter on a steal and layup to make it 37-25. Norwich failed to convert a field goal in the period settling for five free throws.
Norwich closed the double-digit margin to five points on three occasions in the fourth quarter.
Boyan Cox had seven points in the last quarter to finish with 14, and Eddy’s layup with 16 seconds left made it 45-40. Eddy led Norwich with 16 points to go with 16 rebounds.
Gravel was 5-for-6 from the foul line in the last minute, while Meno and Chelsea Pixley added free throws.
Greene avenged last year’s Pennysaver Tournament finals defeat to the Blackhawks taking a 16-point lead by halftime.
Barb Borst scored 13 of her 25 points in the opening half, and Megan McDermott 10 of her 12 giving the Trojans a 35-19 lead. “We took a lot of good shots, made the extra pass, and we were unselfish,” said Greene coach Dave Gorton. “Oxford has a nice team, so to put up that many points against them is a compliment to our players.”
Oxford sophomore Haley Witchella scored 20 points, that despite foul trouble that kept her on the bench. “They turned us over with their press, and they’re the defending league champs,” said Oxford coach Chris Palmer. “They are definitely the team to beat. On defense, we played man-to-man, zone, half-court traps, full-court traps. We had no answer for them.”
Erin Smith ran the offense for the Trojans (3-0) addeing five assists and 10 rebounds to her six points. Borst picked up a team-best four steals.
Sidney: Rachel Ward, 0; Chelsea Pixley, 2 2-5-7; Dani Gravel, 5 5-6-16; Alesha Voltz, 0 3-4-3; Stephanie Meno, 3 3-5-9; Stephanie Simonds, 0; Brittany Schunk, 1 1-3-3; Danielle Martindale, 2 2-2-6; Lindsay Delello, 2 0-0-4; Steph Morrow, 0. Totals: 15 16-25-48.
Norwich: Gabrielle Testani, 0; Michelle Testani, 0; Sarah Bonnell, 1 0-0-2; Molly Demellier, 1 0-0-2; Elisha Eddy, 4 8-10-16; Boyan Cox, 5 4-5-14; Hannah Runyon, 1 0-1-2; Adrienne Sharpe, 0 2-6-2; Tatyana Ithier, 1 0-0-2. Totals: 13 14-22-40.
Sidn. 7 13 17 11—48
NHS 9 11 5 15—40
Fouled out: none. Three-point goals: (S) Gravel, Pixley. Officials: Coleman, Blair. JV: Norwich won.
Greene 72, Oxford 43
Greene: Abby Wentlent, 1 0-0-2; Anna Crumb,1 0-0-2 ; Andrea Day, 2 0-0-4; Emily Breck, 1 1-2-3; Erin Smith, 3 0-0-6; Emily Pierce, 0; Barb Borst, 10 4-5-25; Megan McDermott, 5 2-2-12; Liz Wentlent, 3 1-2-7; Alex Phillipone, 1 0-0-2; Megan Kinne, 4 1-2-9. Totals: 31 9-13-72 .
Oxford: Alyshia Crawford, 3 1-2-7, Daisy Murphy 1 0-0-3, Natalia Rosario 0 0-0 0, Kelli Whitehill 0 0-0-0, Danielle Murphy 0 0-0 0, Chantel Crandall, 1 0-0-2, Amanda Mathis, 0 2-3-2, Kim Shackleton 0 0-0-0, Chelsea Farrell, 3 3-6-9, Haley Witchella, 7 6-11-20. Totals: 15 12-24-43.
Gr. 19 16 14 23—72
Oxf. 9 10 14 10—43
Fouled out: none. Three-point goals: (G) Borst, (O) Daisy Murphy. Officials: Killian, Haus.
Sherburne-Earlville Tournament
