Boys’ Basketball
Norwich 59, Maine-Endwell 36
ENDWELL – Nearing the midpoint of the STAC season, Norwich put itself in the driver’s seat with a convincing 23-point road victory Monday night at Maine-Endwell.
The loss was just the second for the Spartans, and Norwich now holds a two-game Central Division lead over all of its rivals. “This was a big game, and the kids knew it was a big game,” said Norwich coach Mark Abbott. Norwich improved with the win to 9-1 overall. “This is where you want to be.”
Norwich led 21-13 after one period hitting three of its four three-pointers. Josh Borfitz scored eight, Timmy Clark added five, and Richie Bonney came off the bench to can a three-pointer. Freshman Seth Thomsen sparked the NHS offense in the second stanza scoring all seven of his points to push the lead to 10.
“Offensively, we had great balance tonight,” Abbott said. “We did a nice job with our ball movement and spacing. There were times when we had two-, three-, four-, and five-pass sequences to find the open shot.”
Norwich did not allow a single M-E play to pass the six-point mark for the game, that included All-Metro guard and four-year Spartans starter Joe Powell. Powell was limited to a pair of three-pointers on the day, and M-E scored just 11 points the entire second half.
“Defensively, we mixed it up a lot,” Abbott said. “We did a really good job identifying their top players, and from there it was just a question of rebounding the ball defensively. We played with a lot of heart and effort.”
Borfitz and Corey Dietrich led Norwich with 12 points apiece. The Tornado play at Susquehanna Valley Wednesday.
Norwich: Casey Edwards, 1 0-0-2; Richie Bonney, 1 0-0-3; Corey Dietrich, 5 2-4-12; Tim Clark, 3 1-2-8; Josh Borfitz, 4 3-4-12; Vaughn Labor, 2 3-4-7; Seth Thomsen, 1 4-4-7; David Carson, 1 1-2-3; Derek Hughes, 0 ; Cory Law, 0 1-2-1; Andrew Austin, 1 0-0-2; Christian Hotaling, 0 2-2-2. Totals: 19 17-24-59.
M-E: Eric thompson, 0; Tom Connolly, 2 0-0-4; J. Powell, 2 0-0-6; Adrian, 2 2-2-6; Federowicz, 1 2-2-4; Ruby, 2 0-0-5; Jon Connolly, 2 0-0-4; Barrett, 1 1-2-3; Stotts, 2 0-0-4. Totals: 14 5-6-36.
NHS 21 14 15 9–59
M-E 13 12 6 5–36
Fouled out: (ME) J. Connolly. Three-point goals: (N) Bonney, Clark, Borfitz, Thomsen. (ME) Powell 2, Ruby. JV: M-E won 67-39. Officials: Cicciarelli, B. Berg.
Girls’ Basketball
Afton 54, Oxford 35
AFTON – Afton pulled away from Oxford in the third quarter getting four three-pointers from junior Jessica Winans.
Winans finished with 24 points, that after scoring just one field goal and five points in the first half. “She kind of exploded in the third quarter,” said Oxford coach Chris Palmer of Winans. “We did a poor job defensively, and we weren’t close enough to (Winans).”
Oxford finished 13-for-64 from the field, a figure just a shade over 20 percent, and it hit 32 percent from the foul line. Haley Witchella had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Chelsea Farrell grabbed 14 boards.
Oxford: Alyshia Crawford, 3 0-2-7, Daisy Murphy, 0, Kelli Whitehill 0, Danielle Murphy, 1 1-2-3, Chantel Crandall, 1 1-4-3, Amanda Mathis, 0 0-4-0, Kim Shackleton 0, Chelsea Farrell, 0 3-7-3, Haley Witchella, 8 3-6-19. Totals: 13 8-25-35.
Afton: Stephanie Parsons, 2 0-0-5, Nicole Mulieri, 0; Rebecca Baudendistel, 2 1-2-5; Britney Patten, 1 1-4-3, Jessica Winans, 8 3-4-24, Heather Simonds, 3 2-4-9, Ashley Davy, 1 0-1-2, Holly Andrews, 1 1-2-3; Stephanie Sherman, 0, Abigail Martin, 0 3-4-3. Totals: 18 11-21-54.
Oxf. 9 8 6 12–35
Aft. 7 13 17 17–54
Fouled out: (A) Parsons. Three-point goals: (A) Winans 5, Parsons, Simonds. (O) Crawford. JV: Oxford won.
S-E 55, Ilion 45
SHERBURNE – Sherburne-Earlville recovered from a 14-4 deficit in the first quarter to win for the seventh time in 10 games this season.
Karli Harris hit three three-pointers in a 19-8 second quarter, and Bridget Irwin added eight points. After trailing by 10 in the first quarter, the response was a 26-10 salvo to lead by six at halftime.
