Norwich missed out on an opportunity to clinch a STAC Central Division title Wednesday night, but can remedy that defeat later today when it faces Johnson City at 7 p.m. at Binghamton High School in a divisional playoff.
The Wildcats won the inside game and beat Norwich at its own game – dribble penetration – to saddle NHS with its lone home defeat of the season.
“We seemed a step slow Wednesday night, and maybe they were a step quicker,” said Norwich coach Mark Abbott. “They certainly used the dribble to their advantage better than the first meeting.”
In that opening meeting, Norwich did not see the likes of Rashawn Powell, who was out of the game with an injury. With the exception of foul trouble that took him out of the game for a couple of minutes in the fourth quarter, Powell was a dominant offensive presence finishing with 25 points. He keyed a JC offensive attack that surpassed 60 points against the Norwich defense for the second time in as many meetings.
To give a sense of that offensive accomplishment, Norwich has given up 47 points a game this season with Owego’s 55-point outing in early Decembers the highest outside of Johnson City.
“No question, Johnson City is the most talented offensive team we played this season,” Abbott said. “We look forward to that challenge and we have to rise to the challenge.”
The first task for Abbott’s club is to slow down Powell, and perhaps limit JC’s other two key offensive weapons, Ian Pettiford and Troy Robinson. Pettiford and Robinson combined for 30 points as well in the Wildcats’ 64-54 win, and it’s almost a pick-your-poison scenario for Norwich. “We don’t want to double off Robinson, and we can’t afford to double off Pettiford,” Abbott said of the strategy to double team Powell in the post. “We’ve got to do something different, and we have to take Powell away as much as we can, and make the others beat us.”
In the event of a Norwich win, it will return to Norwich High School for a STAC semifinals playoff game against Union-Endicott on Tuesday night. A loss to JC, and Norwich will host Ithaca Monday night in a STAC crossover contest.
“We’re a good team and I know we’ll go into (Friday’s game) with confidence,” Abbott said. “I hope we are grittier, and we’ll need that type of effort from everyone.”
