Boys’ Basketball
Tom Schwan Tournament
NORWICH – Oxford defeated Greene for its first win of the season beating the Trojans, 61-51, in the Tom Schwan Tournament’s consolation game Saturday.
Justin Schray had 15 of his game-high 25 points after halftime, and that included three of his five three-pointers on the night. Andrew Golden added 19 points, and was 5-for-6 from the foul line in the fourth quarter. Caden Izard chipped in with 10.
“We did a better job in the second half of playing both ends of the floor,” said Oxford coach Tim Davis. “We played good offense in the first half, but weren’t giving the same effort on the defensive end.”
Greene used a 12-4 run in the second quarter to take a 29-26 lead into halftime. Jeff Carlin had eight in the second quarter and Akeem Daniels came off the bench to score all seven of his points. Carlin led the Trojans (0-2) with 13 points, while Sam Adams and Brandon Davis netted 10 apiece.
Friday, Kyle Edwards and a suffocating Norwich defense led Norwich to a big first-half lead en route to a 52-41 first-round Schwan tourney win over Oxford.
The Blackhawks (1-3) turned the ball over 15 times in the first half alone as Norwich switched up its full-court press, while also matching up tenaciously in halfcourt man-to-man defense.
The lead was pushed over 20 points in the third quarter before Oxford made a spirited comeback in the fourth. “Give Oxford credit, they played really hard,” Collier said. “I think we were a little too tentative against their zone.”
Edwards canned a three ball 44 seconds into the Tornado’s season giving his team a 3-2 advantage. Edwards followed that up with a steal and layup as Norwich gained momentum. To cap the first half, Edwards fittingly nailed another three ball giving him 13 first-half points on his way to a 16-point evening.
Norwich displayed consistently unselfish play as Collier substituted his entire bench. Reserves Mike Sutton and Grady Thompson dished out nifty assists as the halftime lead stood at 28-13.
Oxford, down to seven players due to injury and eligibility issues, stuck with its zone defense, and made a dent in the deficit thanks to the shooting of Golden and Schray. Schray and Golden each finished with 10 points in the loss.
In Friday’s other first-round game, Sidney got off to a fast start against Greene behind Damian Zimmer’s 10 first-half points, and the Warriors maintained at least a nine-point lead throughout the second half beating Greene 58-45.
Zimmer, a smooth lefty, scored the bulk of his team-high 16 points around the basket. Brandon Walters added 14 points, nine on a trio of three-pointers, and Mike Cruz tacked on 13 markers. “We had a rough start and weren’t doing the little things defensively in the first quarter,” said Greene coach Rick Smith. “We did improve toward the end of the game, and we had some good looks at the basket. Our shots just weren’t falling.”
Ryan Borst, Adams, and Carlin all scored 13 points for the Trojans.
Oxford 61, Greene 51
