Boys’ Basketball
Norwich 62, Owego 56
OWEGO – Playing a club that was a near mirror image of itself, Norwich prevailed in a key STAC Central Division matchup Wedneday. Combined with Johnson City’s win over Susquehanna Valley Wednesday, Norwich is now tied atop the division as it heads to the Stop-DWI Tournament next weekend in Binghamton.
“They hung around in the game, but once again, it was our defense that keeps us in games,” said Norwich head coach Tom Collier.
With the game’s outcome still hanging in the balance, Norwich seniors Dennis Oralls and Seth Thomsen wrapped up their club’s fourth victory of the season from the foul line. The NHS duo went 9-for-10 from the charity stripe in the final eight minutes. Thomsen was perfect on his four tries, and Oralls made five out of six.
Before Norwich iced the game from the foul line, Ian Weaver converted a key layup at the end of a press-breaker to give NHS some breathing room. Throughout the second half, it was NHS’s role players who continually supplied a spark on each end of the floor, Collier said.
Reserve guard Mike Sutton finished with a season-high 10 points, and he spelled foul-plagued point guard Kyle Edwards for much of the second half. On the other end, reserve guard Danny Carson was largely responsible for containing Owego third-year starter Stephen Yanchus. Yanchus had eight points in the opening quarter, but just eight the rest of the way with Carson applying the man-to-man pressure.
“We still made some mistakes, and we lost some guys a couple of times on defense, especially in transition,” Collier said. “That happens because we’re young, but I was really proud of the way guys stepped in when we needed them.”
Thomsen finished with a game-high 19 points for Norwich, and he easily eclisped 10 rebounds, Collier said. Oralls finished with 16 for NHS, who are idle until next Thursday’s return meeting with the Indians at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.
“This was a fun game to watch, and Owego is an up-and-down team that plays wide-open,” Collier said. “Seth had a great game, and he took it hard to the basket endline to endline. He played well when he had to, and our defense locked down at the end.”
Owego: Stephen Yanchus, 5 6-7-16; Matt Warchocki, 3 0-0-7; N. Larrabee, 2 3-3-8; Jake Shelley, 2 0-0-4; Thomas, 0; Ford, 3 1-4-7; Hathaway, 5 1-1-14; Mest, 0; Pickett, 0; Dimock, 0. Totals: 20 10-11-56.
Norwich: Kyle Edwards, 3 1-2-7; Dennis Oralls, 4 7-8-16; Michael Sutton, 4 0-0-10; Danny Carson, 1 0-0-2; Seth Thomsen, 6 7-8-19; Ian Weaver, 3 0-1-6; Storm Cook, 1 0-0-2; Grant Brightman, 0; Michael D’Abbraccio, 0 0-2-0. Totals: 22 15-21-62 .
NHS 14 10 20 18–62
Ow. 12 5 22 17–56
Fouled out: none. Three-point goals: (N) Sutton 2, Oralls, (O) Warchocki, Larrabee, Hathaway 3. JV: Norwich won 78-45. Officials: Mirabito, McPeek.
Sherburne-Earlville 60, Clinton 44
SHERBURNE – Sherburne-Earlvile broke away from a 41-41 tie early in the fourth scoring 12 straight points to notch its fourth straight victory on Wednesday night.
Austin Jasper and Randy Briggs had four points during the fourth-quarter spurt, and Jesse Yerton added a three-pointer. Later in the fourth quarter – and with the 35-second clock running down – Paul Romanenko nailed a three ball to up the S-E lead to 14 points. “We just made a lot of good basketball decisions in the fourth quarter,” said S-E coach Kevin Vibbard. “It was a great game until the end. Our kids dug in, and we got some defensive stops.”
Sam Caton led S-E with 19 points to go with 11 rebounds. Jasper scored 14, Briggs had 13, and Cole Hodges added 10 rebounds. S-E plays at Unadilla Valley next Wednesday.
Clinton: Will Smiegel, 2 0-0-4; Malaquais Canery, 1 1-2-4; Devin Cornelius, 1 2-9-4; Mike Hayduk, 3 1-4-8; PJ Ziemba, 1 0-0-3; Garrett Drejza, 1 0-0-2; George Allen, 1 2-4-4; Will Jarrett, 0; Luke Tantillo, 2 0-0-6; RJ Cherpak, 2 0-0-4; Kolby Nowakowski, 0; Anthony Rizzo, 1 1-2-3. Totals; 16 7-21-44.
S-E: Randy Briggs, 4 4-7-13; Carter Cole, 0; Jesse Yerton, 1 0-0-3; Sam Caton, 5 9-12-19; Paul Romanenko, 2 0-0-5; John McDaniel, 0; Cole Hodges, 3 0-0-6; Mick Khoury, 0; Austin Jasper, 7 0-3-14; Matt Smith, 0; Matt Rajczi, 0. Totals: 22 13-22-60.
Clint. 11 11 17 5–44
S-E 14 14 13 19–60
Fouled out: (SE) Hodges. Three-point goals: (SE) Briggs, Yerton, Romanenko. (C) Hayduk, Ziemba, Tantillo. JV: S-E won 53-44. Officials: Coleman, Green.
Sidney 58, Unadilla Valley 47
NEW BERLIN – Sidney closed out Wednesday night’s game with eight straight points to defeat the Storm.
Sidney held a 50-47 lead with 1:19 to play. Coming out of a timeout, Sidney recovered two offensive rebounds after missed shots, and on the third possession drew a foul. UV turned the ball over on the next possession leading to more insurance free throws for the Warriors.
In the fourth quarter, Damian Zimmer was five of six from the charity stripe, and Billy Kozak added two freebies on his way to a 16-point evening.
“We turned it over too much in the fourth quarter, and we didn’t do a good job of boxing out,” said UV coach Matt Osborne, who said his club shot just 33 percent for the game.
Brett Smith scored 16 points to lead UV, while Justin Hofer added 12.
Sidney: Hunter Sowersby, 0; Damian Zimmer, 3 5-6-11; Jon Wingate, 1 0-0-3; Mike Ward, 3 0-0-6; Bill Kozak, 5 2-3-16; Brandon Walters, 3 3-5-11; Mike Cruz, 1 2-2-4; Trey Crawford, 0; Austin McCarroll, 0; Joe Matzel, 3 1-2-7. Totals: 19 13-18-58.
UV: Kurt Haycook, 0 ; Jack Wilcox, 0 1-2-1; Jesse Ranger, 1 6-8-8; Brandon Miles, 2 0-0-5; Justin Hofer, 3 4-4-12; David Anderson, 2 1-1-5; Brett Smith, 6 2-2-16; Gunnar Sheldon, 0; Nate Shackelton, 0. Totals: 14 14-17-47.
Sidn. 8 22 8 20–58
