(Photo: Kyle Edwards, Norwich)

Boys’ Basketball

Norwich 64, Owego 48

BINGHAMTON – Norwich will attempt to win its first Stop-DWI Holiday Classic title in nearly 10 years.

The Tornado beat Owego for the second time in the past 10 days, and advanced to the championship game tonight at 5:30 p.m. against Chenango Valley.

Kyle Edwards scored a career-high 20 points for the Tornado. He scored in every quarter and carried most of the offensive load in the first half netting 11 points.

The Tornado made a key substitution late in the first half, and the move led to a three-pointer that moved the halftime lead to nine. Senior Eric Walling curled off a screen, and buried a trifecta.

Owego’s Matt Warchocki kept his club from a blowout making tough shot after tough shot to finish with 26 points, but it was the Tornado’s overall depth that paid off. “We knew they only had eight guys, so the whole game plan was to wear them down, and we did,” said Norwich head coach, Tom Collier.

Norwich sophomores Mike Sutton and Mike D’Abbraccio came off the bench to score a combined 18 points. Sutton had 10 markers, and D’Abbraccio had his best game as a varsity player netting eight.

“We just moved the ball better tonight than we have been doing, and the offense is starting to come,” Collier said. “Everyone is getting better, and we’re getting good production from our bench. I think every night it will be someone different coming off the bench and helping us.”

Seth Thomsen added 11 points for the Tornado (6-1), who edged Owego by just six points in the first meeting. “We played great defense tonight,” Collier said. “Warchocki made some shots you wouldn’t believe. We had guys right there with a hand in his face, and he still made the shots.”

Norwich’s last appearance in the DWI Holiday Classic was in 2009 when it lost to Johnson City in the finals, 55-50, the third straight finals loss in the Regional Divsion, The Tornado’s last DWI title came in 2002, the second of back-to-back titles.

Owego: Stephen Yanchus, 3 2-2-9; Matt Warchocki, 10 5-11-26; N. Larrabee, 0 3-5-3 ; Jake Shelley, 1 0-0-2; Thomas, 0; Ford, 2 2-2-6; Hathaway, 1 0-0-2; Mest, 0; Pickett, 0; Dimock, 0. Totals: 17 12-20-48.

Norwich: Kyle Edwards, 7 4-7-20; Dennis Oralls, 2 2-3-6; Michael Sutton, 5 0-0-10; Danny Carson, 0; Nate Ashton, 1 0-0-2; Robbie Wheeler, 1 0-0-2; Grady Thompson, 0; Seth Thomsen, 4 3-4-11; Ian Weaver, 0; Eric Walling, 1 0-0-3; Storm Cook, 0; Grant Brightman, 1 0-0-2; Michael D’Abbraccio, 3 1-4-8. Totals: 25 10-18-64.

Owego 10 12 13 13–48

Norwich 14 17 16 17–64

Fouled out: none. Three-point goals: (O) Yanchus, Warchocki. (N) Edwards 2, Walling, D’Abbraccio.

Oneonta 62, Sherburne-Earlville 53

NEW BERLIN – A slow start cost Sherburne-Earlville dearly in the finals of the Unadilla Valley Holiday Tournament Thursday night.

Oneonta jumped out to a 17-3 lead in the game’s first four minutes, and led by at least six the rest of the way to capture the UV title.

Tournament MVP, Mike Calkins, had 12 of his game-high 23 points in the first quarter, and Bryce Wooden netted eight of his 17 lifting Oneonta to a 26-15 lead. “They took the ball to the basket strong early in the game, and they didn’t miss,” said S-E coach Kevin Vibbard. “We were just too passive early in the game.”

Jesse Yerton had a season-high 16 points off the bench for S-E, 15 of those coming on five three-pointers as the Marauders played Oneonta nearly even the final three quarters. A Randy Briggs basket with two minutes left cut the Oneonta lead to six points, the closest S-E would come. “We learned about ourselves that we’re willing to fight back, but we also learned that you have to be ready at the start, and you can’t take the first four minutes of the game off,” Vibbard said.

Austin Jasper contributed 10 points for the Marauders, who host Mount Markham on Wednesday.

S-E: Randy Briggs, 3 1-2-7; Carter Cole, 0; Jesse Yerton, 5 1-2-16; Sam Caton, 4 1-2-9; Paul Romanenko, 4 0-0-9; Cole Hodges, 0; Mick Khoury, 1 0-1-2; Austin Jasper, 5 0-2-10; Matt Smith, 0. Totals: 22 3-9-53.

Oneonta: Ben Payton, 0, Ryne Rivino, 1 1-2-4, Bryce Wooden, 8 1-4-17, David Wright, 4 3-5-12, Alec Picinich, 0, Mike Calkins, 8 7-10-23, Sean Getman, 1 1-2-3, Mitchel Couch, 1 1-1-3. Totals: 23 14-24-62.

OHS 26 12 9 15–62

S-E 15 11 10 17–53

Fouled out: (SE) Hodges, Caton. Three-point goals: (SE) Yerton 5, Romanenko. (O) Wright, Rivino. JV: S-E beat Oneonta in finals. All-Tournament team: MVP–Mike Calkins, Oneonta; Bryce Wooden, Oneonta; S-E-Jesse Yerton, Paul Romanenko. Justin DiJulio, Walton; Justin Hofer, Unadilla Valley.

Walton 64, Unadilla Valley 54

NEW BERLIN – Walton avenged a loss to Unadilla Valley earlier this month winning the consolation game of the Storm’s tournament Thursday evening.

Justin DiJulio scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half, and Walton made nine free throws in the final quarter to extend a three-point lead to 10.

“They outplayed us, hustled more than us, and played better defense,” said UV coach Matt Osborne. “They just pounded the ball into DiJulio in the second half, and we turned the ball over way too much.”

UV’s Justin Hofer had 36 points in the first meeting between these two clubs. He finished with 14 points last night, nine of those coming in the final quarter.

The Storm (3-4) play at Hancock Friday.