Boys’ Basketball
Seton Catholic Central 65, Norwich 51
NORWICH – After three losses in as many games at the Stop DWI tourney last weekend, Seton Catholic Central returned to the comfort of the Southern Tier Athletic Conference Tuesday night at Norwich.
The Saints, winners by at least 13 points in their first five STAC contests, made it six straight beating a game NHS club.
Tommy Torto, the reigning most valuable player in the league, had 20 points, John Martin added 14, while John Armstrong and Cole Smothers tossed in 10 apiece in a 14-point victory.
“They beat us in every facet of the game,” said Norwich coach Tom Collier. “They outplayed us, outrebounded us, outhustled us, and outcoached us. They took away what we wanted to do, and that’s a credit to them.”
Martin more than doubled his season scoring average, and his dribble penetration into the teeth of the Norwich zone created much more damage than Collier and his coaching staff anticipated.
“Martin was vastly improved tonight,” Collier said. “Playing against national competition for three games helped him. As a team, Seton is getting better. I thought they looked okay against Oneonta. They were better against Chenango Valley, and even better tonight against us.”
The Saints scored the game’s first eight points, and opened a 35-19 bulge with 1:23 left in the first half. Martin hit a pull-up jumper, and Torto made two free throws after collecting an offensive rebound.
Norwich began a 10-3 run that covered the end of the first half and early into the second half to draw within 38-29. NHS was 6-for-6 from the free throw line during the salvo, and Michael Sutton along with Dennis Oralls had carbon copy layups.
It was Torto, Armstrong, and Martin who quelled the NHS momentum. The SCC trio made 4 of 6 free throws, two of those freebies coming off an NHS turnover, and Torto bombed a three-pointer from NBA range raising the advantage back to 45-29.
Norwich traded baskets with the Saints the rest of the way, and never again had the margin below 10.
Sutton, in his best game of the season, scored 14 points, Oralls had 12 for NHS, and Kyle Edwards connected on a pair of threes in the last stanza to wind up with 10.
“We have to get better at defending certain parts of the game, and it’s a process,” Collier said. “The bottom line tonight is that we played a really good team. They were coming off three losses in a row, and Seton Catholic Central never loses four in a row. I can’t remember the last time they lost four games in a row.”
Norwich (6-2) hosts Windsor on Friday, then has a short turnaround as it entertains longtime rival Oneonta on Monday.
JV: Norwich’s junior varsity improved to 7-1 on the season pulling away in the fourth quarter to beat the Saints, 60-41. Seton closed a 21-point halftime deficit to 10 entering the fourth quarter, but managed a single bucket in the last quarter, and that came with two seconds left on the clock. Matt Burke had 20 points for the Tornado, while Zan Stewart and Michael Oralls netted 13 apiece.
SCC: Tom Torto 6 6-7-20; Patrick Gosney, 2 0-0-4, John Martin, 4 6-10-14; John Armstrong, 2 4-6-10; Jarell Reagan, 1 0-1-2; Mark Perrault, 1 0-0-3; Tim Zeggert 0 0-0-0;, Brian Hartrick, 1 0-0-2; Cole Smothers, 3 4-5-10. Totals: 20 20-29-65.
Norwich: Kyle Edwards, 4 0-0-10; Dennis Oralls, 4 3-4-12; Michael Sutton, 7 0-1-14; Danny Carson, 0 2-2-2; Nate Ashton, 1 0-0-2; Seth Thomsen, 2 5-7-9; Ian Weaver, 1 0-0-2; Storm Cook, 0 0-0-0; Grant Brightman, 0 0-0-0; Michael D’Abbraccio, 0 0-1-0. Totals: 19 10-15-51.
SCC 18 17 12 18–65
NHS 8 15 11 17–51
Fouled out: none. Three-point goals: (N) Edwards 2, Oralls, (S) Torto 2, Armstrong 2, Perrault. JV: Norwich won 60-41. Officials: C. Haynes, D. Szelkowski.
Girls’ Basketball
Sherburne-Earlville 51, Mount Markham 20
SHERBURNE – Sherburne-Earlville dominated Mount Markham from the outset cashing in on easy baskets off of its defense to win for the sixth time this season.
Sierra Morris and Sarah Cole had nine points for S-E (6-2), and Katherine Robertson scored eight points off the bench in the second quarter to help the Marauders mount a 34-9 halftime advantage.
“We pressed and played zone, and forced them into some tough shots,” said S-E coach Karen Mulligan. “We got some turnovers and easy baskets out of our defense.”
S-E plays at Ilion Thursday.
