Boys’ Basketball
Norwich 73, Owego 63
NORWICH – With a division title out of reach, Norwich found something else to play for Friday evening on senior recognition night.
Kyle Edwards canned five three-pointers finishing with 22 points, and Dennis Oralls finished with 18 points along with initiating several key plays in the fourth quarter to salt away the win.
“We talked before the game about how important this game was,” said Norwich coach Tom Collier. “By winning this game, I think we may have clinched the number one seed in the (Section IV Class) playoffs.”
Offensively, Norwich was at its best in the first half. Seth Thomsen had six early points including a breakaway one-handed dunk. Oralls scored eight in the first quarter as well, and he dished to Storm Cook for a 10-foot baseline jumper at the first-quarter horn raising the lead to 25-11.
Edwards caught fire from behind the three-point arc hitting three three-pointers in the first 2:09 of the second stanza. The first of those threes led to a rare five-point play. Edwards drained his first trey from the left wing, and was knocked down a moment after releasing the ball leading to a one-and-one free throw situation. Edwards made both freebies, and following a defensive stop, NHS junior Danny Carson banked in a three ball making it 33-13. Norwich led by as many as 23 in the second quarter, and took a 47-33 lead into halftime.
“In the first half, that was probably some of the best ball movement we’ve had all year,” Collier said. “We’re adding more and more to the offense, and I thought we were really good with the team chemistry with certain people on the floor.”
Owego switched exclusively to a zone defense in second half, and steadily climbed back into the game. An 8-0 run late in the third quarter closed Norwich’s lead to 56-47. Stephen Yanchus and Matt Warchocki led the second-half Owego charge, and two free throws from Jake Shelley had the visitors within 10 points of Norwich for the first time since the opening minutes of the game.
An Edwards three ball with one second left in the third quarter pushed Norwich’s lead back to 12. “Owego is a pretty scrappy team, and we were wary about this game,” Collier said. “People look at their record and think they’re not that good. Their record doesn’t indicate how good they are, and I thought they had the momentum in the second half. They were beating us up and down the floor, and we had trouble stopping their penetration.”
A Warchocki jumper with 6:46 left in the fourth had the Indians within 61-52. Over the next 3 1/2 minutes, Norwich put the game away. Oralls found Walling on the left wing, who stuck a 16-footer. Two consecutive NHS defensive stops led to more points on the home team’s end. Walling canned a corner three, again receiving the dish from Oralls, and Oralls’ spot-up jump at the 4:35 mark raised the advantage back to 16. A Michael Sutton steal and layup completed a 9-0 Norwich run, and effectively ended Owego’s victory hopes.
“We were able to get some defensive stops when our lead was slipping away,” Collier said of the fourth quarter. “We made some plays on the offensive end that sealed the win.”
Thomsen finished with 10 points for Norwich, who return to action Thursday against Union-Endicott.
Owego: Stephen Yanchus 6 7-8-19; Matt Warchocki, 10 1-1-22; Jake Shelley, 3 2-4-8; Zach Thomas, 0 ; Tyler Ford, 2 2-4-7; Brandon Hathaway, 3 0-0-7; Mest, 0; Pickett, 0. Totals: 24 12-17-63.
Norwich: Kyle Edwards, 7 3-4-22; Danny Carson, 1 0-0-3; Dennis Oralls, 4 10-14-18; Michael Sutton, 2 3-4-7; Grady Thompson, 0; Seth Thomsen, 5 0-0-10; Ian Weaver, 0; Eric Walling, 2 0-0-5; Storm Cook, 1 0-0-2; Grant Brightman, 2 0-0-4; Michael D’Abbraccio, 1 0-0-2. Totals: 25 16-22-73.
Ow. 11 22 14 16–63
NHS 25 22 12 14–73
Fouled out: none. Three-point goals: (N) Edwards 5, Carson, Walling. (O) Warchocki, Ford, Hathaway. JV: Norwich won 75-50. Officials: Bennett, Coleman.
Otselic Valley 60, DeRuyter 40
SOUTH OTSELIC – Otselic Valley improved its record to 12-4 Friday night beating DeRuyter for the second time this season.
The Vikings led by 13 at halftime, and expanded the margin throughout the second half. Gideon Schena had 17 points and 12 rebounds in the win, and freshman Jason Olin added 15 points and 10 boards. Mike Larkin chipped in with 11 points for the Vikes, who host G-MU this Wednesday.
DeR: Moade, 3 2-2-8; Rudinburg, 4 3-4-11; Wheeler, 3 0--06; Thomas, 2 1-5-5; Fish, 3 1-3-7; Tucker, 1 1-1-3; Brown, 0 0-1-0. Totals: 16 8-15-40
OV: Lewis, 2 2-2-6; Larkin, 3 5-9-11; Huntley, 2 0-0-5; Marston, 2 2-2-6; Olin, 7 1-3-15; LaFlair, 0; Schena, 8 1-3-17; Bishop, 0; Straight, 0. Totals: 24 11-19-60
Der 8 8 12 12
OV 17 12 15 16
Team fouls: (OV) 16, (D) 16. Three-point goals: (OV) Huntley, (D) none. Officials: Bennett, Reynolds.
Unatego 68, Unadilla Valley 55
NEW BERLIN – Unadilla Valley’s strong first half was not enough to hold off Midstate Athletic Conference leader Unatego Friday night.
The Spartans went to their inside game to establish control of the contest in the third quarter with Travis Woods scoring eight of his 21 points, and Kellen Komenda netting seven as Unatego wiped away UV’s two-point halftime lead.
“I think it was probably our best half of basketball as far as playing defense, intensity, and running our offense,” said UV coach Matt Osborne of the opening two quarters. “In the third, they just pounded it inside to Woods, and he was too much for us.”
UV’s Justin Hofer scored 16 points in the loss, and Jack Wilcox along with Jesse Ranger added 10 apiece. The Storm (5-9) play at Delhi Tuesday.
Unatego: David VanAlstine 0 0-2 0, Kellen Komenda 5 0-1 11, Tyler Butler 5 0-1 10, Phil Youngs 1 2-4 4, Dan Kleeschulte 1 0-0 2, Dan Shelton 6 1-3-14, Travis Woods 9 3-5-21, Quinn Barnhart 3 0-0-6. Totals: 30 6-16-68.
UV: Kurt Haycook 2 0-0 4, Jesse Ranger 4 1-5 10, Jack Wilcox 4 2-5 10, Justin Hofer 7 2-4-16, Brandon Miles 0 1-4 1, Brett Smith 3 0-0 7, Nate Mackey 0 0-0 0, Nate Shackelton 2 0-0 4, Kevin Thomas 1 0-0-3. Totals: 23 6-18-55.
Unat. 14 17 21 16 –68
UV 14 19 8 14 –55
Three-point goals: (Un) Shelton, Komenda; (UV) Thomas, Smith, Ranger. JV: UV won.
Cooperstown 79, S-E 58
COOPERSTOWN – State-ranked Cooperstown ran away from Sherburne-Earlville Saturday, and halted the Marauders’ five-game winning streak.
Jeff Flynn scored nine and Mike Rowley eight in a 33-10 second stanza that pushed the Redskins’ halftime lead to 47-18. “We missed some shots that we really needed to convert,” said S-E coach Kevin Vibbard. “We would miss, and they would score in transition.. They are are athletic, big and fast, and they got out and ran.”
Austin Jasper scored 13 for S-E (13-4) and Sam Caton had 11. The Marauders host Cooperstown this Friday night. “We have a week to look at the tape and see what adjustments we need to make,” Vibbard said of the return meeting with Cooperstown. “These are the types of games we need to play as we prepare for sectionals.”
S-E: Randy Briggs, 2 0-0-5; Carter Cole, 1 0-0-2; Jesse Yerton, 1 0-2-2; Sam Caton, 3 5-9-11; Paul Romanenko, 3 1-2-8; Cole Hodges, 1 4-4-7 ; Mick Khoury, 2 2-5-6; Austin Jasper, 4 5-7-13; Matt Smith, 1 0-2-2; Chris Marquard, 1 0-0-2. Totals: 19 17-31-58.
Cooperstown: Jay Davine, 2 0-1-4, Jeff Flynn, 4 4-5-14; Jeremiah Ford, 9 0-3-18, Harrison Clinton, 2 0-0-5, Sam Bowen, 1 1-1-3, Michael Moakler, 5 1-1-11, Ben Pierso, 1 0-0-2, Derek Liner, 1 0-0-2; Michael Rowley, 7 0-0-14, Sawyer Haney, 0 2-2-2, Ethan Bliss, 0, Nicolas Knull, 2 0-0-4. Totals: 34 8-13-79.
S-E 8 10 16 24–58
Coop. 14 33 19 13–79
Fouled out: none. Three-point goals: (C) Flynn 2, Clinton. (SE) Briggs, Romanenko, Hodges. JV: S-E won 48-29. (16-1 overall)
B-G 62, Delhi 55
DELHI – Bainbridge-Guilford moved into a tie for the fourth playoff playoff spot Friday – along with Greene – in the Midstate Athletic Conference.
Ryan Porter had 18 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and three blocks for B-G, winners of eight out of nine games. “Delhi is always a tough place to go. We didn’t play our greatest, but it was good to get out of there with a win,” said Bobcats coach Greg Warren.
Corbin Palmer added 14 points, six assists, and four steals, Brooks Harmon had 10 points, and Ray Frederick came off the bench to score 10 points and pull down seven rebounds. “Frederick was great off the bench, and we were hoping he would have a game like that,” Warren said. “Corbin did a nice job getting the ball to the right people when he needed to.”
B-G (10-5) is at Afton Tuesday.
B-G: Lucas Butcher 1 0-0-2, Corbin Palmer 4 4-5-14, Ryan Porter 7 4-7-18, Austin Bauerle 3 0-0 8, Brooks Harmon 4 1-2 -10, Ray Frederick 5 0-0-10. Totals: 24 9-14-62.
Delhi: Ben Gifford 5 2-4-16, Brandon Simonds 8 0-0-18, Connor Tucker 1 0-0-2, Brandon Snyder 0 0-0 0, Tyler Hymers 4 0-0 8, Ben Denison 2 2-2 7, Zack Fogle 1 0-0 2, Brian Hannigan 0 2-2-2, Jimmy King, 0 0-0-0. Totals: 21 6-8-55.
B-G 19 15 11 17–62
Delhi 13 13 10 19–55
Three-point goals: (B) Bauerle 2, Palmer 2, Harmon ; (D) Gifford 4, Simonds 2, Denison. JV: Delhi won.
