NORWICH – From the moment it scored its first points, it was clear that this would be Norwich’s night.
On a day when former NHS Director of Athletics Jack Jones lost his battle with ALS, the young Tornado honored a true advocate of high school sports with a 70-49 Class B sectional playoff Tuesday evening.
Jones, for whom the Norwich gymnasium is named, was surely smiling somewhere at the sight of a typical Tornado performance. “We have a lot of respect for Oneonta, and they were coming off a huge home win,” said Norwich coach Tom Collier. “When we jumped on them early, I don’t think they could match the same intensity from that win. That’s only natural, but they did have a great season.”
Bryce Wooden scored the first two baskets for Oneonta, who briefly led 4-3. Mike Sutton had the early answer for Norwich hitting a three on the Tornado’s first shot, and Seth Thomsen’s driving layup put Norwich ahead to stay. Thomsen cashed a three ball on his next touch, and a follow-up three from Dennis Oralls after a kick-out pass from Thomsen had the Tornado rolling.
Oralls, a 28-point scorer in the first meeting with Oneonta, totaled 25 last night, and he did so on a mere seven shots. Factoring in 14-for-14 free throw shooting, the lanky NHS senior was spot-on most of the night. “We shot 57 percent from the field in the first half, and they really had no answer for Dennis,” Collier said. “He’s a real tough matchup for them.”
In truth, every Norwich player was a tough matchup for Oneonta. Thomsen had 15 points in the game, 13 of those in the first half. Kyle Edwards scored 10 points including a pair of threes, and Sutton, while only scoring seven, led the Norwich offense, while also holding Oneonta point guard David Wright to just three points.
Even the NHS reserves had their bright spots. Storm Cook hit a spot-up 15-footer from the right baseline, Eric Walling drained a pivotal three in the second half, and sophomore Mike D’Abbraccio had a dominant three-minute stretch in the second quarter when he pulled down four offensive rebounds, and had two put-back baskets.
“Our sophomores have just grown immensely this season, and we needed them tonight,” Collier said of Sutton, Cook, and D’Abbraccio. “They all played awesome in spots, and that’s because we stuck with them through thick and thin. They delivered for us tonight.”
Oneonta’s points came sparingly in the second quarter as Norwich rattled off a 16-2 run to up its lead to 37-17. The spurt started innocently enough with a pair of free throws from Oralls. At the end of the salvo, D’Abbraccio was eating up Oneonta on the inside with back-to-back layups.
