Girls’ Basketball
Norwich Pennysaver Tournament
Owego 58, Norwich 48
Norwich 34, New Hartford 28
NORWICH – In all the measurables, especially size, experience, and depth, Owego had a decisive edge over Norwich in the finals of the 32nd Annual Norwich Pennysaver Tournament. The Indians were forced to lean heavily on all of those perceived advantages in Saturday night’s championship game ending the Purple Tornado’s three-year string of titles.
Tournament MVP, Rachel Merrill, scored 17 points and had five blocked shots. More than that, the 6-foot-3 senior had Norwich’s starting front line in foul trouble the entire second half. Fellow Owego senior Jill Silvanic ably offset Merrill’s inside presence draining a pair of three-pointers in the fourth quarter to help create a welcomed cushion.
“I really cannot say enough about this group of kids,” said Norwich coach Josh Bennett. “We came up with a game plan, and they executed it to perfection. Obviously, they have a 6-foot-3 kid with great moves, and we didn’t match up. She got us into foul trouble, and when we doubled down, Silvanic was able to get open for threes. We couldn’t scramble back quick enough.”
Owego returned its front line from last year, and had most of the components back from a club that beat Norwich by 10 points this past February. With Norwich already in foul trouble in the first half, Merrill and her younger sister Emily scored the Indians’ last eight points of the first half to give their team a 27-20 halftime lead.
Less than a minute into the second half, Norwich erased that deficit. NHS junior Jenni Borfitz had three driving layups – the second a three-point play – as the young Purple capitalized on two Owego turnovers. Until the final three minutes of the game, Owego found itself in a much tougher dogfight than most would have expected. “I was really proud of my team for scrapping in a game that could have gotten out of control,” Bennett said.
Norwich tied the game that one time, and gained its first lead of the game late in the third. Borfitz drained a three in the corner off a Breanna Cashman pass making it 38-36 with 1:15 left.
Just 12 seconds later, Owego moved back in front on Ciarra Bodnar’s trey. Norwich led for the last time following a Cashman jumper in the lane, but Rachel Merrill erased that with two free throws in the final 20 seconds of the quarter.
Other than Silvanic’s two threes in the last quarter Rachel Merrill bucketed six points, and Emily Merrill scored five.
Borfitz scored 14 of her 15 points after halftime, and Cashman chipped in with 11. “Owego is a high caliber team, and probably a couple levels higher than what we saw the previous two games,” Bennett said. “Our kids responded perfectly to the challenge.”
Friday, Norwich overcame a 22 percent shooting performance and 23 turnovers to outlast New Hartford in its opening-round game. The NHS ladies forced 28 turnovers in their own right and had 24 charted steals.
Down the stretch, though, it was offensive rebounding that preserved a tenuous fourth-quarter advantage. Cashman and Shelby Benjamin had two offensive boards off missed free throws in the last 4 1/2 minutes, and Cashman finished the game off making three free throws with less than 25 seconds to play.
Cashman scored 12 points, had 11 rebounds, five steals, and five blocked shots. Carin Kuhn scored a season-high 11, Benjamin grabbed 11 boards as well, and Borfitz charted six steals.
New Hartford, down 21-10 at the half, held Norwich to one field in the third quarter trimming the deficit to four with a quarter to play. A baseline jumper by Michaela Scarafile with 1:53 left drew the Spartans to within 29-28. Norwich answered with a Kuhn free throw, and a Benjamin offensive rebound and ensuing New Hartford foul led to two more free throws to secure the advantage.
Borfitz and Cashman were each named to the all-tournament team.
Norwich’s junior varsity team picked up the tournament championship rolling past Owego, 52-31. Makenzie Maynard led NHS with 21 points and Savannah Williams scored 13. Maynard was named the MVP, while Meghan Komendarek, and Kassidy Seary of NHS were also named to the all-tourney team. In Friday’s win over New Hartford, Maynard had a dozen points in a 41-29 win, while Komendarek scored 10.
Owego: Caitlyn Watson, 1 0-0-2; Kaylee Miner, 0; Andrea Zlinsky, 0; Ciarra bBodnar, 2 1-2-6; Shannon Hiliker, 1 4-6-6; Olivia Bishop, 0 3-4-3; Kira Thalacker, 0; Chelsea Murphy, 0; Emily Merrill, 3 4-6-10; Rachel Merrill, 4 9-16-17; Jill Silvanic, 5 2-2-14. Totals: 16 23-36-58.
Norwich: Lexi Race, 0; Carin Kuhn, 3 2-5-9; Caitlyn Brown, 0; Breanna Cashman, 5 1-2-11; Ashley Campbell, 0 0-2-0; Jennifer Borfitz, 4 6-11-15; Shelby Benjamin, 3 3-5-9; Taylor Cook, 2 0-0-4. Totals: 17 12-25-48.
Owego: 13 14 14 17—58
Nor. 10 10 20 8—48
Fouled out: (O) Hiliker. Three-point goals: (N) Borfitz, Kuhn. (O) Silvanic 2, Bodnar. JV: Norwich beat Owego, 52-31 in championship game.
Norwich 34, New Hartford 28
New Hartford: Rachel Zalewski, 1 0-0-2; Francesca Zumpano, 1 0-0-2; Emily Acquaviva, 1 1-2-3; Michaela Scarafile, 3 0-0-7; Dana Del Genio, 1 0-0-2; Amy Evans, 0 1-4-1; Mary Kate Alessandrini, 2 2-3-8; Elizabeth Cavie, 1 1-2-3. Totals: 10 5-13-28
NHS: Lexi Race, 0; Carin Kuhn, 4 2-8-11; Caitlyn Brown, 0; Breanna Cashman, 4 4-10-12; Ashley Campbell, 0; Jennifer Borfitz, 2 1-3-5; Shelby Benjamin, 2 3-3-7; Taylor Cook, 0. Totals: 12 10-24-35.
NHa. 6 4 10 8–28
Norw. 12 9 3 11–35
Fouled out: (NH) Del Genio, Evans. Three-point goals: (N) Kuhn, (NH) Alessandrini 3, Scarafile. JV: Norwich won 41-29. (Makenzie Maynard 12, Meghan Komendarek, 10 points). Officials: Barber, Stento.
Unadilla Valley 62, Delhi 18
NEW BERLIN – Unadilla Valley coasted to a 44-point victory Friday evening jumping out to a 26-2 first-quarter lead over Delhi.
Amanda Off and Taylor Davis had 14 points apiece, and Jordan Anderson scored 12 for UV. “Delhi had a really good JV team from last year, so I wasn’t sure what to expect,” said UV coach Brandi Backus. “I wanted to see how we played coming off a loss, and in that first quarter we could not miss. All of our bench played a lot, and they had great games, too.”
UV plays at Walton Tuesday.
Delhi: Ally Heavey, 1 1-2-3, Joelle Favret, 0 1-2-1, Emily Saleman, 0, Katie Pardee , 2 0-0-4, , Emma Berry, 0, Sophia Gimlik 0 0-0 0, Inda Gillett, 2 0-0-6, Deonna Scarimbolo, 0, Kaitlin Haynes, 2 0-2-4. Totals: 7 2-6-18.
UV: Emily Converse, 1 2-4-4; Corrine Izard, 3 0-0-6; Taylor Davis, 6 1-2-14; Olivia Lazarus, 2 1-2-5; Jenn Elliott, 2 2-2-7; Amanda Off, 7 0-0-14; Morgan Weidman, 0; Melinda Dixson, 0; Jordan Anderson, 4 4-4-12; Bridget Converse, 0. Totals: 25 10-14-62.
