Boys’ Basketball
Norwich 49, Chenango Forks 33
NORWICH - For the second time this week, Norwich salvaged a subpar scoring night with one solid offensive quarter and four quarters of stingy defense.
The Purple Tornado stretched a two-point halftime lead over the Blue Devils to 14 in the third period, and won their third straight game. Danny Carson had 14 points and seven steals, Michael Oralls added 11, and Michael Sutton finished with nine.
The Tornado failed to reach 50 points in either win this week, but gave up just 31.5 points per game, and held the Blue Devils to just 28 percent shooting. “When you’re not having a good night shooting the ball, defense can be the great equalizer and limit the damage,” said Norwich coach Tom Collier. “We did a pretty good job holding down their leading scorers, and we shut down everyone else.”
Norwich scored the final four points of the first half to lead 19-17. Zan Stewart hit a three from the top of the key after a quick swing pass from Grant Brightman on Norwich’s first possession of the second half to kick-start the offense. Forks converted just one bucket and a single free throw over the first six minutes and 50 seconds of the quarter. During that stretch, Oralls hit two baskets, and Matt Burke drained a jumper from the foul line. Carson finished off the quarter with a steal and layup to make it 36-22.
“We struggled against their zone in the first half,” Collier said. “We were making poor decisions and the wrong type of pass. We corrected that, and we obviously did a much better job on offense in the second half.”
Norwich’s JV team finished the final 10 1/2 minutes of its game on a 33-12 run to upend Forks, 56-33. Matt Craig and Brendon Budd led with 11 points apiece, and Jamison Luke totaled eight rebounds.
Norwich plays at Oneonta next Friday.
CF: Nick Cannon, 1 0-0-2; Rob Story, 0, Logan Hall, 0, D.J. Ehrets, 0, Dan Gridley, 0, C.J. Melvin, 3 8-9-14, Andrew Ziegenfus, 4 1-2-10, Jake Stone, 1 0-0-2, Taylor Lindsey, 1 0-0-2, Cody Link, 1 0-0-3. Totals: 11 9-11-33.
Norwich: Danny Carson, 4 6-6-14; Mike Oralls, 5 1-3-11; Michael Sutton, 3 3-4-9; Zan Stewart, 2 1-2-6; Matt Burke, 1 0-0-2; Michael D’Abbraccio, 0 3-4-3; Grant Brightman, 1 0-0-2; Cody Barnes, 1 0-0-2. Totals: 17 14-19-49.
CFks 6 11 5 11–33
NHS 8 11 17 13–49
Fouled out: none. Three-point goals: (N) Stewart, (CF) Ziegenfus, Link. JV: Norwich won 56-33. Officials: Springer, Davis.
Girls’ Basketball
Seton Catholic Central 55, Norwich 50
BINGHAMTON – Emily Gibson scored all five of her points in overtime scoring a basket and hitting three out of four free thows to lead the Saints past Norwich Wednesday night.
Seton Catholic Central forced overtime when Taylor Stevens converted a layup with 12 seconds left. “We had the right defense for the last play, we just didn’t rotate on defense well on that play,” said Norwich coach Josh Bennett of Seton’s game-tying basket.
Norwich was hampered on offense early in the overtime period when leading scorer Breanna Cashman went down with an ankle sprain 30 seconds into play. Cashman led Norwich with 18 points, eight rebounds, and three blocked shots.
Jennifer Borfitz added eight points and six steals for Norwich, while Carin Kuhn and Lexi Race split seven points apiece. “Seton Catholic Central is among the best teams in Class B, and I think we’re headed toward where we want to be,” Bennett said. “We just need to take care of the ball a little better and play a little tougher defense against the top teams.”
Norwich hosts Oneonta Friday, Jan. 25.
NHS: Lexi Race, 3 1-2-7; Carin Kuhn, 3 0-0-7; Breanna Cashman, 5 8-11-18; Jennifer Borfitz, 1 6-14-8; Cassie Sutton, 0 0-2-0; Shelby Benjamin, 2 0-0-4; Taylor Cook, 3 0-0-6. Totals: 17 15-29-50.
SCC: Jaime Farrell, 0; Molly Martin, 0; Christy O’Neil, 5 1-4-14; Emily Gibson, 1 3-5-5; Lauren Miller, 7 5-7-19; Taylor Stevens, 4 0-0-8; Angelica Hauer, 3 3-4-9. Totals: 20 12-20-55
NHS 8 12 14 13 3–50
SCC 15 6 12 14 8–55
Fouled out: (N) Benjamin. (S) Hauer, Stevens. JV:  Seton Catholic Central won.
B-G 26, Greene 23
BAINBRIDGE – Bainbridge-Guilford extended its winning streak to seven games Thursday night in a low-scoring battle with Greene.
Morgan Bullis posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Bullis had a key three-point play in the third quarter, and senior forward Tori Rifanburg added two inside buckets to give B-G a five-point lead after three quarters. “In all honesty, I thought both teams played well, there just wasn’t much scoring,” said B-G coach Bob Conway. “Neither team had many good shot opportunities, and when we did, neither team finished well.”
Rebecca Smith had 11 points for Greene (8-4), who have lost back-to-back games this week.
B-G (8-5) plays at Sidney next Thursday.
Greene: Tiffany Borst, 1 0-0-2; Sierra Stoppkotte, 2 0-2-4; Paige Castle, 0 ; Alisha Montelione, 0; Jessica David, 1 0-0-2; Kaitlin Gorton, 1 2-4-4; Rebecca Smith, 4 3-5-11; Katie Carey, 0. Totals: 9 5-11-23.
B-G: Abbey Smith, 1 0-0-2; Morgan Bullis, 5 3-9-13; Caitlan Vandermark, 0; Megan Ferrara, 1 0-0-2 ; Taylor Palmatier, 2 1-2-5; Tori Rifanburg, 2 0-1-4; Betsy Holden, 0. Totals: 11 4-12-26.
Gre. 7 7 5 4–23
B-G 7 6 11 2–26
Fouled out: none. Three-point goals: none. JV: B-G won 21-18. Officials: Phillips, Fletcher.
Otselic Valley 30, DeRuyter 26
SOUTH OTSELIC – Otselic Valley won its first game of the season Thursday night making up an early deficit to defeat visiting DeRuyter.
Leanne Haitian hit two three-pointers and was 5-for-6 from the line to lead the Vikings with 13 points. Crystal Hayner chipped in with nine.
DeRuyter: Darrow, 0; J. Cox, 4 0-2-8; K. Jimenez, 0; S. Gordon, 4 0-5-8; C. Randall, 2 2-6-7; B. Prince-Rood, ; M. Gordon, 1 0-0-2; M. Lawrence, 0 1-2-1. Totals: 11 3-15-26.
OV: Amber Thornton, 0; Leanne Haitian, 3 5-6-13; Fran Cortez, 0; Crystal Hayner, 4 0-2-9; Elyse Peterson, 0 0-3-0; Courtney Pittsley, 2 0-3-4; M. Davies, 2 0-0-4. Totals: 11 5-14-30.
DeR 9 4 4 9–26
