NORWICH - The last time Norwich won a STAC basketball championship, it went on to capture a New York State title.
The Tornado are in position to end a 19-year drought between league championships after cruising past Elmira Wednesday evening, 69-52.
Four NHS players scored in double figures led by sophomore sixth man Zanny Stewart, whose nifty array of inside shots, spot-up jumpers, and an in-your-face three ball led him to a season-high 17 points. Kyle Edwards and Mike Sutton had a dozen points apiece, and sophomore Mike Oralls added 10.
Norwich will play Maine-Endwell in the league title game Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Binghamton Event Center. The Spartans dealt a short-handed NHS lineup its first loss of the season in December in the Stop-DWI Tournament.
“We talked about the last time we won a STAC title,” said Norwich coach Tom Collier. “Our ultimate goal is to win a sectional championship, but (to win the league) title would be gravy on our season.”
Norwich leveled the Express from the outset with a combination of players who represent either spit or polish. As Norwich’s first substitution, Stewart impacted the game immediately scoring 13 points in the first half. Stewart, Sutton, and Edwards made offense look like a thing of beauty in the NHS dribble-drive offense, while grinders Grant Brightman, Danny Carson, and Oralls corralled loose balls and collected floor burns as if they were badges of honor.
“We had a tough go of it early in the season with injuries and sickness, but we’re getting healthy at the right time, and everyone is on their ‘A’ game,” Edwards said.
For most of the first half, it was more like an A-plus game.
Already leading by 10 after one quarter, Norwich held Elmira without a field goal for nearly six minutes. Carson received a kickout pass from Mike D’Abbraccio for the first of back-to-back threes, and Stewart followed that with a smooth three over Elmira’s Tyler Moffe to make it 34-14 with 5:45 left in the half.
