BINGHAMTON – Norwich didn’t need a heroic comeback this time.

The Purple Tornado defended well, shot a high percentage, and rarely turned the ball over. Pretty good recipe for success, huh?

Hitting its first seven shots – and nine out the opening 10 attempts – Norwich blitzed Whitney Point early on, and went on to win its second straight Class B boys’ basketball title, 68-46, Saturday evening at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.

It was just a year ago that NHS (17-4) made up a 20-point deficit in the second half to launch itself past Chenango Valley. A 13-0 NHS run in the early stages of the game put the Golden Eagles on their heels, who never summoned a comeback.

“They were playing some good ‘d’ against us and getting up in our shorts, but we were just hitting early,” said Norwich guard Kyle Edwards, the author of a game-high 23 points. “It set the standard for the rest of the game.”

While not possessing explosive quickness up and down the lineup, Norwich was plenty quick enough, and continually found seams in the Whitney Point defense. Be it inside or outside shooting, Norwich did not miss the first five minutes of the game.

Zach Marsh canned a 15-foot jumper for Whitney Point for the opening hoop, but nice ball movement on NHS’s opening possession countered that bucket. A swing pass from Mike Sutton to Edwards in the corner led to a three-pointer for the Tornado lead.

Nick Stevens had a put-back basket off a miss from Adam Tillotson giving Whitney Point its last lead, 4-3. From there, Norwich dished and swished. Edwards pulled up for a three ball, Danny Carson hit a 15-footer, and after a Point turnover, Sutton drove for a layup.

Sutton added two more driving buckets, and Grant Brightman’s layup off a feed from Carson made it 16-4.

“They were hanging with us in the beginning,” said Norwich coach Tom Collier. “We were a little concerned because they were getting to the basket early, and we needed defensive stops.”

During the Tornado’s 13-point run, it forced three Whitney Point turnovers, multiple bad shot attempts, and those adverse results were compounded by a technical foul on the Whitney Point bench. The Golden Eagles, darn good on the offensive end throughout the season, whittled the deficit back to nine points by the end of the first quarter, 23-14. That was, however, as close as it would get.

Norwich started the second quarter on a 7-0 spurt, and another Golden Eagles technical foul contributed to the margin. Mike Oralls hit a driving layup, then canned a three ball from the top of the key raising the Tornado’s lead to 39-19 late in the first half.