Boys’ Basketball
Chenango Valley 65, Norwich 62
NORWICH – Chenango Valley pulled off the stunner of the Section IV playoff season knocking off three-time defending Section IV champion Norwich before a raucous crowd at Jack Jones Gymnasium Saturday night.
Mark Mullins and Kolby Ross scored all 20 of CV’s points in the fourth quarter, and Mullins made 6 of 7 free throws down the stretch to hold off the hard-charging Tornado.
“Chenango Valley is one of the best teams in our league, and that was the best I’ve seen them play this season,” said Norwich coach Tom Collier, whose club finished this season with a 16-4 record. “You can say that we didn’t do this or that, but that really takes away from Chenango Valley’s effort. They came into a tough environment to play, and they beat the number one seed.”
Norwich was down throughout the second half, and after a pair of Mullins free throws, led 62-55 with 57 seconds to play. Instead of shooting threes, Norwich went to score-and-foul mode to extend the game, and closed the contest to 63-62 with 15 seconds remaining.
Norwich seniors Zan Stewart and Colin Stewart were a combined 7 of 8 from the foul line in the last quarter, and Michael Oralls scored six in the fourth including a key three ball.
Mullins gave his club a three-point lead with 13 seconds left making a pair of free throws setting up Norwich’s final possession. An NHS three-point attempt, however, to tie the game went off the back rim.
“Our game management the last minute and a half was outstanding,” Collier said. “To get a seven-point game down to one in the last minute...we never should’ve gotten it back to one point. That’s a credit to the kids for listening and executing, and a credit to the staff.”
Chenango Valley jumped out to a 19-11 lead in the first quarter as Norwich was forced to sit starters Oralls and Jamison Luke due to foul trouble.
Zan Stewart, who scored a team-high 23 for Norwich, helped keep the game within range at the half, 31-26, scoring 14 points, nine of those in the second quarter.
All five Chenango Valley starters accounted for the team’s points, and the Warriors shot 51 percent for the game, the best by any Norwich opponent this season. Caleb Hertzog and Jake Hertzog had 10 points apiece, while Ross and Brian Cox scored nine each.
Oralls had 13 for Norwich, nine of those coming in the second half.
“We fell behind in the first half, but in the second half we played much hard, got more of the 50-50 balls, and made a run,” Collier said. “They made some huge shots, and seemed to have an answer for us every time.”
CV: Caleb Hertzog, 4 1-2-10; Brian Cox, 3 0-0-9; Owen Klepfer, 0; Jake Hertzog, 4 2-4-10; Mark Mullins, 8 10-13-27; Kolby Ross, 4 1-2-9; Assad Murreld, 0. Totals: 23 14-22-65
Norwich: Michael Oralls, 5 2-3-13, Tre Bonham, 3 0-1 7, Cameron Edwards, 1 0-0 2, Carlos Ithier 2 0-0 4, Colin Stewart, 1 3-5-5, Zan Stewart, 6 7-8 23, Jordan Vinal, 0 0-0 0, Jake Walsh, 0 0-0 0; Jamison Luke, 4 0-0 8. Totals 22 12-17-62.
CVall 19 12 14 20–65
Norw. 11 15 17 19–62
Fouled out: (CV) Ross, Cox. Three-point goals: (CV) Brian Cox 3, Caleb Hertzog, Mark Mullins . (N) Tre Bonham, Michael Oralls, Zan Stewart. Officials: Fletcher, Blair.
Syracuse Academy of Science 75, Sherburne-Earlville 56
SYRACUSE - Syracuse Academy of Science moved on in the Section III playoffs eliminating Class B number two seed Sherburne-Earlville Sunday afternoon at Onondaga Community College.
Jessie Murray had 21 points for SAS and Jayson Brower scored 18. SAS led by 12 after one quarter, but needed a late burst to put the game away.
The Marauders' Gavin Giroux completed a three-point play with 5:34 left cutting the SAS lead to nine points. From there, the Academy of Science ripped off nine straight points.
"We had 27 turnovers in the game, and most their points came in transition off those turnovers," said S-E coach Kevin Vibbard. "They're long with athletic kids, and they deflected a lot of passes out of their zone. They were definitely quicker and more athletic than any team we've seen this season."
Senior Ben Khoury had a monster performance for the Marauders (17-4) in defeat scoring a game-high 29 points. "He kept us in the game, and we put him in the middle of our press-breaker so that he could attack," Vibbard said. "He definitely was in attack mode."
