BINGHAMTON – Susquehanna Valley made an abundance of big shots, none bigger than the athletic move completed by forward Caitlyn Knapp.
Knapp delivered the back-breaking shot of all back-breakers with 33 seconds left in the Section IV Class B championship game lifting the Sabers to their first sectional basketball title Saturday night at the Floyd L. Maines Veteran Memorial Arena.
Knapp drove to the left across the lane and banked in a running left-handed shot – Knapp is right-handed – giving her club a 53-49 lead. SV made two more free throws in the final 20 seconds in a 55-49 Class B victory over Norwich.
"You have to think that is not a shot (Knapp) practices," said Norwich head coach Josh Bennett. "She made an off-balance shot, so what are you going to do?"
Knapp's clutch basket was pivotal to SV's success, and Norwich will likely point to one critical play midway through the fourth quarter that severely hampered its chances at victory.
Norwich trailed by as many as 11 points in the third quarter, and was down eight points one minute into the fourth quarter. The Tornado closed to 45-43 with 4:21 left after a Bridget Murphy put-back basket, and a free throw from Meghan Komendarek.
After Komendarek's made free throw, Norwich used a three-quarter trapping press that yielded a turnover. Komendarek stole the ball at midcourt, and drove for a layup. Komendarek was whistled for a charge disallowing the tying basket. More importantly, it was Komendarek's fifth foul sending her to the bench the final-half of the last quarter.
"That call took a lot out of our team," Bennett said. "Anyone that watches us knows that Meghan is a huge part of what we do offensively and defensively. Sus Valley has a six-two kid, and without Meghan, it changes a lot of what we do defensively."
Sus Valley ratcheted its lead back up to six points when Courtney Knapp made two free throws, and Erin Nolan – the 6-foot-2 girl of which Bennett spoke – scored in the low post upping the Sabers' lead to 49-43 with 3:20 left.
Norwich trimmed the lead back to two points with 52.2 seconds remaining. Savannah Williams completed a traditional three-point play on a drive to the hoop, and Makenzie Maynard hit a spot-up three ball on the left wing after a dish from Williams chipping into SV's lead, 51-49.
Caitlyn Knapp had an answer, though, and Norwich missed three three-point attempts on its last two possessions.
"At the end of the game, their big kids were real difference-makers," Bennett said. "There were a number of times in the second half where we could have said, 'they're playing great, it's not our night.' We never did that and battled the whole time."
Murphy, Norwich's third person off the bench, gave Norwich a big offensive spark, especially with Komendarek sitting out nearly the entire third quarter due to foul trouble.
Paige Finch's spot-up jumper from 15 feet gave SV its biggest lead of the second half, 33-22, with just 3:40 left in the third quarter.
