NORWICH – The Norwich varsity Purple Tornado conquered their weekend in commanding fashion, as they downed their opposition to emerge the 21st annual Tom Schwan Champions with a win over Newark Valley at 61-42.
The tournament featured host Norwich as well as Unatego, Newark Valley and Dryden – as the four squads dueled it out over the weekend games spanning from Friday, Dec. 2, until the night of Saturday, Dec. 3.
After slamming the door on Unatego in the first round on Friday – winning 75-34 – Norwich powered their way into the finals where Newark Valley waiting.
Norwich dominated their first game on the court, smashing through the Unatego ranks for a 31-4 lead after just one period and a halftime score of 44-14, essentially sealing their ticket to the finals as Unatego would ultimately fail to rally in the second half while only posting 34 total points. While the Tornado offense shined in their opening game – with two players in double digits scoring, Skylar Wenzel at 12 points, and Dashawn King with 18 – it was the defense that earned them the early win as they held all Unatego players under 8 points a piece – with only one Unatego player making it to 8, Cody Smith.
The finals proved to be much more of a challenge when Saturday rolled around, as Norwich was faced with a more capable opponent in Newark Valley.
Up just two points after one period at 16-14, Norwich widened the gap going into the half as they were able to settle in and gain a 31-23 lead. Following the halftime break, the Tornado truly tore into Newark Valley as they opened up with a 19 point third quarter which pulled the lead to a semi-comfortable 50-33.
The defensive would once again come into play late, as the Tornado was able to stifle Newark Valley late in the fourth – holding them to just nine points in the period while allowing the offense to play freely, pouring on an additional 11 points for the dominating win in the championship's at 61-42.
The win keeps Norwich undefeated overall (3-0 including tournament play) as they will now move on to host Windsor on Tuesday Dec. 6, at 7:45 p.m.
With a Norwich win, Newark Valley would then go home with a second place finish – while the consolation game proved to go in favor of Dryden – as they would claim third, pushing Unatego into last place on the weekend.
Norwich would boast two All-Tournament players in Chris Jeffrey and Tre Bonham; while they would also claim the tournament MVP spot, as it would got o Dashawn King. King would finish the finals game as the leading scorer once again, scoring 16 points and draining two three point shots.
Chris Jeffrey and Tre Bonham would each help lead Norwich in the finals as well with Jeffrey claiming 13 points and Bonham taking 12 points.
On the junior varsity side of the Tom Schwan tournament, Norwich prevailed over Dryden by a score of 68-48. Norwich All-Tournament team selections on junior varsity were Mujuni Mutabiilwa, and Jonathan Clarke. The MVP of the junior varsity was Carson Maynard.
Finals:
