By Robert Jeffrey

Sun Sports Contributor

Frank Speziale Photo

NORWICH- The Norwich Girls varsity basketball team suffered their first home loss of the season on Thursday Jan. 26, falling to the New York State Class B eighth ranked Sabers from Susquehanna Valley by a score of 65-43.

Winners of the Section IV and the NYSPHSAA Class B State Championship only two seasons ago and a Section IV runner-up last year, the Sabers looked to gain a higher seeding for the Section IV playoffs and achieve home court advantage for their respective sectional games. The Norwich Tornado on the other hand had other plans. Regardless, of each team’s hopes there was still a game to be played between two Section IV title contenders.

The first quarter for the Tornado proved to be the most competitive quarter they played all night, leading the game by a six point margin with still less than half of the period to play. Freshman point guard Halea Eaton who stood her ground and took an offensive foul by an SV player driving to the basket turned the Norwich bench into a frenzy of celebration. This was followed up by Makenzie Maynard’s three-pointer and the hometown crowd began to believe in an upset.

That idea of an upset quickly changed as Susquehanna Valley marched down the court methodically, cashing in on possession after offensive possession, and putting a Tornado staple on defense – Meghan Komendarek – in foul trouble. Komendarek, who recorded two personal fouls before the end of the first quarter, left the Tornado in some serious defensive trouble. With Komendarek gone, it was time for the size of SV’s post-players Erin Nolan and Maeve Donnelly to take over the game. With Komendarek limited, an SV run tied the game at 9-9 heading into the second quarter of action.

“It was hard not having Meg out there for four minutes in the first half, those players have a lot of experience,” said head coach Josh Bennett.

The Saber’s offensive and defensive production in the second quarter proved to be too much for Norwich, outscoring the home team 18-6 in the period. After the first 1:17 of play in the second quarter, Sus Valley let the home town purple know just how the rest of the game would be played; fast. The orchestrator and facilitator of the Saber’s offensive unit in Holly Manchester was a huge impact on the outcome, despite only scoring six of her team’s 65 points on the night. The tempo and pace of play that Manchester, along with her Saber counterparts created flustered the Norwich defense, wreaking havoc on the offensive end.