By Robert Jeffrey

Sun Sports Contributor

NORWICH – The saying is that it’s hard to beat a team twice, but it is even harder to beat a team three times.

Fortunately, for the Purple Tornado they maintain home court advantage when the rival Oneonta Yellowjackets come to visit in the quarterfinals of the Section IV Class B girls’ basketball tournament.

Most noteworthy, the Tornado are the three seed in the Class B tournament for 2017, and face the tough task of reaching the sectional finals having to get past both a very respectable opponent in Oneonta and a daunting state-ranked Susquehanna Valley team – just to get to the finals.

However, interestingly enough the Tornado would likely be the favorite to win the Section IV Class A title, having won against all four top-seeded class A teams in Vestal, Maine-Endwell, Johnson City, and Owego this season.

This just goes to show the toughness of Section IV Class B girls’ basketball, and how Section IV has some of the best, if not the best girls’ basketball in New York State.

With the Tornado winning at Oneonta to win their third game of the year a 50-42 victory was a tough and brutal test for NHS as they lost sophomore Nicole Jeffrey to injury for the rest of the season, eliminating a small piece from their youthful bench. In the game, the Tornado didn’t take the lead for good until the fourth period.