By Kieran Coffey

Sun Sports Contributor

CONKLIN – There will be no Section IV title for the Norwich girl’s varsity basketball team in 2017, as they succumbed to defeat against a strong Susquehanna Valley team last night, Feb. 28, on a final score of 56-39.

From the tip-off in the Section IV Class B semifinals, it was an uphill battle for the Tornado. Their offense put up just six points in the opening quarter, while giving up 10 on the defensive end.

Norwich performed slightly better in the second quarter, but still found themselves down by an eight-point margin going into halftime at 22-14.

Things didn’t get any better for the Tornado in the second half, as their defensive struggles continued. They gave up 12 points to their opponents in the third quarter, however, Norwich was able to draw the game to a 29-23 deficit with 1:40 left in the third period. This comeback attempt would last long, as the lady Sabers ended the period with a lead at 34-23.

22 points in the final eight minutes buried Norwich on the scoreboard, letting Susquehanna Valley cruise to a rather comfortable 17-point victory at 56-39.

“Quite simply, I thought the difference in the game was our difficulty scoring in the spots in the game where we needed to put points on the board,” said Norwich head coach Josh Bennett reflecting on his side’s loss. “Our offense was very stagnant tonight. We had trouble with turnovers and just flat out trouble putting points on the board.”

Poor shooting from the charity stripe also marred the contest, as Norwich shot just 38 percent from the free-throw line, on 10-26 mark – while the Sabers shot just above 58 percent on the night, going 20-34 as a team.

Even though his team didn’t make it to the finals, Bennett was still extremely proud of their efforts after a rough contest.