Frank Speziale Photo

Cashman’s three pointer with 3 seconds left earns win

NORWICH – Norwich’s Marcus Cashman delivered a 3-point dagger with 3.7 seconds remaining in the wild contest between the Purple Tornado and the Unadilla Valley Storm Tuesday night. Cashman’s bucket from the left corner put Norwich up 43-40 and UV’s head coach Matt Osborne called a timeout to draw up a potential game-tying play.

The Storm were without Andrew Jackson, who fouled out with 1:23 left in the fourth. Osborne went to Caleb Parker for the final shot. Parker got a look at the rim from beyond the arc but the shot didn’t go, giving the Tornado with win on their home floor.

“We had two great days of practice before this game and I felt the defensive plan that we implemented was very sound,” said Norwich head coach Tom Collier. “Our kids did a great job of executing the plan as we practiced.”

The first five minutes of the game was a battle on the glass as both teams missed several attempts and were full of sloppy play with turnover after turnover.

Norwich’s Thomas Flanagan changed that as he knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner to put the first points up on the scoreboard for either team.

The rest of the Tornado then piggybacked off of the momentum as Mujuni Mutabiilwa came away with a steal on the defensive end of the floor and finished at the other end.

Jahlil Jones then finished a flashy reverse layup to put the home team on top 7-0.

Moments later, UV’s Cameron Osborne received a pass from Wyatt Grey in the low post area and finished for the Storm’s first points of the game.

Flanagan hit another deep ball for Norwich before the end of the fast paced first quarter to put the Tornado up 10-2.

Andrew Jackson of the Storm registered his first point of the game at the free throw line in the second quarter but that is all he scored in the two quarters of play.

“Cash [Marcus Cashman] did a great job on Andrew, he battled him all the way and had plenty of help from his teammates,” said Collier.

Osborne, Grey and Parker provided Unadilla Valley with the spark they needed to get going in the second quarter, combining to score 10 of their 11 in the stanza.

For Norwich, it was the Flanagan show. The Purple Tornado junior scored all but five points in the quarter, extending Norwich’s lead to nine points.

Grey cut the lead to six but Cashman hit his first from behind the arc to put the lead back to nine before the end of the half.

UV’s stand-out in the middle, Levi Rifanburg, was held to zero points in the first half due to the defense of J.T. Vinal, Drew Walsh and Jahlil Jones. Grey, who can also be a big time scorer for the Storm, was held to just three points due to the defense by Mutabiilwa.

“Those were their big three scorers and we had great team help from all the players especially Carson Maynard and Skylar,” Collier said.

Out of the intermission, Norwich continued their momentum before the break to go up by 17.

However, all it took was a deep 3-pointer by Jackson and the momentum shifted.

Following the made shot, Jackson and Rifanburg turned on the two-man game, scoring the next 11 points by the Storm.

Maynard found Wenzel for the final basket of the third quarter and Norwich kept the nine point lead as the game went into the final quarter of play.

Wenzel, who finished with nine points for the night, scored underneath to open the fourth quarter but that was the only points scored by the home team until later in the stanza.

Unadilla Valley took advantage of the Tornado lull, going on a 11-0 run to tie the game at 38-38 with two minutes remaining in the game.