Boys’ Basketball

Norwich 67, Owego 59

OWEGO – The week and a half layoff appeared to hurt Norwich early, who rallied from a 10-point deficit in the first quarter to remain unbeaten on the season.

Harley Edwards canned two three-pointers, and had eight of his team’s points in a 12-2 salvo at the outset. “Owego is off to a pretty good start, and they were playing with confidence,” said Norwich coach Mark Abbott. “We took a timeout in the first quarter, which I almost never do, just to get composed. We were able to work ourselves back into the game.”

Norwich held a one-point lead after three periods, and pulled away in the fourth quarter. Josh Borfitz scored 11 of his 13 points after halftime. Vaughn Labor and David Carson had a pair of buckets over the final quarter, and the Tornado made 7-of-9 free throws down the stretch to seal the win. Corey Dietrich was 3-for-4, while Richie Bonney and Labor made a pair of charity tosses.

“We did a nice job in the fourth quarter of taking what the defense gave us,” Abbott said. “We slowed it down and pounded it inside to Vaughn and David.”

Labor led with 18 points, Dietrich scored 10, Tim Clark netted nine, and Bonney was next with eight markers. “We got back to the good balanced scoring with five guys close to double figures,” Abbott said. “We need multiple scoring threats and contributors, and it was a good night from that standpoint.”

Norwich (4-0) hosts Johnson City tonight.