Norwich, Oxford, OV advance in playoffs
Boys’ Basketball
Norwich 70, Elmira Free Academy 41
ELMIRA – It would be hard to top Norwich’s performance Saturday night at Elmira Free Academy.
Playing on the road against a higher seeded team, the Tornado relied on balanced scoring and fundamentally sound defense to dispatch the Blue Devils in lopsided fashion.
Next up for the Purple and White is a date in the Section IV Class A championship game against Elmira Southside Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Broome County Arena. Norwich, who has not lost to a Class A team this season in compiling a 19-3 record, beat the Green Hornets less than two weeks ago, 66-55 at Jack Jones Gymnasium.
“This was probably our best all-around performance of the year,” said Norwich coach Mark Abbott.
Senior Timmy Clark drew a team-record 13th defensive charge early in the game laying the groundwork for a stingy defense, and Clark’s three ball at the first-quarter buzzer left the Tornado in front, 14-10.
Norwich started the second stanza on an 11-4 spurt, and led by double digits the rest of the way. Richie Bonney led four NHS players in double figures scoring 15 off the bench. Clark added 12, Josh Borfitz 11, and David Carson 10 for Norwich.
“After Timmy hit that three, from that point on, we pretty much dominated,” Abbott said. “We had great offensive balance. Of our four leading scorers tonight, our two leading scorers (Corey Dietrich and Vaughn Labor) weren’t any of those four.”
Norwich also mixed three types of zone defense allowing EFA a mere 25 points through three quarters. The 41 points was the fewest the Blue Devils scored this season, and nearly 20 points under their season scoring average. “From the scouting reports I had, they said you had to play zone against (EFA) because they’re so good on penetration and putbacks,” Abbott said. “Being able to take them out of any offensive rhythm was frustrating to them.”
Norwich: Casey Edwards, 1 0-0-3; Richie Bonney, 6 2-2-15; Corey Dietrich, 2 1-2-5; Tim Clark, 3 4-4-12; Josh Borfitz, 4 1-1-11; Vaughn Labor, 2 0-0-4; Seth Thomsen, 2 0-0-4; David Carson, 4 2-2-10; Derek Hughes, 3 0-0-6; Cory Law, 0 0-0-0; Christian Hotaling, 0 0-0-0. Totals: 27 10-11-70
EFA: Tremar Burns, 1 0-0-2; Tyrone Clark, 2 1-2-5; Jorell Cook, 3 0-0-6; Reggie Corley, 3 4-5-10; Tyler Donahue, 2 0-0-4; Velez Ross-Toro, 2 0-0-5; Chris Stroman, 1 0-0-2; Kyle Wright, 3 0-0-7. Totals: 17 5-7-41.
Score by quarters
NHS 14 16 15 25–70
EFA 10 6 9 16–41
Fouled out: none. Three-point goals: (E) Ross-Toro, Wright, (N) Clark 2, Borfitz 2, Bonney, Edwards.
Oxford 53, Walton 41
OXFORD – Oxford has not played a game that was closer than 14 points over the last two months. Walton did a smidgen better than the previous 15 opponents vanquished by the Blackhawks, but it was just a smidgen.
Alex Champlin caught fire in the third period for the Blackhawks, who advanced to the Section IV, Class C semifinals with a 16th straight win Saturday night.
Oxford plays at top-seeded Groton on Tuesday.
“We were kind of in control most of the game,” said Oxford coach Tim Davis. “We didn’t shoot particularly well in the first half, but we had a nice run in the third quarter and had the lead up to 19 points.”
Champlin finished with 30 points, and had 13 of his team’s 17 in the third stanza lifting the Blackhawks to a 45-30 advantage. The victory for Oxford (19-3) moves the Blackhawks’ mark to 39-7 over the past two seasons. “Defense is what is getting us the wins without us scoring a lot of points,” Davis said. “Offensively, I don’t think other teams have one guy that can stop Alex. It takes a team effort to slow him down, and he’s really good at finding his teammates.”
Tom Gould continued his steady double figures scoring added 12 points to the Blackhawks’ ledger.
Walton: Robertny LeRouge, 0, Chad Gardepe, 5 0-0-13, Kyle Baxley 0, Josh Fisher 1 0-0-3, Phil Hanley, 1 2-2-4, Zack Russell, 0, Dale Morley, 4 1-2-11, Justin Knapp, ,0 Jon Howard 0, Steve Kaminsky,1 1-3-3 , Dan Gehl, 2 3-5-7, Aaron Holdosi 0. Totals: 14 7-13-41.
Oxford: Brett Trask, 2 0-0-4; Cory Seiler, 2 0-0-4; Alex Champlin, 13 2-3-30; Zack Barry, 0; Ethan Paul, 0; Ralph Renaud, 0; Jeremy Nelson, 1 1-2-3; Tom Gould, 5 2-3-12 . Totals: 23 5-8-53.
Walt. 8 10 12 11–41
Oxf. 16 12 17 8–53
Fouled out: (O) J. Nelson. Three-point goals: (O) Champlin 2, (W) Gardepe 3, Fisher, Morley 2. Officials: Barker, Coleman.
Otselic Valley 67, Oppenheim-Ephratah 62 (OT)
UTICA – Otselic Valley is headed back to the Section III D-2 finals for the second time in three seasons after outlasting Oppenheim-Ephratah in overtime Friday night.
OV gave up an 11-point lead early in the second half, and O-E tied the game at 56-56 on Terry Randall’s bucket with 5.6 seconds left in regulation.
OV (19-3) trailed early in overtime, but received eight points from David Cerasani to pull ahead. Cerasani assisted Brad Wentworth on the go-ahead hoop in overtime to make it 62-60. Cerasani followed that with two driving baskets.
“We knew we just had to keep plugging away,” said Cerasani. “We wanted to go to Manley Field House (for the section finals), and that was enough motivation.”
Cerasani, OV’s leading scorer, had just one point at halftime, but scored 15 over the third and fourth quarters to finished with a game-high 24.
Justin Shapley had his best game of the season totaling 18 points and 19 rebounds. Wentworth chipped in with 13, and that duo played a large role in leading the Vikes to a 26-23 halftime advantage.
“It was a crazy game that went back and forth,” said OV head coach Dave Loomis. “Shapley came up huge for us. We needed everything we got out of everyone who played to win this game.”
OV plays New York Mills in the D-2 finals Saturday at 12:45 p.m. at Manley Field House. New York Mills, who beat the Vikings for the overall Section III title two season ago, upset top-seeded DeRuyter.
Oppenheim-Ephratah: Mo Conte 8 5-5 21; Terry Randall 6 3-7-15; Kyle Hayes 0 0-0 0; Keagan Brown 1 0-0 3; Say Jenkins 9 2-4 20; Justin Case 1 0-0 3. Totals: 25 10-16-62.
OV: Adam Duell 0 0-0 0; David Cerasani 10 4-6 24; Tyler Davis 1 3-4 5; Brad Wentworth 4 4-6 13; Justin Shapley 8 2-2-18; Dustin Davis 1 1-2 3; Jefferson Pittsley 1 0-1 2; Jamin Selan 1 0-0 2. Totals: 26 14-21-67.
O-E 9 14 17 16 6–62
OV 13 13 18 12 11–67
Fouled out: (OE) Conte, (OV) Tyler Davis. Team fouls: (O-E) 18, (OV) 17. Three-pointers: (O-E) Brown 1, Case 1; OV 1 (Wentworth 1). Officials: Miller, Murphy, Manor.
Norwich 70, Elmira Free Academy 41
ELMIRA – It would be hard to top Norwich’s performance Saturday night at Elmira Free Academy.
Playing on the road against a higher seeded team, the Tornado relied on balanced scoring and fundamentally sound defense to dispatch the Blue Devils in lopsided fashion.
Next up for the Purple and White is a date in the Section IV Class A championship game against Elmira Southside Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Broome County Arena. Norwich, who has not lost to a Class A team this season in compiling a 19-3 record, beat the Green Hornets less than two weeks ago, 66-55 at Jack Jones Gymnasium.
“This was probably our best all-around performance of the year,” said Norwich coach Mark Abbott.
Senior Timmy Clark drew a team-record 13th defensive charge early in the game laying the groundwork for a stingy defense, and Clark’s three ball at the first-quarter buzzer left the Tornado in front, 14-10.
Norwich started the second stanza on an 11-4 spurt, and led by double digits the rest of the way. Richie Bonney led four NHS players in double figures scoring 15 off the bench. Clark added 12, Josh Borfitz 11, and David Carson 10 for Norwich.
“After Timmy hit that three, from that point on, we pretty much dominated,” Abbott said. “We had great offensive balance. Of our four leading scorers tonight, our two leading scorers (Corey Dietrich and Vaughn Labor) weren’t any of those four.”
Norwich also mixed three types of zone defense allowing EFA a mere 25 points through three quarters. The 41 points was the fewest the Blue Devils scored this season, and nearly 20 points under their season scoring average. “From the scouting reports I had, they said you had to play zone against (EFA) because they’re so good on penetration and putbacks,” Abbott said. “Being able to take them out of any offensive rhythm was frustrating to them.”
Norwich: Casey Edwards, 1 0-0-3; Richie Bonney, 6 2-2-15; Corey Dietrich, 2 1-2-5; Tim Clark, 3 4-4-12; Josh Borfitz, 4 1-1-11; Vaughn Labor, 2 0-0-4; Seth Thomsen, 2 0-0-4; David Carson, 4 2-2-10; Derek Hughes, 3 0-0-6; Cory Law, 0 0-0-0; Christian Hotaling, 0 0-0-0. Totals: 27 10-11-70
EFA: Tremar Burns, 1 0-0-2; Tyrone Clark, 2 1-2-5; Jorell Cook, 3 0-0-6; Reggie Corley, 3 4-5-10; Tyler Donahue, 2 0-0-4; Velez Ross-Toro, 2 0-0-5; Chris Stroman, 1 0-0-2; Kyle Wright, 3 0-0-7. Totals: 17 5-7-41.
Score by quarters
NHS 14 16 15 25–70
EFA 10 6 9 16–41
Fouled out: none. Three-point goals: (E) Ross-Toro, Wright, (N) Clark 2, Borfitz 2, Bonney, Edwards.
Oxford 53, Walton 41
OXFORD – Oxford has not played a game that was closer than 14 points over the last two months. Walton did a smidgen better than the previous 15 opponents vanquished by the Blackhawks, but it was just a smidgen.
Alex Champlin caught fire in the third period for the Blackhawks, who advanced to the Section IV, Class C semifinals with a 16th straight win Saturday night.
Oxford plays at top-seeded Groton on Tuesday.
“We were kind of in control most of the game,” said Oxford coach Tim Davis. “We didn’t shoot particularly well in the first half, but we had a nice run in the third quarter and had the lead up to 19 points.”
Champlin finished with 30 points, and had 13 of his team’s 17 in the third stanza lifting the Blackhawks to a 45-30 advantage. The victory for Oxford (19-3) moves the Blackhawks’ mark to 39-7 over the past two seasons. “Defense is what is getting us the wins without us scoring a lot of points,” Davis said. “Offensively, I don’t think other teams have one guy that can stop Alex. It takes a team effort to slow him down, and he’s really good at finding his teammates.”
Tom Gould continued his steady double figures scoring added 12 points to the Blackhawks’ ledger.
Walton: Robertny LeRouge, 0, Chad Gardepe, 5 0-0-13, Kyle Baxley 0, Josh Fisher 1 0-0-3, Phil Hanley, 1 2-2-4, Zack Russell, 0, Dale Morley, 4 1-2-11, Justin Knapp, ,0 Jon Howard 0, Steve Kaminsky,1 1-3-3 , Dan Gehl, 2 3-5-7, Aaron Holdosi 0. Totals: 14 7-13-41.
Oxford: Brett Trask, 2 0-0-4; Cory Seiler, 2 0-0-4; Alex Champlin, 13 2-3-30; Zack Barry, 0; Ethan Paul, 0; Ralph Renaud, 0; Jeremy Nelson, 1 1-2-3; Tom Gould, 5 2-3-12 . Totals: 23 5-8-53.
Walt. 8 10 12 11–41
Oxf. 16 12 17 8–53
Fouled out: (O) J. Nelson. Three-point goals: (O) Champlin 2, (W) Gardepe 3, Fisher, Morley 2. Officials: Barker, Coleman.
Otselic Valley 67, Oppenheim-Ephratah 62 (OT)
UTICA – Otselic Valley is headed back to the Section III D-2 finals for the second time in three seasons after outlasting Oppenheim-Ephratah in overtime Friday night.
OV gave up an 11-point lead early in the second half, and O-E tied the game at 56-56 on Terry Randall’s bucket with 5.6 seconds left in regulation.
OV (19-3) trailed early in overtime, but received eight points from David Cerasani to pull ahead. Cerasani assisted Brad Wentworth on the go-ahead hoop in overtime to make it 62-60. Cerasani followed that with two driving baskets.
“We knew we just had to keep plugging away,” said Cerasani. “We wanted to go to Manley Field House (for the section finals), and that was enough motivation.”
Cerasani, OV’s leading scorer, had just one point at halftime, but scored 15 over the third and fourth quarters to finished with a game-high 24.
Justin Shapley had his best game of the season totaling 18 points and 19 rebounds. Wentworth chipped in with 13, and that duo played a large role in leading the Vikes to a 26-23 halftime advantage.
“It was a crazy game that went back and forth,” said OV head coach Dave Loomis. “Shapley came up huge for us. We needed everything we got out of everyone who played to win this game.”
OV plays New York Mills in the D-2 finals Saturday at 12:45 p.m. at Manley Field House. New York Mills, who beat the Vikings for the overall Section III title two season ago, upset top-seeded DeRuyter.
Oppenheim-Ephratah: Mo Conte 8 5-5 21; Terry Randall 6 3-7-15; Kyle Hayes 0 0-0 0; Keagan Brown 1 0-0 3; Say Jenkins 9 2-4 20; Justin Case 1 0-0 3. Totals: 25 10-16-62.
OV: Adam Duell 0 0-0 0; David Cerasani 10 4-6 24; Tyler Davis 1 3-4 5; Brad Wentworth 4 4-6 13; Justin Shapley 8 2-2-18; Dustin Davis 1 1-2 3; Jefferson Pittsley 1 0-1 2; Jamin Selan 1 0-0 2. Totals: 26 14-21-67.
O-E 9 14 17 16 6–62
OV 13 13 18 12 11–67
Fouled out: (OE) Conte, (OV) Tyler Davis. Team fouls: (O-E) 18, (OV) 17. Three-pointers: (O-E) Brown 1, Case 1; OV 1 (Wentworth 1). Officials: Miller, Murphy, Manor.
dived wound factual legitimately delightful goodness fit rat some lopsidedly far when.
Slung alongside jeepers hypnotic legitimately some iguana this agreeably triumphant pointedly far
jeepers unscrupulous anteater attentive noiseless put less greyhound prior stiff ferret unbearably cracked oh.
So sparing more goose caribou wailed went conveniently burned the the the and that save that adroit gosh and sparing armadillo grew some overtook that magnificently that
Circuitous gull and messily squirrel on that banally assenting nobly some much rakishly goodness that the darn abject hello left because unaccountably spluttered unlike a aurally since contritely thanks