CLINTON – The Norwich Hurricanes’ 17U AAU basketball team advanced to the semifinals in this past weekend’s tournament at Hamilton College, finishing with a 3-2 record over the two days.
The Hurricanes opened play Saturday morning against Oswego High School, just the third time they have played a team composed of players that are all from the same high school. Seven first-half three-pointers gave the Hurricanes a comfortable 38-18 halftime advantage, and they cruised to a 66-49 victory.
Jonathan Foulds and Josh Borfitz, who evenly split a half-dozen first-half trifectas, topped the scoring charts with 16 and 13 points respectively, Casey Edwards and Seth Thomsen had 10 each, and Richie Bonney added nine.
Players from the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool high schools, large AA schools like Oswego, made up the Northmen squad, the Hurricanes’ next opponent, and the Northmen used strong perimeter play to take a 28-23 lead at the midway point.
The game remained close throughout the second half as the Hurricanes trailed 44-43, when “Big Shot Josh” Borfitz nailed a three from the corner to put his team ahead 46-44 with 19 seconds left.
A Northmen free throw got them within 46-45 with nine seconds left, but heady play from Hurricanes point guard Derek Hughes allowed his team to run out the clock and escape with the victory.
Borfitz scored 17 of his game-high 22 points in the second half to lead all scorers, Foulds had a dozen, and Bonney 10 as the trio accounted for all but two of the Hurricanes’ points.
Saturday’s final contest was against perennial Canadian power, the Ottawa Phoenix.
In another tightly contested matchup, an Edwards three cut the Hurricanes’ deficit to four in the final minutes, but a couple of Phoenix three balls gave them the necessary breathing room as they pulled out a 58-50 victory.
Bonney led the Hurricanes scoring charts with 17 points, Borfitz had 10, and Edwards along with Thomsen finished with eight.
“Saturday was a good day for us,” said Hurricanes coach Mark Abbott. “We played very well against three quality teams, and hopefully this will give us some confidence going into Sunday’s championship round.”
The 13 tournament teams were seeded for Sunday’s championship round with the Hurricanes slotted as the number three seed, giving them a first-round bye.
The Hurricanes’ quarterfinal opponent was the Southern Tier Rage, and the Hurricanes jumped out to any early 11-3 lead. The Rage, though, used their height and length to chip away, and eventually built what appeared to be a comfortable eight-point lead with just under four minutes to play.
However, the Hurricanes dug deep and willed themselves back into the game. Two Thomsen free throws got them within six, and following a Rage free throw, Dennis Oralls nailed a three to trim the deficit to four with 2 _ minutes to play.
Back-to-back Hurricanes steals by Bonney and Hughes led to the re-emergence of “Big Shot Josh” as his back-to-back three balls put the Hurricanes on top, and he followed that up with a late free throw to eliminate the Rage, 51-47.
Borfitz scored a game-high 18 points, 15 from downtown, Bonney had 11, Hughes and Thomsen split 14 evenly, while Oralls nailed two three-pointers to greatly aid the cause.
It was on to the semifinals and a matchup with the number two-seeded Orange County Crusaders from downstate New York.
A late spurt by the Crusaders, the final seven points of the first half, gave them a 32-21 lead at the midway point, and, try as they might, it was just too much for the Hurricanes to overcome as the Crusaders moved on to meet the Ottawa Phoenix in the championship game.
Bonney, Thomsen, and Borfitz led the ‘Canes with 13, 10, and eight points respectively against the Crusaders, who won the tournament championship, 68-63 over Ottawa.
Frank Somich, Zach Martinson, Andrew Austin, and Josh Favaloro were all key contributors as well to the Hurricanes’ efforts.
“It was a great weekend for us,” Abbott reflected. “We played five solid games against five very good teams. Of the 13 teams, we were the number three seed, and we ended up playing the first, second, fourth, fifth, and sixth seeds, so we certainly played against the best competition there was.”
The Hurricanes finished the AAU portion of their schedule with a 14-10 record as they now head into the team camps and summer leagues. “To go 14-10 against the type of competition we played is just outstanding,” Abbott praised. “It’s a great group of guys that work very hard, and they play as a unit at both ends of the floor. This will only help us improve as a team and as individual players.
“The Hurricanes coaching staff and players would like to thank Mr. Tim Borfitz for his tireless efforts throughout the season, and Mr. Pete Smith and Mr. Jim Dunne for their continued support. We would not be able to do any of this without them.”