Richie Bonney served notice on the Southern Tier Athletic Conference last season at Seton Catholic Central.
The Purple Tornado, already with one loss on the books to the Saints, made a double-digit comeback in enemy territory, and Bonney fueled the offensive charge. Bonney came off the bench and scored the bulk of his game-high 20 points over the final two quarters.
That game was merely a glimpse of Bonney’s potential. In Norwich’s first two games this season, the senior forward’s play was on full display – and he was nothing short of impressive.
In leading Norwich to a second straight Tom Schwan Tournament title, Bonney had a combined 44 points, 23 rebounds, five blocked shots, and he shot 63 percent from the field from a variety of spots on the floor. Bonney’s explosive play on the basketball floor has earned him our Evening Sun/Smith Ford LLC Athlete of the Week honor.
“Richie is very difficult to defend,” said Norwich coach Mark Abbott summing up the difficulties opponents face.
In a blowout win over Oxford the first night of the tournament, Norwich banged home a team-record 11 three-pointers. Bonney, number three on Norwich three-point shooting list last year, made none of them. Instead, he flashed into the painted area to receive passes and knock down mid-range shots. He gathered entry passes in the post with his back to the basket, and fashioned a sweet turnaround fadeway jumper, and he was aggressive on the offensive glass adding some put-back baskets.
“Richie can score anywhere from two to 20 feet with either hand,” Abbott said. “His entire life he was on the perimeter as a guard. He’s maintained those perimeter skills while developing his post game. He works so hard on his skills every day in practice.”
At 6-foot-5 and with Norwich post players Vaughn Labor and David Carson gone the way of graduation, Bonney became the de facto inside player as the Tornado’s tallest player. In spite of a rather lanky frame, Bonney has taken to the inside game – offensively and defensively – in stride. “I think he just assumed, without Vaughn or David, he would step into their position,” Abbott said, who never told Bonney he would need Bonney to work on his inside game. “He spent a lot of time working there (inside) in the offseason.”
Abbott, though, was quick to mention that life for Bonney on offense is not simply on the low-post block. Equally capable of facing up and driving to the basket, he did just that in a championship-game win over Massena. Not to mention, he did drain his first three-pointer of the season on his way to earning tournament’s most valuable player award.
“We always saw his talent on the perimeter, but he is a gritty guy and doesn’t back down at all on the inside,” Abbott said. “That’s just his personal maturation process.”
Bonney’s personal maturation process had Division III colleges looking at him as a recruit next year, Abbott said. Still, the Tornado have a full slate ahead of them if they hope to repeat as a Section IV champion. One thing is for sure, Bonney will weigh heavily in his team’s success.
“At the beginning of the season Tom (Collier, assistant coach) and I identified Richie as one of the guys we need on the floor a lot,” Abbott said. “We definitely have interchangeable parts and talented players, but we see the importance of Richie on the floor. Not just from a production standpoint, but from a leadership standpoint. We expect big things from Richie, but I’m sure our expectations don’t match the expectations Richie has for himself.”
For two games, at least, Bonney is meeting everyone’s expectations.