Norwich reaches Stop-DWI finals
BINGHAMTON – Norwich gave up a precious home game against always-tough Seton Catholic Central for the opportunity to play the Saints in the prestigious Stop-DWI Tournament at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.
The decision to go on the road is now looking like genius as the Purple Tornado handed Seton its first loss this season, and advanced to the DWI finals for the sixth time in seven tournament appearances winning 63-53 Monday night.
Norwich led for all but 25 seconds of the game, and had the game seemingly at hand after building a 12-point lead late in the third quarter.
The Saints, who gave up a big lead to Norwich last year in the fourth quarter to lose by seven, cut 12-point shortfall down to 52-51 with 4:05 left on Bob Garbade’s layup.
Following a Norwich turnover, Garbade had an opportunity to put his team in front, but his inside shot slid off the rim.
From there, it was all Tornado. Derek Hughes hit one-of-two free throws, and then made what may have been the game-saving play. He stopped a 3-on-1 Saints fast break stealing the ball from SCC guard John Armstrong. Hughes pushed the ball up the floor, spotted Josh Borfitz on the right wing, who subsequently buried a three-pointer – his fifth of the game – raising the lead to five points.
Richie Bonney and Casey Edwards wrapped up the win making 7-for-8 from the charity stripe over the last 81 seconds.
“That three-pointer (by Josh) was absolutely huge, and it takes a certain individual to even want to take that sort of shot,” said Norwich coach Mark Abbott.
Borfitz was 5-for-6 on three-point shot attempts finishing with 21 points to lead the Tornado. He was perfect in the opening half nailing all five of his shots and canning two free throws as Norwich led 35-28 at halftime.
“Seton was the number three ranked team in the state, and we came into this game pretty pumped up,” Borfitz said, who shot the ball with the same confidence as if he was playing on the Tornado’s home confines. “I like playing here (at the Arena), it’s my favorite place to play.”
Borfitz knows as well as anyone that an appearance on the Arena floor usually means your team is playing in a big game. Norwich brought with it a healthy amount of respect for the Saints, who beat Norwich in the finals of this tournament a season ago. With a game plan to contain the 6-foot-10 Garbade, and contest Seton’s able outside shooters, Norwich held the Saints to 17-for-45 shooting (38 percent) while playing almost exclusively man-to-man defense. “
“Our guys played tremendous defense tonight,” Abbott said. “When you’re facing a team with a 6-foot-10 focal point and shooters all around...the players on our team deserve all the credit in the world.”
Bonney added 14 points for Norwich (6-1), and Edwards had 13 in the win. Edwards swayed the early second-half momentum in Norwich’s favor finishing off a rare four-point play. Edwards took a pass from Borfitz, and hit his three-pointer as he was fouled by SCC’s Tom Torto. Edwards’ successful free throw had Norwich’s lead at 44-32, and the lead stayed in double digits until the fourth quarter.
Norwich meets Johnson City in the tournament finals, Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The Tornado have a 2-3 overall mark in Stop-DWI finals appearances.
SCC: Tom Torto, 3-13 4-5-12; Joe Slavik, 0-1 0-0-0; John Armstrong, 2-5 0-0-5; Joe Martin, 3-5 1-1-7; Dan Farrell, 1-4 3-4-6; Jarell Regan, 1-1 2-2-4; Devin Kane, 2-6 0-0-5; Bob Garbade, 5-10 4-6-14. Totals: 17-45 14-18-53.
NHS: Casey Edwards, 4-7 3-3-13; Dennis Oralls, 0-0-0-0-0; Richie Bonney, 4-11 6-11-14; Jacob Kelly, 0-0 0-0-0; Frank Somich, 0-0 0-0-0; Josh Borfitz, 7-9 2-2-21; Seth Thomsen, 1-5 0-0-2; Jon Foulds, 1-4 0-0-2; Alex Williams, 0-0 0-0-0; Derek Hughes, 0-4 4-6-4; Andrew Austin, 3-6 0-0-7; Josh Favaloro, 0-0 0-0-0; Zach Martinson, 0-0 0-0-0. Totals: 20-46 15-22-63.
SCC 13 15 12 13–53
NHS 19 16 15 13–63
Fouled out: none. Team fouls: (N) 17, (S) 19. Three-point shooting: (N) 8-for-15 (Borfitz, 5-6, Edwards, 2-3, Austin 1-1, Thomsen, 0-2, Foulds, 0-2, Bonney, 0-1.) (SCC) 5-for-16 (Torto, 2-6, Armstrong, 1-3, Kane, 1-3; Farrell, 1-3, Slavik, 0-1). Officials: Cicciarelli, Killian, Berg.
–– Patrick Newell
The decision to go on the road is now looking like genius as the Purple Tornado handed Seton its first loss this season, and advanced to the DWI finals for the sixth time in seven tournament appearances winning 63-53 Monday night.
Norwich led for all but 25 seconds of the game, and had the game seemingly at hand after building a 12-point lead late in the third quarter.
The Saints, who gave up a big lead to Norwich last year in the fourth quarter to lose by seven, cut 12-point shortfall down to 52-51 with 4:05 left on Bob Garbade’s layup.
Following a Norwich turnover, Garbade had an opportunity to put his team in front, but his inside shot slid off the rim.
From there, it was all Tornado. Derek Hughes hit one-of-two free throws, and then made what may have been the game-saving play. He stopped a 3-on-1 Saints fast break stealing the ball from SCC guard John Armstrong. Hughes pushed the ball up the floor, spotted Josh Borfitz on the right wing, who subsequently buried a three-pointer – his fifth of the game – raising the lead to five points.
Richie Bonney and Casey Edwards wrapped up the win making 7-for-8 from the charity stripe over the last 81 seconds.
“That three-pointer (by Josh) was absolutely huge, and it takes a certain individual to even want to take that sort of shot,” said Norwich coach Mark Abbott.
Borfitz was 5-for-6 on three-point shot attempts finishing with 21 points to lead the Tornado. He was perfect in the opening half nailing all five of his shots and canning two free throws as Norwich led 35-28 at halftime.
“Seton was the number three ranked team in the state, and we came into this game pretty pumped up,” Borfitz said, who shot the ball with the same confidence as if he was playing on the Tornado’s home confines. “I like playing here (at the Arena), it’s my favorite place to play.”
Borfitz knows as well as anyone that an appearance on the Arena floor usually means your team is playing in a big game. Norwich brought with it a healthy amount of respect for the Saints, who beat Norwich in the finals of this tournament a season ago. With a game plan to contain the 6-foot-10 Garbade, and contest Seton’s able outside shooters, Norwich held the Saints to 17-for-45 shooting (38 percent) while playing almost exclusively man-to-man defense. “
“Our guys played tremendous defense tonight,” Abbott said. “When you’re facing a team with a 6-foot-10 focal point and shooters all around...the players on our team deserve all the credit in the world.”
Bonney added 14 points for Norwich (6-1), and Edwards had 13 in the win. Edwards swayed the early second-half momentum in Norwich’s favor finishing off a rare four-point play. Edwards took a pass from Borfitz, and hit his three-pointer as he was fouled by SCC’s Tom Torto. Edwards’ successful free throw had Norwich’s lead at 44-32, and the lead stayed in double digits until the fourth quarter.
Norwich meets Johnson City in the tournament finals, Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The Tornado have a 2-3 overall mark in Stop-DWI finals appearances.
SCC: Tom Torto, 3-13 4-5-12; Joe Slavik, 0-1 0-0-0; John Armstrong, 2-5 0-0-5; Joe Martin, 3-5 1-1-7; Dan Farrell, 1-4 3-4-6; Jarell Regan, 1-1 2-2-4; Devin Kane, 2-6 0-0-5; Bob Garbade, 5-10 4-6-14. Totals: 17-45 14-18-53.
NHS: Casey Edwards, 4-7 3-3-13; Dennis Oralls, 0-0-0-0-0; Richie Bonney, 4-11 6-11-14; Jacob Kelly, 0-0 0-0-0; Frank Somich, 0-0 0-0-0; Josh Borfitz, 7-9 2-2-21; Seth Thomsen, 1-5 0-0-2; Jon Foulds, 1-4 0-0-2; Alex Williams, 0-0 0-0-0; Derek Hughes, 0-4 4-6-4; Andrew Austin, 3-6 0-0-7; Josh Favaloro, 0-0 0-0-0; Zach Martinson, 0-0 0-0-0. Totals: 20-46 15-22-63.
SCC 13 15 12 13–53
NHS 19 16 15 13–63
Fouled out: none. Team fouls: (N) 17, (S) 19. Three-point shooting: (N) 8-for-15 (Borfitz, 5-6, Edwards, 2-3, Austin 1-1, Thomsen, 0-2, Foulds, 0-2, Bonney, 0-1.) (SCC) 5-for-16 (Torto, 2-6, Armstrong, 1-3, Kane, 1-3; Farrell, 1-3, Slavik, 0-1). Officials: Cicciarelli, Killian, Berg.
–– Patrick Newell
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