ELMIRA – Norwich coach Mark Abbott drew some solace from Wednesday night’s STAC semifinals playoff loss at Elmira Southside.
“We’ve played at a very high level for a long time and played some very good basketball,” the Norwich mentor said. “If we’re not going to be at our best, now is as good a time as any with sectionals coming up. The timing is disappointing, but we’re certainly not as bad as we looked tonight, and hopefully we’ll bounce back.”
Elmira Southside, buoyed by the strong play of senior forward Isaac Yarro, systematically dismantled the Tornado, and dealt Norwich its most lopsided loss to a Section IV team in several years, 68-44.
Yarro scored 31 points, far and way the most of any team facing the Tornado this season, and the Green Hornets also avenged losses to Norwich last year in the STAC playoffs and Section IV, Class A finals. Southside also halted Norwich’s nine-game winning streak.
“Last weekend after the Maine-Endwell game, I said that maybe we wanted it more than they did,” Abbott said. “Tonight, Southside wanted it a little more than we did. They played with a lot of fire and passion, and were clearly the better team.”
Yarro was a one-man wrecking crew on the interior. He had his team’s first seven points, and scored two baskets in the low post in the final two minutes of the opening quarter as the Hornets began to creep away from the Tornado (15-3 overall).
“He brought a lot of intensity, he’s really strong and goes up strong with the basketball,” said Norwich senior forward Richie Bonney of Yarro, who had an up-close view of the ESS player’s skills. “He finished every time around the basket, and barely missed anything at all tonight.”
Bonney was one of the few bright spots on the Norwich end of the floor finishing with 20 points, while easily grabbing more than 10 rebounds. Norwich’s real struggles came on the offensive end as shots that have fallen from the outside all season long were not finding their way through the rim.
Meanwhile, ESS steadily built upon a seven-point first-quarter lead. Dom Brooks hit a three pointer after getting a kickout pass from Yarro, and Mike Craft drained a three with 54 seconds left in the opening half raising the margin to 32-20. Yarro, as he did all game long, finished the quarter on a low-post layup.
“We knew that Yarro and Bellinger (Brad) would be tough matchups, and we were hoping (Southside) would not get things going from the perimeter,” Abbott said. “They hit some shots early from the outside to get their confidence going, and things got out of control. As tough as we thought Southside would be, we didn’t anticipate getting whipped this thoroughly.”
Norwich had at least three wide-open looks at three-pointers early in the third quarter that rimmed out. Elmira countered those early second-half efforts by Norwich with a three ball from Craft, another bucket by Yarro, and a driving layup from Brooks to raise the lead to 18 points. Norwich trailed by 19 after three periods, and never cut the lead under that value over the last eight minutes.
“For whatever reason, we didn’t have that spark tonight, and that is very uncharacteristic of this team,” Abbott said.
Added Bonney: “They just outworked us and brought more intensity to the floor. We just didn’t have it tonight.”
Norwich is slated to finish its regular season schedule on Friday at Horseheads.
NHS: Casey Edwards, 0; Dennis Oralls, 0; Richie Bonney, 7 5-7-20; Jacob Kelly, 1 0-0-2; Frank Somich, 0; Josh Borfitz, 3 0-0-8; Seth Thomsen, 3 1-1-7; Jon Foulds, 0; Alex Williams, 1 0-0-2; Derek Hughes, 1 1-4-3; Andrew Austin, 1 0-0-2; Josh Favaloro, 0; Zach Martinson, 0. Totals: 17 7-12-44.
ESS: Dom Brooks, 3 0-0-8; Mike Craft, 2 0-0-6; Trenton Allington, 0; Connor Delaney, 0; Howard Henderson, 1 0-0-2; Greg McLain, 0; Isaac Yarro, 12 6-8-31; Brad Bellinger, 3 2-3-8; Anderson Brooks, 6 0-0-13; Matt Davis, 0. Totals: 27 8-11-68.
NHS 11 9 12 12–44
ESS 18 16 17 17–68
Fouled out: none. Three-point goals: (N) Borfitz 2, Bonney, (E) D. Brooks 2, Craft 2, Yarro, A. Brooks. Officials: Cronin, Chalk.