Norwich girls returning to section finals
NORWICH – Norwich is no longer an itinerant traveler to championship games.
For the second straight season, the Tornado will appear in a Section IV title game dispatching Susquehanna Valley Tuesday night, 52-38, at Norwich High School.
It was a second win in three meetings with the spunky Sabers, and NHS will now attempt to avenge a loss to Oneonta this Friday night in the Class B title tilt. Oneonta defeated Chenango Valley Tuesday night to earn a date with the Tornado.
“We’re trying to become a perennial winner, and this is two finals appearances in a row,” said Norwich coach Josh Bennett. “I hope we can get over the hump (Friday) and become a mainstay in Section IV.”
Bryn Loomis scored 19 points to lead NHS, and sophomore Jenni Borfitz added 14 points, seven assists, and five steals. Borfitz was 7-for-8 from the free throw line in the final quarter scoring 11 of her points.
Susquehanna Valley applied full court pressure through the final eight minutes in an attempt to cut Norwich’s lead down. More often than not, it was merely trading points. “We’re actually a really good team in open space, so when they went full court on us, I thought we would blow them out,” Bennett said.
As effective as Norwich was on offense, it was not perfect. Sus Valley took advantage of the few mistakes NHS made in the last quarter, and whittled down a once 17-point deficit to five.
The momentum began to swing Sus Valley’s way at the end of the third quarter when Kelsey Dunn nailed a high-arcing three ball at the horn to make it 33-23 with eight minutes to play.
Dunn canned a running jumper and pumped in a three-pointer with 3:01 left in the contest to draw her club to within 43-38.
Borfitz, relatively quiet on the offensive end most of the game, helped right the ship. In addition to making all but one of her eight free throws, she drove and dished to Hailey Dietrich for a layup that had Norwich up nine points with just over two minutes left.
“We had a turnover here and a turnover there, and a couple of bad bounces, and they were able to get back into the game,” Bennett said. “But we pretty much know what we’re going to get from Jenni and Brynn every game. They scored their points, but the difference makers in this game were Hailey, Sophie (Stewart), Breanne (Cashman), and Cassie (Sutton).”
Susquehanna Valley led 7-4 after one period. Norwich missed at least three layups, and several other close-range shots that were just a little long or a little short. The shooting woes didn’t last for long. Loomis scored eight points and Stewart hit a pair of spot-up 15-footers as part of a 14-0 run to start the second quarter. Buoyed by that big second quarter, Norwich maintained a double-digit lead until midway through the fourth quarter, and after scoring the first six points of the third quarter, had its biggest lead of the game, 26-9.
“In between the first and second quarter, we pulled them over,” Bennett said. “We told them they were getting great looks, and they’ll continue to get good looks. Eventually the shots would go in. We also held them to two points in the second quarter. We finally got the defense going, and that seems to carry over to the offense. It’s especially true for us because we are so defensively oriented.”
Norwich (15-5) will meet the Yellowjackets at 6 p.m. at the Broome County Arena. Oneonta finished the fourth quarter strong in a 35-27 home win over Norwich just over three weeks ago. “We didn’t play well offensively the first time, but to hold them under 40, that was their lowest point total of the season,” Bennett said recalling the first encounter with Oneonta. “We’ll have to give the same defensive effort as the first time. I think it is to our advantage to play on the bigger court. We can spread things out, and that’s good for us offensively.”
SV: Lindsay Haskell, 2 0-0-4; Katie Shager, 0; Kelsey Dunn, 3 1-2-9; Abigail Godbout, 3 2-2-8; Abigail Hogan, 2 2-2-7; Madelyn Blackman, 0; Brianna Callahan, 4 2-4-10. Totals: 14 7-10-38.
Norwich: Miranda Costin, 0; Breanna Cashman, 2 1-4-5; Sydney Chaffee, 0; Jenni Bortiz, 2 10-12-14; Cassie Sutton, 1 0-0-2; Bryn Loomis, 8 2-8-19; Hailey Dietrich, 2 2-4-6; Sophie Stewart, 3 0-0-6; Taylor Cook, 0. Totals: 18 15-28-52.
SV 7 2 14 15–38
NHS 4 16 13 19-52
Fouled out: (S) Hogan. Three-point goals: N) Loomis, (SV) Hogan, Dunn 2. Officials: Berg, Linehan.
For the second straight season, the Tornado will appear in a Section IV title game dispatching Susquehanna Valley Tuesday night, 52-38, at Norwich High School.
It was a second win in three meetings with the spunky Sabers, and NHS will now attempt to avenge a loss to Oneonta this Friday night in the Class B title tilt. Oneonta defeated Chenango Valley Tuesday night to earn a date with the Tornado.
“We’re trying to become a perennial winner, and this is two finals appearances in a row,” said Norwich coach Josh Bennett. “I hope we can get over the hump (Friday) and become a mainstay in Section IV.”
Bryn Loomis scored 19 points to lead NHS, and sophomore Jenni Borfitz added 14 points, seven assists, and five steals. Borfitz was 7-for-8 from the free throw line in the final quarter scoring 11 of her points.
Susquehanna Valley applied full court pressure through the final eight minutes in an attempt to cut Norwich’s lead down. More often than not, it was merely trading points. “We’re actually a really good team in open space, so when they went full court on us, I thought we would blow them out,” Bennett said.
As effective as Norwich was on offense, it was not perfect. Sus Valley took advantage of the few mistakes NHS made in the last quarter, and whittled down a once 17-point deficit to five.
The momentum began to swing Sus Valley’s way at the end of the third quarter when Kelsey Dunn nailed a high-arcing three ball at the horn to make it 33-23 with eight minutes to play.
Dunn canned a running jumper and pumped in a three-pointer with 3:01 left in the contest to draw her club to within 43-38.
Borfitz, relatively quiet on the offensive end most of the game, helped right the ship. In addition to making all but one of her eight free throws, she drove and dished to Hailey Dietrich for a layup that had Norwich up nine points with just over two minutes left.
“We had a turnover here and a turnover there, and a couple of bad bounces, and they were able to get back into the game,” Bennett said. “But we pretty much know what we’re going to get from Jenni and Brynn every game. They scored their points, but the difference makers in this game were Hailey, Sophie (Stewart), Breanne (Cashman), and Cassie (Sutton).”
Susquehanna Valley led 7-4 after one period. Norwich missed at least three layups, and several other close-range shots that were just a little long or a little short. The shooting woes didn’t last for long. Loomis scored eight points and Stewart hit a pair of spot-up 15-footers as part of a 14-0 run to start the second quarter. Buoyed by that big second quarter, Norwich maintained a double-digit lead until midway through the fourth quarter, and after scoring the first six points of the third quarter, had its biggest lead of the game, 26-9.
“In between the first and second quarter, we pulled them over,” Bennett said. “We told them they were getting great looks, and they’ll continue to get good looks. Eventually the shots would go in. We also held them to two points in the second quarter. We finally got the defense going, and that seems to carry over to the offense. It’s especially true for us because we are so defensively oriented.”
Norwich (15-5) will meet the Yellowjackets at 6 p.m. at the Broome County Arena. Oneonta finished the fourth quarter strong in a 35-27 home win over Norwich just over three weeks ago. “We didn’t play well offensively the first time, but to hold them under 40, that was their lowest point total of the season,” Bennett said recalling the first encounter with Oneonta. “We’ll have to give the same defensive effort as the first time. I think it is to our advantage to play on the bigger court. We can spread things out, and that’s good for us offensively.”
SV: Lindsay Haskell, 2 0-0-4; Katie Shager, 0; Kelsey Dunn, 3 1-2-9; Abigail Godbout, 3 2-2-8; Abigail Hogan, 2 2-2-7; Madelyn Blackman, 0; Brianna Callahan, 4 2-4-10. Totals: 14 7-10-38.
Norwich: Miranda Costin, 0; Breanna Cashman, 2 1-4-5; Sydney Chaffee, 0; Jenni Bortiz, 2 10-12-14; Cassie Sutton, 1 0-0-2; Bryn Loomis, 8 2-8-19; Hailey Dietrich, 2 2-4-6; Sophie Stewart, 3 0-0-6; Taylor Cook, 0. Totals: 18 15-28-52.
SV 7 2 14 15–38
NHS 4 16 13 19-52
Fouled out: (S) Hogan. Three-point goals: N) Loomis, (SV) Hogan, Dunn 2. Officials: Berg, Linehan.
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