Editor’s note: Today is part one of a two-part look at Saturday’s Section IV Class B boys’ basketball championship game between Norwich and Whitney Point that is scheduled for Saturday at 6:45 p.m. at the Broome County Arena.

Not since 1993 – a 20-year span – has Whitney Point won a Section IV boys basketball championship. That season, the Golden Eagles went on to win a state championship. It’s a story that must sound a little familiar to longtime Norwichians, whose Purple Tornado won a section title that same year, and also went on to win a state championship.

In its final years as a member of the Southern Tier Athletic Conference, Whitney Point became less and less of a factor, but since a move west to the IAC four years ago, Point has rejuvenated its basketball fortunes.

“We’ve talked a little bit about the 1993 championship, and we had Jack (Halloran, legendary Whitney Point coach) come in and talk to the kids,” said Golden Eagles fifth-year coach Steve Morgan. “This is a special group, we think. The community has gotten behind us and stirred up interest, kind of like it was 20 years ago.”