Best in STAC: Norwich claims first league title in 20 years
VESTAL – Best in the Southern Tier Athletic Conference.
Has a nice ring to it, right Norwich?
The Purple Tornado climbed another rung up the ladder extending its unbeaten record to 18-0 beating Union-Endicott, 85-67, in the STAC finals Friday at Binghamton University’s Events Center.
Norwich extended its lead to as many as 25 points in the fourth quarter as the Tigers were relegated to quick shots on offense, and prolific fouling on defense to stop the clock. Michael Sutton finished with 23 points to head a fivesome of NHS players in double figures scoring, and Sutty was 7 of 9 from the free throw line over the final eight minutes. As a team, Norwich made 16 of 21 foul shots over the last minutes.
Norwich coach Tom Collier thought the Tigers went into extend-the-game mode a little earlier than he would have expected, and NHS cashed in on the charity. “I think they were frustrated in the fourth quarter, and it was just a great defensive effort on our part,” Collier said. “U-E is one of the best offensive teams we’ve seen all season, and has a lot of offensive talent. We had to rely much more on individual defensive performances than we had in our other games, and we had great individual performances.”
Eighteen games into the season, only two teams have finished within 15 points of Norwich on the final scoreboard, and none in Section IV since the Tornado’s opening-game win at Oneonta in early December. The comparisons are only natural to the last Norwich teams to win league championships while cutting a unbeaten swathe into sectional play.
That was two decades ago, and Sutton, who added nine helpers in the win, isn’t looking too far ahead. “We just have to keep this going,” Sutton said. “We have more championships to win.”
Union-Endicott trailed by seven at the halftime break, but quickly erased that disadvantage in just over two minutes. The Tigers turned Norwich over three times in that third-quarter salvo beginning with C.J. Krowiak’s pull-up three, a driving layup by Krowiak, and Joey Orlando’s steal and layup that made it 35-35. Following the last of Norwich’s turnovers, Nate Hemphill was fouled on an offensive rebound, and he drained two free throws giving the Tigers the upper hand for the first time since the opening two minutes of the game.
Enter Zan Stewart.
Stewart took a dish from Sutton for a spot-up three as Norwich snatched its lead back. Hemphill drove for a layup giving his club its last lead, 39-38, but Stewart had the bucket in his crosshairs once more pulling up for a trifecta that clearly had wore some Drano as lubricant as it cleared the rim.
Lickety-split, Krowiak pushed the ball up the floor for a quick answer, the first of four straight possessions in which each club held the mantle of one-upmanship.
Storm Cook put back a Michael Oralls miss for the NHS lead, then Hemphill scored inside following Krowiak’s nifty bounce pass on a pick-and-roll from right corner of the foul line. NHS sophomore Carlos Ithier made Norwich’s third consecutive trey, again off a heads-up feed from Sutton before U-E had its final answer, a three ball in the left corner authored by Matt Eastman that tied the game at 46.
The rest of the quarter – and the majority of the fourth stanza – was all Norwich.
Sutton scored on a hard drive downing a lefty layup, Oralls hit a spot-up three from the top of the key, and Oralls dropped in another deuce with a nifty spinning move in the lane.
Despite briefly giving up its halftime lead, Norwich exited the third quarter with an eight-point advantage.
“That’s typical Norwich basketball,” said Union-Endicott coach Joe Alger on Norwich’s ability to swing the momentum back its way. “They hustle to every loose ball...all the credit to Norwich tonight.”
Norwich started the fourth quarter on a 15-4 run and led by at least 16 points over the final four minutes of the game. Sutton scored on an old-school three-point play to kick off the spurt, Stewart hit another three ball, and Stewart made it 72-53 when he put back his own miss with 3:55 left in the game.
“At the end of the third quarter, (the team) thought we had played a bad quarter, but I told them that we actually increased our lead from seven to eight points,” Collier said. “We just needed to keep working hard on defense.”
Indeed, the defense will remain Norwich’s calling card as it progresses deeper in the playoffs. But the offense? Scoring 85 points against the best competition it has seen this season is not too shabby.
“We tried to take away their dribble drive, and they knocked down three-pointers,” Alger said. “We got out to the shooters, and they took the ball to the basket. It was one of those nights we didn’t defend well, and (Norwich) shot lights out.”
Collier was quick to point out that his practices are not defense-centric. “We work on the offense every day, and we executed pretty well tonight,” he said. “We can score when we have to, and we did shoot it well.”
Both teams entered the game averaging a combined 146 points a game. Through one quarter, it wasn’t shaping up as a high-scoring contest. Norwich showcased its bench over the two minutes of the first quarter to grab a 15-10 lead.
Ithier drove for a layup, and backup quarter Chris Trevisani led a fast break that finished on a perfect delivery to backup forward Colin Stewart for the final points of the quarter.
Cook came up with a pair of timely buckets in the second quarter, each one nearly identical. The lanky senior nailed a corner three with Sutton handing out the assist, then added a dagger trey at the end of the first half courtesy of another Sutton dime.
Cook and Oralls each had double-doubles in the game. Oralls finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and four steals, while Cook had 17 points and 12 rebounds. Zan Stewart made four threes to wind up with 15 points, and Ithier – who also had a three in the second quarter – scored 10 in reserve duty.
“We told the kids to celebrate this weekend, but we are back to punching the time clock on Monday,” Collier said. “Our second season is just beginning, and there will be no room for error from this point forward.”
Norwich will host Whitney Point or Chenango Valley Friday at 7 p.m.
U-E: Matt Gaydorus, 0 1-2-1; Austin Malarkey, 1 0-0-2; Joey Orlando, 3 0-0-6; Zac Camber, 0; Jack Collins, 0; Osama Barwari, 4 0-2-8; Thomas Pasquale, 1 0-0-3; Matt Eastman, 2 2-6-8; C.J. Krowiak, 8 5-5-22; Miles Hemphill, 6 2-2-14; Zach Kalka, 1 0-1-2; Matt Bowman, 0 1-2-1. Totals: 26 11-20-67.
Norwich: Brendon Budd, 0; Michael Oralls, 7 3-4-18; Mike Sutton, 5 13-15-23; Chris Trevisani, 0; Carlos Ithier, 4 0-0-10; Colin Stewart, 1 0-0-2; Zan Stewart, 5 1-2-15; Matt Craig, 0; Matt Burke, 0; Storm Cook, 5 5-7-17; Mike D’Abbraccio, 0; Jamison Luke, 0. Totals: 27 22-28-85.
U-E 10 18 21 18–67
Norw 15 20 22 28–85
Fouled out: (UE) Orlando. Team fouls: (N) 21, (UE) 19. Three-point goals: (N) Z. Stewart 4, Ithier 2, Cook 2, Oralls. (UE) Eastman 2 Krowiak, Pasquale.
Has a nice ring to it, right Norwich?
The Purple Tornado climbed another rung up the ladder extending its unbeaten record to 18-0 beating Union-Endicott, 85-67, in the STAC finals Friday at Binghamton University’s Events Center.
Norwich extended its lead to as many as 25 points in the fourth quarter as the Tigers were relegated to quick shots on offense, and prolific fouling on defense to stop the clock. Michael Sutton finished with 23 points to head a fivesome of NHS players in double figures scoring, and Sutty was 7 of 9 from the free throw line over the final eight minutes. As a team, Norwich made 16 of 21 foul shots over the last minutes.
Norwich coach Tom Collier thought the Tigers went into extend-the-game mode a little earlier than he would have expected, and NHS cashed in on the charity. “I think they were frustrated in the fourth quarter, and it was just a great defensive effort on our part,” Collier said. “U-E is one of the best offensive teams we’ve seen all season, and has a lot of offensive talent. We had to rely much more on individual defensive performances than we had in our other games, and we had great individual performances.”
Eighteen games into the season, only two teams have finished within 15 points of Norwich on the final scoreboard, and none in Section IV since the Tornado’s opening-game win at Oneonta in early December. The comparisons are only natural to the last Norwich teams to win league championships while cutting a unbeaten swathe into sectional play.
That was two decades ago, and Sutton, who added nine helpers in the win, isn’t looking too far ahead. “We just have to keep this going,” Sutton said. “We have more championships to win.”
Union-Endicott trailed by seven at the halftime break, but quickly erased that disadvantage in just over two minutes. The Tigers turned Norwich over three times in that third-quarter salvo beginning with C.J. Krowiak’s pull-up three, a driving layup by Krowiak, and Joey Orlando’s steal and layup that made it 35-35. Following the last of Norwich’s turnovers, Nate Hemphill was fouled on an offensive rebound, and he drained two free throws giving the Tigers the upper hand for the first time since the opening two minutes of the game.
Enter Zan Stewart.
Stewart took a dish from Sutton for a spot-up three as Norwich snatched its lead back. Hemphill drove for a layup giving his club its last lead, 39-38, but Stewart had the bucket in his crosshairs once more pulling up for a trifecta that clearly had wore some Drano as lubricant as it cleared the rim.
Lickety-split, Krowiak pushed the ball up the floor for a quick answer, the first of four straight possessions in which each club held the mantle of one-upmanship.
Storm Cook put back a Michael Oralls miss for the NHS lead, then Hemphill scored inside following Krowiak’s nifty bounce pass on a pick-and-roll from right corner of the foul line. NHS sophomore Carlos Ithier made Norwich’s third consecutive trey, again off a heads-up feed from Sutton before U-E had its final answer, a three ball in the left corner authored by Matt Eastman that tied the game at 46.
The rest of the quarter – and the majority of the fourth stanza – was all Norwich.
Sutton scored on a hard drive downing a lefty layup, Oralls hit a spot-up three from the top of the key, and Oralls dropped in another deuce with a nifty spinning move in the lane.
Despite briefly giving up its halftime lead, Norwich exited the third quarter with an eight-point advantage.
“That’s typical Norwich basketball,” said Union-Endicott coach Joe Alger on Norwich’s ability to swing the momentum back its way. “They hustle to every loose ball...all the credit to Norwich tonight.”
Norwich started the fourth quarter on a 15-4 run and led by at least 16 points over the final four minutes of the game. Sutton scored on an old-school three-point play to kick off the spurt, Stewart hit another three ball, and Stewart made it 72-53 when he put back his own miss with 3:55 left in the game.
“At the end of the third quarter, (the team) thought we had played a bad quarter, but I told them that we actually increased our lead from seven to eight points,” Collier said. “We just needed to keep working hard on defense.”
Indeed, the defense will remain Norwich’s calling card as it progresses deeper in the playoffs. But the offense? Scoring 85 points against the best competition it has seen this season is not too shabby.
“We tried to take away their dribble drive, and they knocked down three-pointers,” Alger said. “We got out to the shooters, and they took the ball to the basket. It was one of those nights we didn’t defend well, and (Norwich) shot lights out.”
Collier was quick to point out that his practices are not defense-centric. “We work on the offense every day, and we executed pretty well tonight,” he said. “We can score when we have to, and we did shoot it well.”
Both teams entered the game averaging a combined 146 points a game. Through one quarter, it wasn’t shaping up as a high-scoring contest. Norwich showcased its bench over the two minutes of the first quarter to grab a 15-10 lead.
Ithier drove for a layup, and backup quarter Chris Trevisani led a fast break that finished on a perfect delivery to backup forward Colin Stewart for the final points of the quarter.
Cook came up with a pair of timely buckets in the second quarter, each one nearly identical. The lanky senior nailed a corner three with Sutton handing out the assist, then added a dagger trey at the end of the first half courtesy of another Sutton dime.
Cook and Oralls each had double-doubles in the game. Oralls finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and four steals, while Cook had 17 points and 12 rebounds. Zan Stewart made four threes to wind up with 15 points, and Ithier – who also had a three in the second quarter – scored 10 in reserve duty.
“We told the kids to celebrate this weekend, but we are back to punching the time clock on Monday,” Collier said. “Our second season is just beginning, and there will be no room for error from this point forward.”
Norwich will host Whitney Point or Chenango Valley Friday at 7 p.m.
U-E: Matt Gaydorus, 0 1-2-1; Austin Malarkey, 1 0-0-2; Joey Orlando, 3 0-0-6; Zac Camber, 0; Jack Collins, 0; Osama Barwari, 4 0-2-8; Thomas Pasquale, 1 0-0-3; Matt Eastman, 2 2-6-8; C.J. Krowiak, 8 5-5-22; Miles Hemphill, 6 2-2-14; Zach Kalka, 1 0-1-2; Matt Bowman, 0 1-2-1. Totals: 26 11-20-67.
Norwich: Brendon Budd, 0; Michael Oralls, 7 3-4-18; Mike Sutton, 5 13-15-23; Chris Trevisani, 0; Carlos Ithier, 4 0-0-10; Colin Stewart, 1 0-0-2; Zan Stewart, 5 1-2-15; Matt Craig, 0; Matt Burke, 0; Storm Cook, 5 5-7-17; Mike D’Abbraccio, 0; Jamison Luke, 0. Totals: 27 22-28-85.
U-E 10 18 21 18–67
Norw 15 20 22 28–85
Fouled out: (UE) Orlando. Team fouls: (N) 21, (UE) 19. Three-point goals: (N) Z. Stewart 4, Ithier 2, Cook 2, Oralls. (UE) Eastman 2 Krowiak, Pasquale.
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