NORWICH – Norwich and Oneonta set themselves apart from the rest of the Class B schools in Section IV almost from the start of the 2013-2014 basketball season. So, it's no surprise that we'll see Norwich-Oneonta sectional finals Saturday night– boys and girls – at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.
Below are sneak peeks at those games.

GIRLS

Norwich (13-6) vs. Oneonta (17-2), 5:15 p.m.
Other than offseason games in team camps, Norwich coach Josh Bennett cannot recall when his club has beaten Oneonta. Bennett isn't alone as few teams have topped the Yellowjackets, winners of six straight sectional championships.
Oneonta swept the two meetings with Norwich this season beating the Tornado by seven in Norwich, and following that up with a nine-point victory (60-51) at Oneonta on Jan. 22.
Norwich's defense has allowed just over 40 points per game this season, and opponents reached 50 points a mere four times with Oneonta accounting for two of those 50-plus point performances.
The 'Jackets are again led by senior guard Mariah Ruff, who starred for Oneonta in a sectional finals victory over Norwich in 2012. Ruff had 30 points in the opening win over Norwich, and averages a team-high 20 points a game this season. Ruff will make her share of plays, Bennett said, it's just a matter of how much damage the rest of the lineup will incur. "It's kind of a pick-your-poison situation," Bennett said. "You can double Mariah, but she's such a great passer, and can find the open man."
Ruff is the cog that makes the offense go, but it is the defense where the full team concept comes into play. Over the past five seasons, the Yellowjackets have defended the up-tempo Norwich attack as well or better than any team in the section. Norwich scored nearly 50 points per game in its two losses against Oneonta, but it wasn't easy.
"I give a ton of credit to Oneonta's coach (Matt Miller) and the defense they play," Bennett said. "They play a three-two zone, and they cover a lot of ground. Even though they don't have a team with a lot of basketball-first type kids, they are extremely athletic, and they know how to play defense within their concept. Their defense creates a lot of offense, and it's the same with us."
Norwich has breezed through the playoffs to reach its third sectional championship game in four years. Bennett is always pushing his club to improve and not rest on its accomplishments, but even he was impressed by the 24-point win over Waverly last weekend. Coming into that game, the Wolverines had just two losses on the season.
"To beat that team by 24, I don't think the girls realized what they had done," Bennett said. "Waverly is a good team that had five kids that could score. We just played well, and made a good team not look good."
Bennett said his club will need a repeat of that performance if it wants to unseat Oneonta. NHS senior Jennifer Borfitz has raised her season average to 13.4 points per game, and is averaging over 20 points per game in the two playoff victories.
"We'll have to play better defensively than we did the first two times we played (Oneonta)," Bennett said. "We'll need to hold them under 50 points, we'll need to rebound and not allow second shots, and we'll need to contest shots.
"We've had a great week of practice, and we're really excited about this game."

BOYS

Norwich (19-0) vs. Oneonta (17-2), 7 p.m.
Number three in the state and riding a 19-game unbeaten streak, Norwich will need to defeat Oneonta for the third time this season to win a third straight Section IV Class B title.
Some uncertainty surrounds Oneonta’s lineup. Leading scorer Jordan Gutierrez, who averaged 23 points a game this season, sat out the Yellowjackets’ two playoff victories, and head coach Jerry Mackey missed the last playoff victory – an 11-point win over Susquehanna Valley – due to an undisclosed illness.
“We don’t know if Gutierrez is playing, but we’re going ahead with the same game plan as if he was there,” said Norwich third-year coach Tom Collier.
Against Section IV Class B teams, Norwich has racked up an impressive winning streak. The Tornado have won 27 straight games and 30 straight overall dating to January, 2012 loss to Susquehanna Valley. Collier wasn’t aware of that particular number of victories, and he is fully prepared for a tough contest.
“There are some matchup problems (from Oneonta) that could bother us,” he said. “They have a good offensive team with three excellent offensive players, and they have role players that fit in around them. They’re really good, and we’ll have our work cut out for us.”
Norwich opened its season with a seven-point win over Oneonta, and s OHS ophomore Albert Odero proved an adept scorer with over 20 points. Senior Paul Bischoff is coming off a 23-point outing in the playoff win over Sus Valley, and shooting guard George Foti is a deadly three-point threat. The Yellowjackets will also have guard Skylar Thompson back in the lineup. Thompson missed the second clash with Norwich, one that ended in a 65-42 NHS victory.
Collier has enjoyed his team’s significant offensive improvement over the past several games, but has seen the defense suffer through multiple defensive breakdowns. His club advanced to the championship game beating Whitney Point, 78-57, but the Golden Eagles had far too many easy baskets, Collier said.
“I know I am nit-picking because we haven’t lost a game, but we need to tighten up our defense, and we’ve been working all week to shore that up,” Collier said. “I know we won last week, but I felt we didn’t play well defensively.”
Norwich gives up just 45.6 points a game this season and is winning contests by over 24 points per game. Oneonta failed to reach 50 points in either game against Norwich, so is there cause to worry?
“We prepare for each game the same way,” Collier said. “Oneonta is a team that can hurt you if you do not defend well. And if we don’t shoot the ball well, that is a recipe for failure.”
But failure is a word that hasn’t been spoken this season. Nineteen straight victories are in the book, and to reach the team’s ultimate goal – a state title – Norwich will need to finish undefeated.
“Honestly, we haven’t thought about what the perfect record means,” Collier said. “We prepare to win every game, and so far we have.
“We have given ourselves another opportunity to win a sectional championship, and through great opportunities come great accomplishments. We are also in position to do something no other Norwich (basketball) team has done – win three straight section titles – and our only thought right now is survive and advance.”