BINGHAMTON – It was all going so well for Norwich: A strong first half, and a lead that was stretched to 10 points early in the second half. It looked like the Purple Tornado would finally solve Oneonta and end the Yellowjackets’ six-year string of Section IV titles.
Then the momentum switched – big time.
“We got into a rut,” said Norwich senior guard Jenni Borfitz, who paused for a moment before adding, “a pretty big rut.”
The ‘Jackets nearly doubled their point total rattling off 22 unanswered points to turn a 10-point deficit into a 12-point cushion on their way to a 51-44 victory in the Section IV Class B finals, Saturday night at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.
Carin Kuhn hit a three for Norwich to elevate her team’s lead to 33-23 with 5:15 left in the third quarter. That three-spot prompted an Oneonta timeout and a change in strategy. Norwich’s offense then went into a 9-minute, 29-second slumber in which Oneonta came out of its patented zone, and went for broke with a man-to-man defense.
“They had figured out our zone, and were getting a lot of good looks,” said Oneonta coach Matt Miller. “We switched to man because we thought we would get more pressure on their shooters. Honestly, we’ve gone man a little bit, but we’ve been a zone team all season. I was a little nervous making the switch, but we had our backs to the wall.”
It helped that Oneonta had all-state point guard Mariah Ruff leading a senior-dominated lineup. Ruff had a hand in the comeback, but welcomed contributions from Brittney Herrick and Maria DiMartin to put Oneonta over the top. Ruff scored 17, Herrick had 16, and DiMartin 14. The latter two seniors finished substantially over their season scoring averages, and those points were assuredly needed.
“No question it was hard to stop the momentum,” said Norwich head coach Josh Bennett. “There were definitely kids on their team that felt the momentum, and were able to capitalize on it.”
It was Ruff and Herrick who weighed heavily in the quick turnaround. Herrick scored on the inside to halt Norwich’s 8-0 run, then Ruff picked up a steal and drove for a layup.
Ruff zipped a pass over the Norwich zone to Herrick under the rim, who converted that into a layup. Ruff added another helper, this time finding Meg Burns for a hoop-and-harm. Burns missed the charity toss that would have tied the game, but Ruff sneaked in for the offensive rebound, and was fouled on her putback. Ruff hit a single free throw to tie the game. To end the quarter, Herrick was fouled on the inside where she promptly drained two free throws to give her club a two-point lead, and with just 5.8 seconds left in the quarter, Ruff again spotted Herrick under the basket. Ruff rifled a hard pass to a leaping Herrick, who gathered the ball and hit an off-balance bucket that moved Oneonta in front by four.
Ahead 37-33 entering the fourth, Oneonta’s margin moved to 45-33 over the first four minutes of the fourth. Ruff drove for a layup, grabbed a defensive rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup, Herrick converted two freebies when she was fouled on an offensive rebound, and DiMartin buried an 18-footer from just inside the three-point line.
Norwich had 12 turnovers in the second half to compound its offensive struggles. What was most surprising to Bennett was that the miscues and inefficiency on offense came against a team playing man-to-man defense.
“We’ve torched teams playing man all season,” Bennett said. “We haven’t played against man defense in a month, and obviously that showed.”
Bennett was quick to credit Miller’s tactical switch and the manner in which Oneonta’s players adapted to what Norwich was doing on offense. “Coach Miller made an incredible defensive adjustment,” Bennett said. “Not just that, they were trapping the kids that create most of our offense. It took us a while to figure it out, and by the time we did, we had dug ourselves a hole and their kids continued to make plays.”
In two previous meetings with Oneonta, Norwich trailed by double digits in the first half. NHS unraveled that script with a strong opening half that was led by a pair of underclassmen.
Freshman Megan Komendarek and sophomore Shelby Benjamin each scored eight points in the opening half, and Borfitz had all six of her points. Norwich held a 15-13 in the first quarter, and after trading the lead with Oneonta through much of the second, grabbed a 25-23 lead at the half when Benjamin scored on a layup with three seconds left after an inside feed from Komendarek.
Kuhn had 12 points to lead Norwich (13-7) all on three balls, Komendarek finished with 11, and Benjamin had 10 points. “We had a lot of young kids and older kids this season, and it was really fun playing on this team,” said Borfitz, a senior, who graduates with longtime running mate Breanna Cashman. “There were kids with different ages, but we came together, and I am really proud of this team. We need to be happy with what we achieved through the whole season, and not focus on this one loss.”
NHS: Carin Kuhn, 4-9 0-0-12; Caitlyn Brown, 0 0-0-0; Breanna Cashman, 2-8 0-0-5; Jenni Borfitz, 1-7 4-4-6; Kassidy Seary, 0-1 0-0-0; Makenzie Maynard, 0-3 0-0-0; Shelby Benjamin, 5-9 0-0-10; Megan Komendarek, 3-9 5-10-11. Totals: 15-46 9-14-44.
Oneonta: Abby Picinich, 1-3 0-0-2; Brie Baker, 0-4- 0-0-0; Meg Burns, 1-6- 0-2-2; Mariah Ruff, 6-13 3-6-17; Brittney Herrick, 4-11 8-10-16; Maria DiMartin, 6-9 1-2-14; Madison Miller, 0-1 0-0-0. Totals: 18-47 12-20-51
Score by quarters
NHS 15 10 8 11—44
On. 13 10 14 14—51
Fouled out: none. Three-point goals: (N) Kuhn 4, Cashman. (O) Ruff 2, DiMartin.