NORWICH – Norwich won its first STAC boys’ basketball title in 20 years last season, and looks for the repeat beginning tonight at 7:45 p.m. when it plays Horseheads.
The boys' contest is the back end of Tornado twinbill as the girls entertain Binghamton in their interdivision STAC playoff battle at 6 p.m.
Tom Collier has looked at four game tapes on Horseheads, and has come to the conclusion: "They're really good," he said. "They were the best team in our summer league in Binghamton."
What Collier sees in the Blue Raiders, who have four losses on the season, is a mirror image of his team. Horseheads plays hard-nosed defense, and has the second-best scoring defense in the Southern Tier Athletic Conference.
Number one on that defensive scoring list: Norwich. "They pride themselves on physical man-to-man defense, and on offense, they pick you all day with their motion offense," Collier said.
Foster Clark leads Horseheads in scoring at around 18 points a game, and he performs in a mode of operation that is similar to Maine-Endwell graduate Kyle Gallagher, Collier said. The senior-dominated Blue Raiders are augmented on offense by scoring guard Ben Clark, the only other player on Horseheads averaging in double figures. "They're extremely disciplined on offense, really well coached, and they play about eight guys," Collier said. "Seven of those eight are seniors. They are a senior dominated team."
Norwich is coming off its first loss to a Section IV Class B team in three seasons dropping a 58-52 final at Oneonta last Thursday. It was an uncharacteristic performance, Collier said, as Norwich lacked its usual fire and intensity for much of the game.
Now several practice sessions removed from that defeat, Collier says his team will need to be on its game if it hopes to advance to Friday's league title game at Union-Endicott High School. "Horseheads is the type of team that brings it on every possession," Collier said. "We can't let up, because if we do, we'll have our work cut out for us."
On the girls' side, the Josh Bennett-led Purple Tornado clash with a Binghamton squad that has two early-season defeats, and avenged one of those losses – to Horseheads – by 23 points Feb. 3 on its way to clinching the STAC Metro Division.
Binghamton is clearly on a roll led my senior 6-foot-2 center Jodi Marie Ramil, a recent Division I signee to Georgetown. Ramil has two younger sisters on the squad, each of whom is a 6-footer to give the Patriots a conspicuous size advantage over Norwich.
"They have a small point guard, but other than that, they're bigger than us at every spot," Bennett said. "They have strong, physical kids."
With that size advantage comes the intimidation factor, too, the Patriots are used to owning the offensive and defensive glass. Couple that with a pressure defense, Norwich faces perhaps its most difficult test to date.
"We'll have to box out and rebound as well as we have all year," Bennett said. "Their pressure is a concern because we have struggled with that of late. Working on attacking their pressure has been a big focus in practice."
What Norwich gives up in size, Bennett said, it gains in athleticism, particularly at the forward spot. Norwich forwards Meghan Komendarek, Shelby Benjamin, and Savannah Williams run the floor as well as any big girls in the league. However, if Norwich is unable to corral rebounds, that speed advantage will be nullified.
"One of the biggest keys is to hold them to one shot," Bennett said. "If we let their big kids take over physically against us, we'll have a tough time stopping them."
Admission at the gate for tonight's games is $5 for adults and students.