Sabers make big shots to down Norwich in B final
BINGHAMTON – Susquehanna Valley made an abundance of big shots, none bigger than the athletic move completed by forward Caitlyn Knapp.
Knapp delivered the back-breaking shot of all back-breakers with 33 seconds left in the Section IV Class B championship game lifting the Sabers to their first sectional basketball title Saturday night at the Floyd L. Maines Veteran Memorial Arena.
Knapp drove to the left across the lane and banked in a running left-handed shot – Knapp is right-handed – giving her club a 53-49 lead. SV made two more free throws in the final 20 seconds in a 55-49 Class B victory over Norwich.
"You have to think that is not a shot (Knapp) practices," said Norwich head coach Josh Bennett. "She made an off-balance shot, so what are you going to do?"
Knapp's clutch basket was pivotal to SV's success, and Norwich will likely point to one critical play midway through the fourth quarter that severely hampered its chances at victory.
Norwich trailed by as many as 11 points in the third quarter, and was down eight points one minute into the fourth quarter. The Tornado closed to 45-43 with 4:21 left after a Bridget Murphy put-back basket, and a free throw from Meghan Komendarek.
After Komendarek's made free throw, Norwich used a three-quarter trapping press that yielded a turnover. Komendarek stole the ball at midcourt, and drove for a layup. Komendarek was whistled for a charge disallowing the tying basket. More importantly, it was Komendarek's fifth foul sending her to the bench the final-half of the last quarter.
"That call took a lot out of our team," Bennett said. "Anyone that watches us knows that Meghan is a huge part of what we do offensively and defensively. Sus Valley has a six-two kid, and without Meghan, it changes a lot of what we do defensively."
Sus Valley ratcheted its lead back up to six points when Courtney Knapp made two free throws, and Erin Nolan – the 6-foot-2 girl of which Bennett spoke – scored in the low post upping the Sabers' lead to 49-43 with 3:20 left.
Norwich trimmed the lead back to two points with 52.2 seconds remaining. Savannah Williams completed a traditional three-point play on a drive to the hoop, and Makenzie Maynard hit a spot-up three ball on the left wing after a dish from Williams chipping into SV's lead, 51-49.
Caitlyn Knapp had an answer, though, and Norwich missed three three-point attempts on its last two possessions.
"At the end of the game, their big kids were real difference-makers," Bennett said. "There were a number of times in the second half where we could have said, 'they're playing great, it's not our night.' We never did that and battled the whole time."
Murphy, Norwich's third person off the bench, gave Norwich a big offensive spark, especially with Komendarek sitting out nearly the entire third quarter due to foul trouble.
Paige Finch's spot-up jumper from 15 feet gave SV its biggest lead of the second half, 33-22, with just 3:40 left in the third quarter.
Carin Kuhn completed a three-point play on a press-breaker, Kassidy Seary nailed a 15-footer from the left baseline, Shelby Benjamin drained a spot-up jumper, and Murphy added a layup and a free throw at the end of the quarter reducing the deficit to 37-32.
Early in the fourth, Murphy put back an offensive rebound and pocketed a three ball to keep the deficit at five. Kuhn also pumped in a trifecta cutting another point off the shortfall.
Murphy's 10 points led Norwich, while Williams and Kuhn scored nine apiece in the loss.
Norwich's only lead of the game came on Komendarek's bucket in the first 45 seconds. Shayna Lee hit the first of her three three balls to give SV the lead, and another three by Lee later in the quarter combined with Courtney Knapp's driving bucket gave Sus Valley a 14-6 lead at the first turn.
Norwich sliced into the lead with buckets by Komendarek and Maynard off assists from Benjamin making it 16-13.
Nolan then scored on the inside, Lee hit the last of her triples, and Holly Manchester scored on a layup off a Norwich turnover raising the lead back to seven.
Susquehanna Valley scored 10 less points than its first win over Norwich, but shot the ball with deadly accuracy from the 10- to 15-foot range. "You have to give Sus Valley's girls a lot of credit," Bennett said. "If you look at the shot chart from mid range, they might not have missed. At least it seemed like they didn't miss."
Norwich finishes its season with a 16-5 record, and has six of its top eight players returning next season.
Norwich: Caitlyn Brown, 0; Carin Kuhn, 3 2-3-9; Kassidy Seary, 1 0-0-2; Makenzie Maynard, 2 3-4-8; Meghan Komendarek, 3 1-2-7; Bridget Murphy, 4 1-3-10; Savannah Williams, 3 3-3-9; Shelby Benjamin, 2 0-1-4; Ashley Murphy, 0. Totals: 18 10-16-49.
SV: Holly Manchester, 1 0-0-2; Jordyn Williams, 0; Courtney Knapp, 1 2-2-4; Shayna Lee, 4 3-4-14; Paige Finch, 1 1-2-3; Hannah Haskell, 1 3-4-5; Michaela Haskell, 1 0-0-2; Caitlyn Knapp, 4 2-5-10; Olivia Gorman, 0; Erin Nolan, 6 3-3-15; Maeve Donnelly, 0. Totals: 19 14-20-55.
Score by quarters
Norwich 6 13 13 17–49
SValley 14 10 13 18–55
Fouled out: (N) Komendarek. Team fouls: (SV) 19, (N) 18. Three-point goals: (N) Kuhn, Maynard, B. Murphy. (SV) Lee 3. Officials: Springer, Berg, Ciotoli.
Knapp delivered the back-breaking shot of all back-breakers with 33 seconds left in the Section IV Class B championship game lifting the Sabers to their first sectional basketball title Saturday night at the Floyd L. Maines Veteran Memorial Arena.
Knapp drove to the left across the lane and banked in a running left-handed shot – Knapp is right-handed – giving her club a 53-49 lead. SV made two more free throws in the final 20 seconds in a 55-49 Class B victory over Norwich.
"You have to think that is not a shot (Knapp) practices," said Norwich head coach Josh Bennett. "She made an off-balance shot, so what are you going to do?"
Knapp's clutch basket was pivotal to SV's success, and Norwich will likely point to one critical play midway through the fourth quarter that severely hampered its chances at victory.
Norwich trailed by as many as 11 points in the third quarter, and was down eight points one minute into the fourth quarter. The Tornado closed to 45-43 with 4:21 left after a Bridget Murphy put-back basket, and a free throw from Meghan Komendarek.
After Komendarek's made free throw, Norwich used a three-quarter trapping press that yielded a turnover. Komendarek stole the ball at midcourt, and drove for a layup. Komendarek was whistled for a charge disallowing the tying basket. More importantly, it was Komendarek's fifth foul sending her to the bench the final-half of the last quarter.
"That call took a lot out of our team," Bennett said. "Anyone that watches us knows that Meghan is a huge part of what we do offensively and defensively. Sus Valley has a six-two kid, and without Meghan, it changes a lot of what we do defensively."
Sus Valley ratcheted its lead back up to six points when Courtney Knapp made two free throws, and Erin Nolan – the 6-foot-2 girl of which Bennett spoke – scored in the low post upping the Sabers' lead to 49-43 with 3:20 left.
Norwich trimmed the lead back to two points with 52.2 seconds remaining. Savannah Williams completed a traditional three-point play on a drive to the hoop, and Makenzie Maynard hit a spot-up three ball on the left wing after a dish from Williams chipping into SV's lead, 51-49.
Caitlyn Knapp had an answer, though, and Norwich missed three three-point attempts on its last two possessions.
"At the end of the game, their big kids were real difference-makers," Bennett said. "There were a number of times in the second half where we could have said, 'they're playing great, it's not our night.' We never did that and battled the whole time."
Murphy, Norwich's third person off the bench, gave Norwich a big offensive spark, especially with Komendarek sitting out nearly the entire third quarter due to foul trouble.
Paige Finch's spot-up jumper from 15 feet gave SV its biggest lead of the second half, 33-22, with just 3:40 left in the third quarter.
Carin Kuhn completed a three-point play on a press-breaker, Kassidy Seary nailed a 15-footer from the left baseline, Shelby Benjamin drained a spot-up jumper, and Murphy added a layup and a free throw at the end of the quarter reducing the deficit to 37-32.
Early in the fourth, Murphy put back an offensive rebound and pocketed a three ball to keep the deficit at five. Kuhn also pumped in a trifecta cutting another point off the shortfall.
Murphy's 10 points led Norwich, while Williams and Kuhn scored nine apiece in the loss.
Norwich's only lead of the game came on Komendarek's bucket in the first 45 seconds. Shayna Lee hit the first of her three three balls to give SV the lead, and another three by Lee later in the quarter combined with Courtney Knapp's driving bucket gave Sus Valley a 14-6 lead at the first turn.
Norwich sliced into the lead with buckets by Komendarek and Maynard off assists from Benjamin making it 16-13.
Nolan then scored on the inside, Lee hit the last of her triples, and Holly Manchester scored on a layup off a Norwich turnover raising the lead back to seven.
Susquehanna Valley scored 10 less points than its first win over Norwich, but shot the ball with deadly accuracy from the 10- to 15-foot range. "You have to give Sus Valley's girls a lot of credit," Bennett said. "If you look at the shot chart from mid range, they might not have missed. At least it seemed like they didn't miss."
Norwich finishes its season with a 16-5 record, and has six of its top eight players returning next season.
Norwich: Caitlyn Brown, 0; Carin Kuhn, 3 2-3-9; Kassidy Seary, 1 0-0-2; Makenzie Maynard, 2 3-4-8; Meghan Komendarek, 3 1-2-7; Bridget Murphy, 4 1-3-10; Savannah Williams, 3 3-3-9; Shelby Benjamin, 2 0-1-4; Ashley Murphy, 0. Totals: 18 10-16-49.
SV: Holly Manchester, 1 0-0-2; Jordyn Williams, 0; Courtney Knapp, 1 2-2-4; Shayna Lee, 4 3-4-14; Paige Finch, 1 1-2-3; Hannah Haskell, 1 3-4-5; Michaela Haskell, 1 0-0-2; Caitlyn Knapp, 4 2-5-10; Olivia Gorman, 0; Erin Nolan, 6 3-3-15; Maeve Donnelly, 0. Totals: 19 14-20-55.
Score by quarters
Norwich 6 13 13 17–49
SValley 14 10 13 18–55
Fouled out: (N) Komendarek. Team fouls: (SV) 19, (N) 18. Three-point goals: (N) Kuhn, Maynard, B. Murphy. (SV) Lee 3. Officials: Springer, Berg, Ciotoli.
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