Norwich girls take Rentals To Go championship
NORWICH - This weekend marked the second year of the Norwich girls basketball Rentals To Go tournament. This year the Purple Tornado would go home champs after two hard fought games.
Their first game of the weekend, on Friday, December 11, was against Vernon-Verona-Sherill high school. Norwich would win this game handily 68-25.
The Purple Tornado women got going early in their first game of the weekend, scoring 23 to VVS’ 11 points. Norwich clamped down on defense after the first quarter even more to eliminate just about any type of offense VVS attempted to get going.
The Purple Tornado was led by junior Makenzie Maynard’s 14 points throughout the game. Maynard scored 12 in the first half to help her team gain a 43-15 lead over VVS.
Coming out of the locker room in the second half, the story was much of the same for Norwich. The Norwich girls dominated on defense and shot almost lights out on offense to score 17 more in the third quarter while holding VVS to only 6. With the game out of reach Norwich could ease back a little and finish the game with eight more points, giving the game its final of 68-25 and a date with West Genesee high school in the finals the next night.
Team statistics: VVS; Alexa Kiser, 3-2-4 8. Abbey D’Agostino, 0-1-2 1. Therese Pittman, 1-3-7 5. Sara Field, 6-2-4 14. Norwich; Cierra Sherman, 2-0-0 4. Taylor Hansen, 1-0-2 2. Gabby Mirabito, 1-0-0 3. Katelyn Dowdall, 3-0-0 7. Kara Evans, 5-2-6 12. Kassidy Seary, 3-0-0 6. Makenzie Maynard, 6-0-2 14. Meghan Komendarek, 5-3-4 13. Bridget Murphy, 2-2-2 7.
Score by quarter:
Team 1 2 3 4 Total
VVS 11 4 6 7 25
Norwich 23 20 17 8 68
The championship game between Norwich and West Genesee was very different from the Purple Tornado’s first game of the weekend. Norwich would win 45-33 but would have to earn this victory.
The host team started off slow and was out scored 15-8 in the first quarter by West Genesee. Norwich took time to get some momentum, but once they did there was no stopping them. “I told my team that they can’t get away with watching scoreboards in basketball,” said Norwich coach Josh Bennett. “We can’t say that just because we won by a wide margin in our first game and they won in a close one we should blow them out, it doesn’t work that way. We knew that this team was good and I’m really happy with the way that they responded to adversity.”
Norwich’s slow start was marred by missed opportunities and missed shots. It wasn’t until the second quarter when Norwich found their stride. The Tornado scored 13 points and held West Genesee to only six to tie the game up at the half at 21 points a piece.
In the second half Norwich didn’t explode out of the locker room and put up tons of points on their opponent. What Norwich did do was almost completely shut down West Genesee’s offense, holding them to only two points in the third quarter. The Tornado used their superior defense and took the West Genesee offense completely out of the game, allowing for Norwich to score almost at will.
“They got tired and we didn’t,” Bennett said. “We had better conditioning in the second half and it really payed off.”
Norwich’s offense kept up the scoring in the fourth quarter as they found even more ways to pour on the points. The host team doubled their opponent’s point total in the second half, out scoring them 24-12. The Tornado was led by junior Meghan Komendarek who scored 16 points. Komendarek put up 12 points in the second half, matching West Genesee’s second half point total on her way to earning the tournament MVP.
As the fourth quarter came to a close, it was evident that Norwich’s conditioning was a huge factor in the game, as almost all of the girls on the court still looked fresh and ready to play at the end of their 45-33 victory.
After Norwich was presented the tournament championship trophy, four players were named to the Rentals To Go All-Tournament team. Norwich’s Shelby Benjamin, Makenzie Maynard, and Meghan Komendarek, also the MVP, VVS’ Sara Field, Union-Endicott’s Kristen Coyle, and West Genesee’s Mackenzie Smith earned the honor.
Team statistics: WG; Megan Farmer, 1-0-0 3. Camryn Chawgo, 4-1-1 10. Mackenzie Smith, 5-0-0 13. Elle Lazore, 2-0-0 5. Madison Smith, 0-2-2 2. Norwich; Taylor Hansen, 0-1-2 1. Katelyn Dowdall, 1-0-0 3. Kara Evans, 1-2-5 4. Kassidy Seary, 1-0-0 2. Makenzie Maynard, 0-2-2 2. Meghan Komendarek, 6-4-6 16. Bridget Murphy, 3-3-4 10. Shelby Benjamin, 3-1-2 7.
Score by quarter:
Team 1 2 3 4 Total
WG 15 6 2 10 33
Norwich 8 13 1 13 45
Their first game of the weekend, on Friday, December 11, was against Vernon-Verona-Sherill high school. Norwich would win this game handily 68-25.
The Purple Tornado women got going early in their first game of the weekend, scoring 23 to VVS’ 11 points. Norwich clamped down on defense after the first quarter even more to eliminate just about any type of offense VVS attempted to get going.
The Purple Tornado was led by junior Makenzie Maynard’s 14 points throughout the game. Maynard scored 12 in the first half to help her team gain a 43-15 lead over VVS.
Coming out of the locker room in the second half, the story was much of the same for Norwich. The Norwich girls dominated on defense and shot almost lights out on offense to score 17 more in the third quarter while holding VVS to only 6. With the game out of reach Norwich could ease back a little and finish the game with eight more points, giving the game its final of 68-25 and a date with West Genesee high school in the finals the next night.
Team statistics: VVS; Alexa Kiser, 3-2-4 8. Abbey D’Agostino, 0-1-2 1. Therese Pittman, 1-3-7 5. Sara Field, 6-2-4 14. Norwich; Cierra Sherman, 2-0-0 4. Taylor Hansen, 1-0-2 2. Gabby Mirabito, 1-0-0 3. Katelyn Dowdall, 3-0-0 7. Kara Evans, 5-2-6 12. Kassidy Seary, 3-0-0 6. Makenzie Maynard, 6-0-2 14. Meghan Komendarek, 5-3-4 13. Bridget Murphy, 2-2-2 7.
Score by quarter:
Team 1 2 3 4 Total
VVS 11 4 6 7 25
Norwich 23 20 17 8 68
The championship game between Norwich and West Genesee was very different from the Purple Tornado’s first game of the weekend. Norwich would win 45-33 but would have to earn this victory.
The host team started off slow and was out scored 15-8 in the first quarter by West Genesee. Norwich took time to get some momentum, but once they did there was no stopping them. “I told my team that they can’t get away with watching scoreboards in basketball,” said Norwich coach Josh Bennett. “We can’t say that just because we won by a wide margin in our first game and they won in a close one we should blow them out, it doesn’t work that way. We knew that this team was good and I’m really happy with the way that they responded to adversity.”
Norwich’s slow start was marred by missed opportunities and missed shots. It wasn’t until the second quarter when Norwich found their stride. The Tornado scored 13 points and held West Genesee to only six to tie the game up at the half at 21 points a piece.
In the second half Norwich didn’t explode out of the locker room and put up tons of points on their opponent. What Norwich did do was almost completely shut down West Genesee’s offense, holding them to only two points in the third quarter. The Tornado used their superior defense and took the West Genesee offense completely out of the game, allowing for Norwich to score almost at will.
“They got tired and we didn’t,” Bennett said. “We had better conditioning in the second half and it really payed off.”
Norwich’s offense kept up the scoring in the fourth quarter as they found even more ways to pour on the points. The host team doubled their opponent’s point total in the second half, out scoring them 24-12. The Tornado was led by junior Meghan Komendarek who scored 16 points. Komendarek put up 12 points in the second half, matching West Genesee’s second half point total on her way to earning the tournament MVP.
As the fourth quarter came to a close, it was evident that Norwich’s conditioning was a huge factor in the game, as almost all of the girls on the court still looked fresh and ready to play at the end of their 45-33 victory.
After Norwich was presented the tournament championship trophy, four players were named to the Rentals To Go All-Tournament team. Norwich’s Shelby Benjamin, Makenzie Maynard, and Meghan Komendarek, also the MVP, VVS’ Sara Field, Union-Endicott’s Kristen Coyle, and West Genesee’s Mackenzie Smith earned the honor.
Team statistics: WG; Megan Farmer, 1-0-0 3. Camryn Chawgo, 4-1-1 10. Mackenzie Smith, 5-0-0 13. Elle Lazore, 2-0-0 5. Madison Smith, 0-2-2 2. Norwich; Taylor Hansen, 0-1-2 1. Katelyn Dowdall, 1-0-0 3. Kara Evans, 1-2-5 4. Kassidy Seary, 1-0-0 2. Makenzie Maynard, 0-2-2 2. Meghan Komendarek, 6-4-6 16. Bridget Murphy, 3-3-4 10. Shelby Benjamin, 3-1-2 7.
Score by quarter:
Team 1 2 3 4 Total
WG 15 6 2 10 33
Norwich 8 13 1 13 45
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