By Robert Jeffrey

Sun Sports Contributor

NORWICH – The funny thing in sports match-ups is that they happen to repeat each other, sort of like how history always tends to repeat itself. And the match-up between the number one-seeded Norwich Purple Tornado boys’ basketball team and the eighth-seeded Newark Valley Cardinals seems just like the game in 2016.

In the sectional quarterfinals last year, the number one-seeded Tornado clipped the wings of the Cardinals 85-46. However, in the first quarter of play Norwich struggled offensively, despite scoring 20 points in the opening quarter, it took time to get their offensive effort rolling, and surely it began to roll punching a 65-36 advantage for the Tornado over the remaining three quarters of play.

Then-juniors Chris Jeffrey, Tre Bonham, Dawshawn King, Ky’sawn Veale combined for 47 points. Jeffrey with 17, Bonham with 12, King with 13 and Veale with five.