By Robert Jeffrey
Sun Sports Contributor

Despite being the number one seed, Norwich (17-6) faces an uphill battle tonight, on March 3, when it plays the boys basketball Class B’s 8th ranked Waverly Wolverines (22-1) at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans’ Memorial Arena.
Waverly upended the New York State honorable mentioned Seton Catholic Central Saints on Wednesday night in a palindrome on Waverly’s home court 73-37. This also happened to be the same Saints team that Norwich beat 69-61 on February 1. That being said, Waverly like Norwich struggled out of the gates during the Section IV quarterfinals, as the Wolverines beat the seventh seeded Chenango Valley Warriors 63-55.
The Wolverines had the hot hand against Seton Catholic, sinking 21 of 37 two point field goals for a 57 percent shooting percentage from inside the arc. Combine that with the hot 8 of 18 shots from three-point range for 45 percent, the Wolverines were rolling on all cylinders.
However, playing for a sectional title is uncharted territory for Waverly, tonight marks the first time a Waverly boys’ basketball team has played for a Section IV title since the 1995-96 season- roughly three years before any of the players on either team was born. The main offensive weapons for Waverly are Hunter Bodine, Gavin Judson, Jon Ward, and Garrett Sutryk. Bodine paced the Wolverines in their win over Seton with 20 points and aiding in their defensive effort with two steals. Judson scored 16 points and is the sharpshooter on the team – sinking four three-pointers on the night, while breaking a Waverly school record with 53 trifectas on the year and counting. Jon Ward recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while blocking four Seton shots. Sutryk scored eight points in the victory, along with a handful of rebounds, assists and steals in the process.
Winning 22 games is quite the impressive feat, so make no mistake, Waverly is good.
However, Norwich has their own set of offensive weapons in Tre Bonham, Chris Jeffrey and Dashawn King, and with the more recent additions of Michael Carson who scored 17 points against Seton in February and Ky’sawn ‘Pop’ Veale who scored 14 points in the Norwich victory over Susquehanna Valley. Bonham scored 10 points in the win over SV, King scored 15 and Jeffrey has led the team in points the past two games with 20 and 21 respectively.
However, while both teams offer standout offensive players, the one thing Norwich may have an upper hand in is experience.
Since the 2008-09 season, Norwich has ripped off five Section IV titles in six Section IV championship games – one in Class A and four titles in the last five years in Class B. Bonham, Carson, King, Jeffrey, Veale, and Alex Wehrli all have a Section IV title to their name. And teammates J.T Vinal and Michael Trevisani both have siblings who have won a Section IV title during their careers as members of the Purple Tornado basketball program.
Waverly coach Lou Judson acknowledged the success that Norwich has had after Waverly’s semi-final win saying, “They’ve (Norwich) won four or five Class B titles in the last 10 years. It goes through Norwich and we know that.”
While the experience certainly helps under the bright lights of the Binghamton Arena, Waverly presents a tall task for this group of Purple Tornado athletes with multiple players sized 6’5” and over, as well as a complete offense and defense. Tip-off is slated for 7:45 p.m. at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton for the Section IV Class B title.
The winner of Waverly/Norwich game will move on to the Regional Final game against either Westhill or Chittenango out of Section III. The Regional game will take place on March 11, at the SRC Arena at Onondaga Community College with game time still to be decided.