CONKLIN – The Sabers of Susquehanna Valley again topped the Lady Tornado in the Section IV Class B semifinal game Wednesday night. But the final score of 53-35 doesn’t reflect the play of the game.
‘Tough as nails’ as head coach Josh Bennett best described the play of his Norwich team as they played in the always tenacious crowd of the No.1 team in the state for Class B and currently undefeated at 20-0.
The Purple led 13-7 after the first quarter, holding the Sabers to just two made baskets from the floor and three made free-throws. In the eight minutes, Norwich received points from six different players – including a three from both Nicole Jeffrey and Triniti Myers.
But in the second quarter, the Lady Tornado were held to just a three by Sydney Coggins.
“It was like we stopped scoring for eight minutes. We couldn’t figure out how to get it in the rim,” said Bennett. “We struggled with the pressure. We had struggle scoring and we couldn’t stop them every possession.
“We didn’t get in the spots on the floor where we need to be at. We got a little passive and they smelled our fear and used that to their advantage.”
Sus Valley put 20 points on the board in the second stanza, 12 coming from Trinasia Kennedy. At the halftime break, the Sabers led 27-16.
Trailing by 11 with nothing to lose, Norwich turned the game around in the second half.
Hannah Baker dialed in from long-distance, hitting two three-pointers in the third while teammate Taylor Hansen finished for four points at the rim. Jeffrey added another basket in the stanza and the Purple Tornado found themselves right back in the contest.
Heading into the fourth, Norwich trailed by 10 and cut it down to eight points with four minutes remaining in the game. In the first four of the quarter, the Purple’s Baker hit her third three of the game while Abby Flynn and Halea Eaton each added baskets as Norwich chipped away at the Sabers’ lead.
Sus Valley called a timeout to freeze the Tornado momentum.
Unfortunately, it worked for the Sabers as they pushed the lead to 12 with just two minutes left in the contest.
“At that point in the game, we had to start taking some chances,” said Bennett. “And [Sus Valley] capitalized. We had them on the ropes but we just couldn’t get over the hump. They were better than us.”
Norwich’s tough 2-3 zone defense held the Sabers six-foot-five post player Maeve Donnelly to 14 points. The Tornado also held Sus Valley’s point guard, Holly Manchester, to just two points for the game. That point total is well under Manchester’s point-per-game average for the season.
Kennedy finished as the Sabers leading scorer with 17, a game-high point total.
Norwich was led by Baker’s nine. Hansen tallied six and Jeffrey finished with five.
The Lady Tornado end their season with a final record of 11-9. This year, Norwich had no seniors and should have all girls on the roster returning next season.
Norwich: Destiny Gladney 0; Taylor Hansen 3 0-0-6; Sydney Coggins 1 0-0-3; Hannah Baker 3 0-0-9; Abby Flynn 1 1-2-2; Halea Eaton 2 0-0-4; Ashton Wenzel 0; Emerson Burton 0; Hailey Colabelli 0; Saige Benedict 1 0-0-2; Triniti Myers 1 0-0 3, Nicole Jeffrey 2 0-0-5. Totals: 12 1-2-35.
Susquehanna Valley: Alexis Drake 3 5-8-11; Maeve Donnelly 5 4-6-14; Holly Manchester 0 2-2-2; Trinasia Kennedy 5 4-6-17; Hannah Haskell 2 2-2-7; Emily Repp 0; Michaela Haskell 1 0-0-2. Totals: 16 17-24-53.
N 13 3 12 7 – 35
SV 7 20 11 15 – 53
Fouled out: None. Three-point goals: (N) Coggins 1, Baker 3, Myers 1, Jeffrey 1; (SV) H.Haskell 1, Kennedy 3.