Purple Tornado take home 3rd place in STOP DWI Winter Classic after splitting first 2 games
BINGHAMTON – Despite the strong effort by the Norwich Purple Tornado, the Owego Indians – last year’s Section IV runner-up – snagged the win in the first round of the STOP DWI Winter Classic Division-I Bracket with a final of 66-58.
Norwich head coach Tom Collier believe that with the hard work his team put in together during the offseason, anything was possible for his squad.
The first quarter saw both teams playing well as the Purple Tornado were hanging with one of the two top teams in STAC. After scoring 22 points in the opening stanza, Norwich went into the second leading by five points.
The Tornado squad held onto the lead in the second for some time. Owego called a timeout regroup. “ When they called the time out, we were feeling good about ourselves,” said Collier.
The quick break in the action for the Indians provided the answer to take back the lead at the end of the half. Owego continued their run out of the intermission as they led by as many as 10 in the third.
Norwich wasn’t going to go down without a fight. In the fourth quarter, the Tornado were able to claw their way back into the game, tying it at 52 with three minutes left in the contest. “We knew our man-to-man defense was going to be the answer,” said Collier
The stymie Norwich defense battled with Owego for 30 seconds, stopping both their All-Metro players – Christian Sage and Kobe Bogart – with some great team defense. With just five seconds left on the shot clock, Sage is forced to kick it out as his drive was stopped by the Tornado’s help defense.
Sage’s kick out went to the Indians’ third best option, according to Collier, Robert Merrill. From the corner Merrill, launched a three in the air as he was open due to a late rotation by the Norwich defense. His shot falls for a big turning point in the game as the Tornado attempted to come back but couldn’t get back over the hump.
“With this contest being the first on both team’s schedule, both teams played an incredible,: said Collier. “Our kids gave it all they had but fell short.”
A total of 20 turnovers was all that was forced during the game by both teams. Norwich finished 11 against them while causing nine Owego miscues.
The Tornado’s Marcus Cashman, who was an eventual All-Tournament selection for the weekend, played for the entire game, totaling 32 minutes of play. During his time on the floor, he was assigned to cover one of the Indians’ top two players on the defensive end. On offense, he led all Norwich scorers with 21 points on 7 of 12 shooting. “[Cashman] had one great game,” said Collier. “He gave it all he had for 32 minutes. There was just nothing else he could do”
Skylar Wenzel, the Purple’s big man in the middle, ended the night with 20 points and 12 rebounds. “This was [Skylar’s] best game ever,” said Collier. “With a double-double ,what more can he do?”
Collier commented on J.T. Vinal’s play, describing it as his usual gritty, hustling play. Vinal chipped in 12 in the loss.
“The seeds to victory are often sown in defeat,” said Collier. “We tell the kids, ‘it’s not how you start a season but how you finish that counts.’ We were very, very proud of their effort against Owego.”
The Indians went on to win the Division-I championship, defeating Binghamton in final by double digits.
With the clash on the court from Friday night expected to take a toll on the Norwich squad, they took on the Vestal Golden Bears Saturday afternoon.
Vinal provided the spark for the tired Norwich team on Saturday. With his tremendous energy, Vinal ended the afternoon with a double-double as he racked up 12 points and 12 boards while adding three assists, three steals and three charges drawn against the Golden Bears.
“J.T.’s energy was much needed after our disappointing loss [Friday night], said Collier. “He lifted our team getting every loose ball and left many skin burns on the Binghamton court today. The way J.T. plays can’t be measured on a stat sheet.”
The Purple Tornado started strong against Vestal, jumping out to an early lead. Norwich was able to get up by as many as 10 points in the first half. However, the Golden Bears answered in the third quarter, going on an 11-6 run, dwindling the Norwich advantage to just two points. Collier told the team that needed to pull it together with their man-to-man defense in order to hold Vestal off.
Norwich did just that by stopped the Golden Bears third quarter run from carrying over into the fourth with a huge defensive effort in the final eight minute stretch. In fact, the Tornado held Vestal to just five points for the entire fourth quarter and scored 22 points of their own as they claimed the 60-42 victory. With their win, Norwich claimed third place in the STOP DWI Winter Classic.
Cashman once again led the offensive end for Norwich, scoring a team-high 14 points while pulling down five boards and dishing out four assists. Collier stated that Cashman finished Saturday’s game by playing on fumes.
Carson Maynard, who had a cold night shooting Friday, turned his game around a day later to add 12 points for the Purple Tornado.
Norwich’s first year varsity player Jahlil Jones gave the Tornado a great lift off the bench Saturday after Wenzel got in foul trouble. Jones finished with six points and four rebounds but contributed by causing many disruptions within the paint on the defensive end.
“We had some pretty tired kids on Saturday,” said the Tornado head coach. “We came out and played pretty darn well considering all the energy we used the day before battling the eventual tournament champions Owego.”
The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Tornado (1-1) as a tough Oneonta Yellowjacket team visits Norwich Wednesday night. The Yellowjackets come in flying high after winning on the road at Union-Endicott by 40 points on Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. following the junior varsity game.
Norwich’s JV team opened up their season with back-to-back wins. First they defeated Owego Free Academy 60-35 at Susquehanna Valley Friday night. The Purple then returned to the court on Saturday afternoon to take down the Binghamton Patriots 61-48. The Norwich junior varsity squad will look to start the season 3-0 on Wednesday. Their game against Oneonta is slated for a 6 p.m. start time.
Owego 66, Norwich 58
First round of STOP DWI Winter Classic
Owego 17 17 18 14 – 66
Norwich 22 9 15 12 – 58
Owego: Brandon Evans 0; Christian Sage 6 3-6-16; Nate Bennett 0 3-4-3; Joey Higgins 0; Evan Hamed 1 0-0-2; Robert Merrill 4 1-7-11; Kobe Bogart 7 11-13-28; Michael Waslyn 3 0-0-6. TOTALS: 21 18-30-66.
Norwich: Mujuni Mutabiilwa 0; Carson Maynard 1 0-0-3; Marcus Cashman 7 2-2-21; Thomas Parrella 0; Brayden Supensky 0; J.T. Vinal 6 0-2-12; Shane Lawrence 0; Jahlil Jones 0; Jon Clarke 0; Skylar Wenzel 8 4-6-20. TOTALS: 22 8-12-58.
Fouled out: (O) Michael Waslyn; (N) Mujini Mutabiilwa and J.T. Vinal. 3-point goals: (O) Christian Sage 1, Robert Merrill 2, Kobe Bogart 3; (N) Carson Maynard 1, Marcus Cashman 5. JV: Norwich 60-35.
Norwich 60, Vestal 42
Consolation game of STOP DWI Winter Classic
Norwich 19 13 6 22 – 60
Vestal 15 10 11 6 – 42
Norwich: Thomas Parrella 1 0-1-2; Mujuni Mutabiilwa 2 1-2-5; Carson Maynard 4 2-2-12; Marcus Cashman 6 0-2-14; Thomas Flanagan 0; Brayden Supensky 1 0-0-3; J.T.Vinal 6 0-1-12; Shane Lawrence 0; Jahlil Jones 3 0-2-6; Jon Clarke 1 0-0-2; Skylar Wenzel 1 2-4-4. TOTALS: 25 5-14-60.
Vestal: Noah Economides 1 2-2-5; Ettore DiRado 4 1-2-11; Shawn Chermak 0; Tafari Carty 2 1-2-7; Mohammed Elsa 0; Mason Mabee 2 0-0-4; Sean Lewis 0; Andrew Carr 0; Justin Barnes 0; Same Eckert 0; Gabe Whiteman 5 4-10-15.
Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: (N) Carson Maynard 2, Marcus Cashman 2, Brayden Supensky 1. JV: Norwich over Binghamton, 61-48.
Norwich head coach Tom Collier believe that with the hard work his team put in together during the offseason, anything was possible for his squad.
The first quarter saw both teams playing well as the Purple Tornado were hanging with one of the two top teams in STAC. After scoring 22 points in the opening stanza, Norwich went into the second leading by five points.
The Tornado squad held onto the lead in the second for some time. Owego called a timeout regroup. “ When they called the time out, we were feeling good about ourselves,” said Collier.
The quick break in the action for the Indians provided the answer to take back the lead at the end of the half. Owego continued their run out of the intermission as they led by as many as 10 in the third.
Norwich wasn’t going to go down without a fight. In the fourth quarter, the Tornado were able to claw their way back into the game, tying it at 52 with three minutes left in the contest. “We knew our man-to-man defense was going to be the answer,” said Collier
The stymie Norwich defense battled with Owego for 30 seconds, stopping both their All-Metro players – Christian Sage and Kobe Bogart – with some great team defense. With just five seconds left on the shot clock, Sage is forced to kick it out as his drive was stopped by the Tornado’s help defense.
Sage’s kick out went to the Indians’ third best option, according to Collier, Robert Merrill. From the corner Merrill, launched a three in the air as he was open due to a late rotation by the Norwich defense. His shot falls for a big turning point in the game as the Tornado attempted to come back but couldn’t get back over the hump.
“With this contest being the first on both team’s schedule, both teams played an incredible,: said Collier. “Our kids gave it all they had but fell short.”
A total of 20 turnovers was all that was forced during the game by both teams. Norwich finished 11 against them while causing nine Owego miscues.
The Tornado’s Marcus Cashman, who was an eventual All-Tournament selection for the weekend, played for the entire game, totaling 32 minutes of play. During his time on the floor, he was assigned to cover one of the Indians’ top two players on the defensive end. On offense, he led all Norwich scorers with 21 points on 7 of 12 shooting. “[Cashman] had one great game,” said Collier. “He gave it all he had for 32 minutes. There was just nothing else he could do”
Skylar Wenzel, the Purple’s big man in the middle, ended the night with 20 points and 12 rebounds. “This was [Skylar’s] best game ever,” said Collier. “With a double-double ,what more can he do?”
Collier commented on J.T. Vinal’s play, describing it as his usual gritty, hustling play. Vinal chipped in 12 in the loss.
“The seeds to victory are often sown in defeat,” said Collier. “We tell the kids, ‘it’s not how you start a season but how you finish that counts.’ We were very, very proud of their effort against Owego.”
The Indians went on to win the Division-I championship, defeating Binghamton in final by double digits.
With the clash on the court from Friday night expected to take a toll on the Norwich squad, they took on the Vestal Golden Bears Saturday afternoon.
Vinal provided the spark for the tired Norwich team on Saturday. With his tremendous energy, Vinal ended the afternoon with a double-double as he racked up 12 points and 12 boards while adding three assists, three steals and three charges drawn against the Golden Bears.
“J.T.’s energy was much needed after our disappointing loss [Friday night], said Collier. “He lifted our team getting every loose ball and left many skin burns on the Binghamton court today. The way J.T. plays can’t be measured on a stat sheet.”
The Purple Tornado started strong against Vestal, jumping out to an early lead. Norwich was able to get up by as many as 10 points in the first half. However, the Golden Bears answered in the third quarter, going on an 11-6 run, dwindling the Norwich advantage to just two points. Collier told the team that needed to pull it together with their man-to-man defense in order to hold Vestal off.
Norwich did just that by stopped the Golden Bears third quarter run from carrying over into the fourth with a huge defensive effort in the final eight minute stretch. In fact, the Tornado held Vestal to just five points for the entire fourth quarter and scored 22 points of their own as they claimed the 60-42 victory. With their win, Norwich claimed third place in the STOP DWI Winter Classic.
Cashman once again led the offensive end for Norwich, scoring a team-high 14 points while pulling down five boards and dishing out four assists. Collier stated that Cashman finished Saturday’s game by playing on fumes.
Carson Maynard, who had a cold night shooting Friday, turned his game around a day later to add 12 points for the Purple Tornado.
Norwich’s first year varsity player Jahlil Jones gave the Tornado a great lift off the bench Saturday after Wenzel got in foul trouble. Jones finished with six points and four rebounds but contributed by causing many disruptions within the paint on the defensive end.
“We had some pretty tired kids on Saturday,” said the Tornado head coach. “We came out and played pretty darn well considering all the energy we used the day before battling the eventual tournament champions Owego.”
The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Tornado (1-1) as a tough Oneonta Yellowjacket team visits Norwich Wednesday night. The Yellowjackets come in flying high after winning on the road at Union-Endicott by 40 points on Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. following the junior varsity game.
Norwich’s JV team opened up their season with back-to-back wins. First they defeated Owego Free Academy 60-35 at Susquehanna Valley Friday night. The Purple then returned to the court on Saturday afternoon to take down the Binghamton Patriots 61-48. The Norwich junior varsity squad will look to start the season 3-0 on Wednesday. Their game against Oneonta is slated for a 6 p.m. start time.
Owego 66, Norwich 58
First round of STOP DWI Winter Classic
Owego 17 17 18 14 – 66
Norwich 22 9 15 12 – 58
Owego: Brandon Evans 0; Christian Sage 6 3-6-16; Nate Bennett 0 3-4-3; Joey Higgins 0; Evan Hamed 1 0-0-2; Robert Merrill 4 1-7-11; Kobe Bogart 7 11-13-28; Michael Waslyn 3 0-0-6. TOTALS: 21 18-30-66.
Norwich: Mujuni Mutabiilwa 0; Carson Maynard 1 0-0-3; Marcus Cashman 7 2-2-21; Thomas Parrella 0; Brayden Supensky 0; J.T. Vinal 6 0-2-12; Shane Lawrence 0; Jahlil Jones 0; Jon Clarke 0; Skylar Wenzel 8 4-6-20. TOTALS: 22 8-12-58.
Fouled out: (O) Michael Waslyn; (N) Mujini Mutabiilwa and J.T. Vinal. 3-point goals: (O) Christian Sage 1, Robert Merrill 2, Kobe Bogart 3; (N) Carson Maynard 1, Marcus Cashman 5. JV: Norwich 60-35.
Norwich 60, Vestal 42
Consolation game of STOP DWI Winter Classic
Norwich 19 13 6 22 – 60
Vestal 15 10 11 6 – 42
Norwich: Thomas Parrella 1 0-1-2; Mujuni Mutabiilwa 2 1-2-5; Carson Maynard 4 2-2-12; Marcus Cashman 6 0-2-14; Thomas Flanagan 0; Brayden Supensky 1 0-0-3; J.T.Vinal 6 0-1-12; Shane Lawrence 0; Jahlil Jones 3 0-2-6; Jon Clarke 1 0-0-2; Skylar Wenzel 1 2-4-4. TOTALS: 25 5-14-60.
Vestal: Noah Economides 1 2-2-5; Ettore DiRado 4 1-2-11; Shawn Chermak 0; Tafari Carty 2 1-2-7; Mohammed Elsa 0; Mason Mabee 2 0-0-4; Sean Lewis 0; Andrew Carr 0; Justin Barnes 0; Same Eckert 0; Gabe Whiteman 5 4-10-15.
Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: (N) Carson Maynard 2, Marcus Cashman 2, Brayden Supensky 1. JV: Norwich over Binghamton, 61-48.
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