NORWICH – A slow start on the offensive floor didn’t matter for the Lady Purple Tornado Thursday night as their defensive intensity wore down the Susquehanna Valley Sabers. In the third quarter, Norwich’s offense found their rhythm and the rest was history.
The Tornado’s 34 point second half was all they needed to take down the 2017 New York State Champion, earning their second win of the season with a 57-33 final.
Norwich’s Halea Eaton provided the spark for the home team for the second straight game. Unlike the first contest where it came on the offensive end of the floor, Eaton’s defense was the blow the Tornado needed to separate themselves from Sus Valley.
In the third quarter, Eaton delivered an individual stretch that saw a made foul shot, two tie-ups, a deflection on two SV passes, a floater for a bucket, a steal and an assist to Sydney Coggins for a 3-pointer. During this minute of play, the Norwich lead went from three points to 11 to start the stanza on a 10-2 run.
The Purple Tornado out scored the Sabers third 13-6 and didn’t show any signs of slowing up. During the final eight minutes of play, Norwich put 21 points on the scoreboard. 12 of those 21 came from the 3-point line from three different players.
“We saw great contributions from everyone on both sides of the ball,” said Tornado head coach Josh Bennett. “We have been working on wearing teams down defensively and when our opponents finally break down, we take over.
“I have told them that with of some teams we will face, it will take some time but if we continue to put the pressure on, it will happen eventually.”
It came after the halftime break against Susquehanna Valley but the strong, pressuring defensive effort never left the players of Norwich until the final buzzer sounded.
The Purple Tornado had a balanced scoring attack that was led by Eaton’s 12 points. Triniti Myers, who knocked down two 3-pointers in the second quarter to help Norwich hold the small lead, ended the night with 10 points. Sydney Coggins also hit two from beyond the arc during the contest, recorded 10 in the scoring column as well.
Hailey Colabelli was another Tornado player that saw two 3-pointers fall through the net. She chipped in seven points in the win.
The Sabers were led by Maeve Donnelly with 13 points in the loss. The 6 foot-5 inch forward was limited with shot opportunities due to the defense by Saige Benedict, Abby Flynn and Emily Evans – who were all giving up at least six inches in height when covering Donnelly.
Prior to the varsity game, Norwich’s JV team picked up their second win of the season with a 66-24 final. The junior varsity Tornado’s started the game with a 28-1 lead after the first quarter and continued to roll throughout. 
Norwich’s Margaret Dougher scored a game-high 31 points on 12 made field goals while shooting 6-for-8 at free throw line.
Both the Tornado JV and varsity travel to Windsor on Monday. The junior varsity game will start at 5:30 p.m. with the varsity to follow.
Norwich 57, Susquehanna Valley 33
SV 8 12 6 7 – 33
N 9 14 13 21 – 57
Susquehanna Valley: Brooke Ryder 1 0-0-2; Gewn Payne 0 0-2-0; Sophie Keechle 2 2-2-6; Alexandra Deeter 0 1-3-1; Mara Donnelly 1 0-2-2; Emily Repp 0 3-8-3; Chany Smith 0; Cayla Perez 0; Maeve Donnelly 5 3-5-13; Jenna Cotter 3 0-4-6. TOTALS: 12 9-26-33.
Norwich:Destiny Gladney 0; Taylor Hansen 1 0-0-3; Sydney Coggins 3 2-2-10; Emily Evans 1 0-2-2; Abby Flynn 1 1-2-4; Halea Eaton 4 3-6-12; Ashton Wenzel 0; Emerson Burton 0; Hailey Colabelli 2 1-2-7; Saige Benedict 3 0-2-6; Triniti Myers 4 0-0-10; Nicole Jeffrey 1 1-4-3. TOTALS: 20 8-20-57.
Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: (SV) None; (N)Taylor Hansen 1, Sydney Coggins 2, Abby Flynn, Halea Eaton 1, Hailey Colabelli 2, Triniti Myers 2. Officials: Allen and Sanders . JV: Norwich, 66-24.