Purple Tornado boys weather Storm’s comeback
Frank Speziale Photo
Cashman’s three pointer with 3 seconds left earns win
NORWICH – Norwich’s Marcus Cashman delivered a 3-point dagger with 3.7 seconds remaining in the wild contest between the Purple Tornado and the Unadilla Valley Storm Tuesday night. Cashman’s bucket from the left corner put Norwich up 43-40 and UV’s head coach Matt Osborne called a timeout to draw up a potential game-tying play.
The Storm were without Andrew Jackson, who fouled out with 1:23 left in the fourth. Osborne went to Caleb Parker for the final shot. Parker got a look at the rim from beyond the arc but the shot didn’t go, giving the Tornado with win on their home floor.
“We had two great days of practice before this game and I felt the defensive plan that we implemented was very sound,” said Norwich head coach Tom Collier. “Our kids did a great job of executing the plan as we practiced.”
The first five minutes of the game was a battle on the glass as both teams missed several attempts and were full of sloppy play with turnover after turnover.
Norwich’s Thomas Flanagan changed that as he knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner to put the first points up on the scoreboard for either team.
The rest of the Tornado then piggybacked off of the momentum as Mujuni Mutabiilwa came away with a steal on the defensive end of the floor and finished at the other end.
Jahlil Jones then finished a flashy reverse layup to put the home team on top 7-0.
Moments later, UV’s Cameron Osborne received a pass from Wyatt Grey in the low post area and finished for the Storm’s first points of the game.
Flanagan hit another deep ball for Norwich before the end of the fast paced first quarter to put the Tornado up 10-2.
Andrew Jackson of the Storm registered his first point of the game at the free throw line in the second quarter but that is all he scored in the two quarters of play.
“Cash [Marcus Cashman] did a great job on Andrew, he battled him all the way and had plenty of help from his teammates,” said Collier.
Osborne, Grey and Parker provided Unadilla Valley with the spark they needed to get going in the second quarter, combining to score 10 of their 11 in the stanza.
For Norwich, it was the Flanagan show. The Purple Tornado junior scored all but five points in the quarter, extending Norwich’s lead to nine points.
Grey cut the lead to six but Cashman hit his first from behind the arc to put the lead back to nine before the end of the half.
UV’s stand-out in the middle, Levi Rifanburg, was held to zero points in the first half due to the defense of J.T. Vinal, Drew Walsh and Jahlil Jones. Grey, who can also be a big time scorer for the Storm, was held to just three points due to the defense by Mutabiilwa.
“Those were their big three scorers and we had great team help from all the players especially Carson Maynard and Skylar,” Collier said.
Out of the intermission, Norwich continued their momentum before the break to go up by 17.
However, all it took was a deep 3-pointer by Jackson and the momentum shifted.
Following the made shot, Jackson and Rifanburg turned on the two-man game, scoring the next 11 points by the Storm.
Maynard found Wenzel for the final basket of the third quarter and Norwich kept the nine point lead as the game went into the final quarter of play.
Wenzel, who finished with nine points for the night, scored underneath to open the fourth quarter but that was the only points scored by the home team until later in the stanza.
Unadilla Valley took advantage of the Tornado lull, going on a 11-0 run to tie the game at 38-38 with two minutes remaining in the game.
As he was fouled by Vinal on the play to tie the game, Rifanburg went to the free throw line with a chance to complete the and-1 play and Vinal went to the bench with his fifth foul.
Rifanburg hit the freebie from the stripe, giving the Storm their first lead of the contest.
Less than a minute later, Jackson picked up his fifth foul and went to the sideline for the remainder of the game.
After Collier called a timeout with 1:15 left, Maynard was the one who had his number called.
Getting to the basket and what looked like a clear lane for two points and the lead back, Grey came out of nowhere to block Maynard’s shot attempt to preserve the one point lead for the Storm.
At the other end of the floor, Rifanburg went to the line again. This time hitting one of two attempts, UV went up two with less than a minute to play in regulation.
With 37 seconds left, Wenzel scored his final points of the contest as he came up with a rebound and the finish. His basket tied the ball game up at 40-40.
While he was done in the scoring column at this point in the game, Wenzel continued to contribute as he came up with a huge steal. Norwich brought the ball over half court and called a timeout.
Collier once again drew up a play to get the ball in a shooter’s hands, this time calling on Flanagan. Not getting a clean look, Flanagan kicked it to a shot-ready Cashman in the corner.
All eyes on the ball as it soared through the air, awaiting for the ball to get closer to the rim. Once it went through the net, Norwich fans in the gym erupted.
UV Osborne called a timeout following the Cashman make and drew up the last second play, hoping Parker could tie the game up with a last second attempt.
Parker’s shot didn’t fall as it was tipped by Maynard, ending the game with a final of 43-40.
“Tommy Flanagan was hitting shots in the first half and the we went into a lull in the fourth quarter,” said Collier. “UV, to their credit, started to get some momentum and came all the way back to take the lead.
“Our kids never quit and they grinded it out with Cash eventually hitting the big shot to win it. We still have to keep working to get better but we are making strides defensively and that is a big part of any success you are going to have as defense wins championships.”
Flanagan finished with a team-high 13 points in the win for Norwich while Cashman ended the night with nine points – all coming from long range.
Jackson and Rifanburg both fought through the rough start to score double figures in the scoring column. Rifanburg tallied 11 – all coming as second-half points – and Jackson scored a game-high 14.
“I went over 2 tapes of the UV team and I was very impressed with them,” Collier said. “Andrew Jackson is such a great player, he deserves all of the accolades he gets. I’m a huge fan of Andrew’s. I just can’t say enough good things about him; he’s a top notch player and a even better person. The measure of a great basketball player is that he makes all the players around him better and that is Andrew’s strength.
“I wish him, his teammates and coaches [Matt] Osborne and [John] Jackson all the best moving forward. I’ll be rooting for them all the way.”
Unadilla Valley gets back to conference play a week from Thursday (January 31) when they travel to Harpursville. The Tornado take a road trip to face the Black Knights of Windsor at 7:15 p.m. on Friday.
Norwich 43, Unadilla Valley 40
UV 2 11 14 13 – 40
NHS 10 12 14 7 – 43
Unadilla Valley: Andrew Jackson 4 3-4-14; Dylan Nichols 0; Caleb Parker 2 0-0-6; Levi Rifanburg 4 3-5-11; Wyatt Grey 1 0-0-3; Cameron Osborne 2 2-2-6. TOTALS: 13 8-11-40.
Norwich: Drew Walsh 0; Mujuni Mutabiilwa 3 0-0-6; Carson Maynard 2 0-0-4; Marcus Cashman 3 0-0-9; Thomas Flanagan 4 2-2-13; J.T. Vinal 0; Jahlil Jones 1 0-0-2; Jon Clarke 0 0-2-0; Skylar Wenzel 4 1-2-9. TOTALS: 17 3-6-43.
Fouled out: (UV) Jackson; (N) Vinal. 3-point goals: (UV) Jackson 3, Parker 2, Grey 1; (N) Cashman 3, Flanagan 3. Officials: Fletcher and Vinsivich.
NORWICH – Norwich’s Marcus Cashman delivered a 3-point dagger with 3.7 seconds remaining in the wild contest between the Purple Tornado and the Unadilla Valley Storm Tuesday night. Cashman’s bucket from the left corner put Norwich up 43-40 and UV’s head coach Matt Osborne called a timeout to draw up a potential game-tying play.
The Storm were without Andrew Jackson, who fouled out with 1:23 left in the fourth. Osborne went to Caleb Parker for the final shot. Parker got a look at the rim from beyond the arc but the shot didn’t go, giving the Tornado with win on their home floor.
“We had two great days of practice before this game and I felt the defensive plan that we implemented was very sound,” said Norwich head coach Tom Collier. “Our kids did a great job of executing the plan as we practiced.”
The first five minutes of the game was a battle on the glass as both teams missed several attempts and were full of sloppy play with turnover after turnover.
Norwich’s Thomas Flanagan changed that as he knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner to put the first points up on the scoreboard for either team.
The rest of the Tornado then piggybacked off of the momentum as Mujuni Mutabiilwa came away with a steal on the defensive end of the floor and finished at the other end.
Jahlil Jones then finished a flashy reverse layup to put the home team on top 7-0.
Moments later, UV’s Cameron Osborne received a pass from Wyatt Grey in the low post area and finished for the Storm’s first points of the game.
Flanagan hit another deep ball for Norwich before the end of the fast paced first quarter to put the Tornado up 10-2.
Andrew Jackson of the Storm registered his first point of the game at the free throw line in the second quarter but that is all he scored in the two quarters of play.
“Cash [Marcus Cashman] did a great job on Andrew, he battled him all the way and had plenty of help from his teammates,” said Collier.
Osborne, Grey and Parker provided Unadilla Valley with the spark they needed to get going in the second quarter, combining to score 10 of their 11 in the stanza.
For Norwich, it was the Flanagan show. The Purple Tornado junior scored all but five points in the quarter, extending Norwich’s lead to nine points.
Grey cut the lead to six but Cashman hit his first from behind the arc to put the lead back to nine before the end of the half.
UV’s stand-out in the middle, Levi Rifanburg, was held to zero points in the first half due to the defense of J.T. Vinal, Drew Walsh and Jahlil Jones. Grey, who can also be a big time scorer for the Storm, was held to just three points due to the defense by Mutabiilwa.
“Those were their big three scorers and we had great team help from all the players especially Carson Maynard and Skylar,” Collier said.
Out of the intermission, Norwich continued their momentum before the break to go up by 17.
However, all it took was a deep 3-pointer by Jackson and the momentum shifted.
Following the made shot, Jackson and Rifanburg turned on the two-man game, scoring the next 11 points by the Storm.
Maynard found Wenzel for the final basket of the third quarter and Norwich kept the nine point lead as the game went into the final quarter of play.
Wenzel, who finished with nine points for the night, scored underneath to open the fourth quarter but that was the only points scored by the home team until later in the stanza.
Unadilla Valley took advantage of the Tornado lull, going on a 11-0 run to tie the game at 38-38 with two minutes remaining in the game.
As he was fouled by Vinal on the play to tie the game, Rifanburg went to the free throw line with a chance to complete the and-1 play and Vinal went to the bench with his fifth foul.
Rifanburg hit the freebie from the stripe, giving the Storm their first lead of the contest.
Less than a minute later, Jackson picked up his fifth foul and went to the sideline for the remainder of the game.
After Collier called a timeout with 1:15 left, Maynard was the one who had his number called.
Getting to the basket and what looked like a clear lane for two points and the lead back, Grey came out of nowhere to block Maynard’s shot attempt to preserve the one point lead for the Storm.
At the other end of the floor, Rifanburg went to the line again. This time hitting one of two attempts, UV went up two with less than a minute to play in regulation.
With 37 seconds left, Wenzel scored his final points of the contest as he came up with a rebound and the finish. His basket tied the ball game up at 40-40.
While he was done in the scoring column at this point in the game, Wenzel continued to contribute as he came up with a huge steal. Norwich brought the ball over half court and called a timeout.
Collier once again drew up a play to get the ball in a shooter’s hands, this time calling on Flanagan. Not getting a clean look, Flanagan kicked it to a shot-ready Cashman in the corner.
All eyes on the ball as it soared through the air, awaiting for the ball to get closer to the rim. Once it went through the net, Norwich fans in the gym erupted.
UV Osborne called a timeout following the Cashman make and drew up the last second play, hoping Parker could tie the game up with a last second attempt.
Parker’s shot didn’t fall as it was tipped by Maynard, ending the game with a final of 43-40.
“Tommy Flanagan was hitting shots in the first half and the we went into a lull in the fourth quarter,” said Collier. “UV, to their credit, started to get some momentum and came all the way back to take the lead.
“Our kids never quit and they grinded it out with Cash eventually hitting the big shot to win it. We still have to keep working to get better but we are making strides defensively and that is a big part of any success you are going to have as defense wins championships.”
Flanagan finished with a team-high 13 points in the win for Norwich while Cashman ended the night with nine points – all coming from long range.
Jackson and Rifanburg both fought through the rough start to score double figures in the scoring column. Rifanburg tallied 11 – all coming as second-half points – and Jackson scored a game-high 14.
“I went over 2 tapes of the UV team and I was very impressed with them,” Collier said. “Andrew Jackson is such a great player, he deserves all of the accolades he gets. I’m a huge fan of Andrew’s. I just can’t say enough good things about him; he’s a top notch player and a even better person. The measure of a great basketball player is that he makes all the players around him better and that is Andrew’s strength.
“I wish him, his teammates and coaches [Matt] Osborne and [John] Jackson all the best moving forward. I’ll be rooting for them all the way.”
Unadilla Valley gets back to conference play a week from Thursday (January 31) when they travel to Harpursville. The Tornado take a road trip to face the Black Knights of Windsor at 7:15 p.m. on Friday.
Norwich 43, Unadilla Valley 40
UV 2 11 14 13 – 40
NHS 10 12 14 7 – 43
Unadilla Valley: Andrew Jackson 4 3-4-14; Dylan Nichols 0; Caleb Parker 2 0-0-6; Levi Rifanburg 4 3-5-11; Wyatt Grey 1 0-0-3; Cameron Osborne 2 2-2-6. TOTALS: 13 8-11-40.
Norwich: Drew Walsh 0; Mujuni Mutabiilwa 3 0-0-6; Carson Maynard 2 0-0-4; Marcus Cashman 3 0-0-9; Thomas Flanagan 4 2-2-13; J.T. Vinal 0; Jahlil Jones 1 0-0-2; Jon Clarke 0 0-2-0; Skylar Wenzel 4 1-2-9. TOTALS: 17 3-6-43.
Fouled out: (UV) Jackson; (N) Vinal. 3-point goals: (UV) Jackson 3, Parker 2, Grey 1; (N) Cashman 3, Flanagan 3. Officials: Fletcher and Vinsivich.
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