Tornado sweeps through Saints to extend winning streak to 8
Frank Speziale Photo
NORWICH – The Lady Purple Tornado used their gritty, intense full-court press to grind out a 64-52 win over the Seton Catholic Saints in a basketball Monday premier matchup.
The victory gave Norwich their third win of the year against the Saints to make it a clean sweep of the season series of contests between the two teams.
The Purple Tornado’s full-court pressure created their offense for most of the game but when put into a half-court situation during the contest, the home team rarely came away with an empty possession as they moved the ball to find the open player.
“Seton has a way of turning games with us into real grind-it-out type games,” said Norwich head coach Josh Bennett. “I thought we were a little stagnate offensively at times but we grinded out turnovers on defense and turned them into offense.”
The Saints matched the Norwich tempo at times throughout the four quarters of play, breaking the pressure down and finishing at the rim.
The Tornado trailed 10-7 early in the first quarter but the next two possessions down the floor ended with a 3-point bucket, the first made by Triniti Myers from the right corner that was followed by Halea Eaton’s long ball from the wing on the same side.
By the end of the first quarter, Norwich took a five point lead and never lost the advantage again.
The Saints’ Julia Hauer paced her team through the first half, scoring 13 of her game-high 18 points but was faced with foul trouble for the second half as she went into the halftime break with three.
Norwich – who knocked down eight 3-pointers in the game as a team – hit two from beyond the arc in second quarter. After hitting the deep ball early in the stanza, the Tornado turned to the inside game of Saige Benedict as well as the dribble penetration of Taylor Hansen and Nicole Jeffrey.
The outside-inside offensive attack allowed Norwich to take a 12 point lead into the locker room.
However, the Saints couldn’t be counted out of the game just yet. While the two teams nearly matched point for point, it was in the early minutes of the fourth quarter where Seton started to threaten the Tornado lead.
Starting the final eight minutes with a deficit of 13 points, Hauer returned to the game – with four fouls – and shifted the momentum into the visiting team’s favor.
Hauer opened the early fourth quarter run by the Saints with a reverse layup on the baseline. Seton then went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead down to seven points.
The two teams then went through a small stretch where they exchanged baskets.
Hauer’s final point of the game came on a made free through, making the score 51-44 but Norwich’s Hansen drove to the hoop, drawing a Saints defender off of Jeffrey who was waiting at the block for the pass. Jeffrey then put the ball up, made the basket and was fouled by Hauer for the possible old fashioned three point play.
With 3:22 remaining in the fourth, Hauer went to the bench with her fifth foul. Teammate’s Marina Maerkl and Reese Vaughn took over the scoring for the remainder of the game but it wasn’t enough to close out Norwich.
Hansen put the Saints away for good after hitting a corner three that was assisted by Eaton – who got free by shaking off her first defender and drawing Hansen’s defender to free up the senior guard in the corner. Hansen then drove the ball to the rim through the Seton defense, giving the Purple Tornado a 58-44 lead with under two minutes left. She finished with a team-high 17 points.
Seton’s early fourth-quarter rally allowed the visitors to outscore Norwich 19-18 to close out the game but the first half lead built by the Tornado was too much to overcome.
Eaton tallied 15 points in the win, balanced scoring throughout the four quarters of play. Sydney Coggins ended the night with a quiet but important 10 points and Benedict controlled the inside for the home team to also score 10 points.
Maerkl had an outstanding night at the foul line, finishing 10-for-12 in the contest to end with 16 points. Vaughan chipped in nine for the Saints.
Norwich (14-1) is currently ranked sixth in Class B by the New York State Sports Writers Association and could possibly move up with new rankings coming out Thursday afternoon. The Tornado are on the court again Thursday night at Chenango Forks. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.
Norwich 64, Seton CC 52
Seton 14 10 9 19 – 52
Norwich 19 17 10 18 – 64
Seton Catholic: Bridget Martin 0 4-6 4, Marasia Dyes 1 1-2 3, Lily Combs 0 0-0 0, Kat Lathrop 1 0-0 2, Reese Vaughan 3 3-4 9, Marina Maerkl 3 10-12 16, Julia Hauer 6 6-8 18. Totals: 14 24-32 52.
Norwich: Taylor Hansen 6 4-6 17, Sydney Coggins 2 4-6 10, Emily Evans 0 0-0 0, Abby Flynn 0 2-2 2, Halea Eaton 5 2-4 15, Emerson Burton 0 0-0 0, Hailey Colabelli 0 0-0 0, Saige Benedict 4 2-4 10, Triniti Myers 2 0-2 6, Nicole Jeffrey 2 0-1 4. Totals: 21 14-25 64.
Fouled out: (SCC) Hauer; (N) Flynn. 3-point goals: (SCC) None; (N) Hansen, Coggins 2, Eaton 3, Myers 2.
The victory gave Norwich their third win of the year against the Saints to make it a clean sweep of the season series of contests between the two teams.
The Purple Tornado’s full-court pressure created their offense for most of the game but when put into a half-court situation during the contest, the home team rarely came away with an empty possession as they moved the ball to find the open player.
“Seton has a way of turning games with us into real grind-it-out type games,” said Norwich head coach Josh Bennett. “I thought we were a little stagnate offensively at times but we grinded out turnovers on defense and turned them into offense.”
The Saints matched the Norwich tempo at times throughout the four quarters of play, breaking the pressure down and finishing at the rim.
The Tornado trailed 10-7 early in the first quarter but the next two possessions down the floor ended with a 3-point bucket, the first made by Triniti Myers from the right corner that was followed by Halea Eaton’s long ball from the wing on the same side.
By the end of the first quarter, Norwich took a five point lead and never lost the advantage again.
The Saints’ Julia Hauer paced her team through the first half, scoring 13 of her game-high 18 points but was faced with foul trouble for the second half as she went into the halftime break with three.
Norwich – who knocked down eight 3-pointers in the game as a team – hit two from beyond the arc in second quarter. After hitting the deep ball early in the stanza, the Tornado turned to the inside game of Saige Benedict as well as the dribble penetration of Taylor Hansen and Nicole Jeffrey.
The outside-inside offensive attack allowed Norwich to take a 12 point lead into the locker room.
However, the Saints couldn’t be counted out of the game just yet. While the two teams nearly matched point for point, it was in the early minutes of the fourth quarter where Seton started to threaten the Tornado lead.
Starting the final eight minutes with a deficit of 13 points, Hauer returned to the game – with four fouls – and shifted the momentum into the visiting team’s favor.
Hauer opened the early fourth quarter run by the Saints with a reverse layup on the baseline. Seton then went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead down to seven points.
The two teams then went through a small stretch where they exchanged baskets.
Hauer’s final point of the game came on a made free through, making the score 51-44 but Norwich’s Hansen drove to the hoop, drawing a Saints defender off of Jeffrey who was waiting at the block for the pass. Jeffrey then put the ball up, made the basket and was fouled by Hauer for the possible old fashioned three point play.
With 3:22 remaining in the fourth, Hauer went to the bench with her fifth foul. Teammate’s Marina Maerkl and Reese Vaughn took over the scoring for the remainder of the game but it wasn’t enough to close out Norwich.
Hansen put the Saints away for good after hitting a corner three that was assisted by Eaton – who got free by shaking off her first defender and drawing Hansen’s defender to free up the senior guard in the corner. Hansen then drove the ball to the rim through the Seton defense, giving the Purple Tornado a 58-44 lead with under two minutes left. She finished with a team-high 17 points.
Seton’s early fourth-quarter rally allowed the visitors to outscore Norwich 19-18 to close out the game but the first half lead built by the Tornado was too much to overcome.
Eaton tallied 15 points in the win, balanced scoring throughout the four quarters of play. Sydney Coggins ended the night with a quiet but important 10 points and Benedict controlled the inside for the home team to also score 10 points.
Maerkl had an outstanding night at the foul line, finishing 10-for-12 in the contest to end with 16 points. Vaughan chipped in nine for the Saints.
Norwich (14-1) is currently ranked sixth in Class B by the New York State Sports Writers Association and could possibly move up with new rankings coming out Thursday afternoon. The Tornado are on the court again Thursday night at Chenango Forks. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.
Norwich 64, Seton CC 52
Seton 14 10 9 19 – 52
Norwich 19 17 10 18 – 64
Seton Catholic: Bridget Martin 0 4-6 4, Marasia Dyes 1 1-2 3, Lily Combs 0 0-0 0, Kat Lathrop 1 0-0 2, Reese Vaughan 3 3-4 9, Marina Maerkl 3 10-12 16, Julia Hauer 6 6-8 18. Totals: 14 24-32 52.
Norwich: Taylor Hansen 6 4-6 17, Sydney Coggins 2 4-6 10, Emily Evans 0 0-0 0, Abby Flynn 0 2-2 2, Halea Eaton 5 2-4 15, Emerson Burton 0 0-0 0, Hailey Colabelli 0 0-0 0, Saige Benedict 4 2-4 10, Triniti Myers 2 0-2 6, Nicole Jeffrey 2 0-1 4. Totals: 21 14-25 64.
Fouled out: (SCC) Hauer; (N) Flynn. 3-point goals: (SCC) None; (N) Hansen, Coggins 2, Eaton 3, Myers 2.
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