Lady Tornado back on top of STAC after almost 20 years
ELMIRA – For the first time in 18 years, the Norwich Girls Basketball team is on top of the Southern Tier Athletic Conference. With their convincing 74-39 victory over the Owego Indians Friday night at Elmira High School, the Purple Tornado handed the previously-undefeated Indians their first loss of the season.
Norwich made 10 3-pointers in the contest, nine of them coming in the first half when the Tornado went into the break leading by 18 points. Owego did not register one made 3-pointer in the game, giving Norwich the 30-0 advantage leading to their 35 point victory.
Four made shots from behind the arc in the first quarter came by the shooting hands of four different Lady Tornado players – Sydney Coggins, Halea Eaton, Triniti Myers, and Nicole Jeffrey – as the team totaled a 26-point opening game stretch. Eaton’s 3 ball closed the quarter out with a buzzer-beater.
On the other side of the floor, Owego’s stand-out Kaci Donovan tallied 10 of her 20 first-half points while teammate Anna Felice made three trips the foul line, going 5-for-6 to help keep the Indians close.
To start the second, Donovan converted an old-fashioned 3-point play, pulling Owego within single digits. However, the long-range shooting by Norwich sparked a 12-2 run in the first four minutes of the stanza to change the lead from eight points to 18 points quickly.
Using ball-movement and penetration from the guards, the Tornado got the ball to the open player who in return knocked the shot down.
Taylor Hansen of Norwich started the run with an and-1 play after she drove baseline and was fouled on her way up for the floater that she sent through the net. Making the free-throw, Hansen erased Donovan’s 3-point play to put Norwich back on top by 11.
Then back-to-back 3-pointers were made by teammate Myers after receiving passes from Hansen, who was driving the open lane to draw the defenders away.
Sneaking out on the fast break was Felice finishing the layup, breaking up the run for a brief second.
Back at the Norwich offensive end, Myers and Hansen connected again as it looked almost like Norwich was running instant replay. Hansen drove, kicked to Myers and the hot shooting hand for the Tornado drained her third 3-pointer of the quarter with 4:33 left in the first half.
The next two minutes became the Donovan show as she went on a 7-0 run on her own to bring Owego within 11 of the Tornado. She used another bucket and the foul, a rebounded put-back and a 15-foot jumper to score the seven points.
Her teammate Ella Kopalek added a made foul shot to cut another point of the Norwich lead with 2:17 left in the quarter.
However, back came the Lady Purple Tornado. Saige Benedict made the second of two free throws before Hansen finished at the rim to extend their lead to 13. A 3-pointer by Coggins and one by Hansen finished the first half off, sending Norwich into the locker room at the intermission leading 47-29.
Following the break, the balanced scoring of Norwich returned to see five players – Emily Evans and Haliey Colabelli picking up their first points of the game in the quarter – to score another 20 points in the stanza.
Benedict knocked down a 3 from the corner, hitting the final shot from behind the 3-point line for the Tornado.
Owego was held to two made field goals in the second half and a total of 10 points over the next two quarters of play. Donovan scored six – all in the third quarter – to finish with a game-high 26 points.
Colabelli, Emerson Burton and Ashton Wenzel combined to score Norwich’s seven points in the final eight minutes of play, giving nearly every Lady Tornado on the roster a basket scored in the game.
“I think this group this year has been together so long that we are able to mesh so well together and believe in each other – on and off the court – that has made us a different team this year,” said Hansen. “To get this far with them has been really amazing and I can’t imagine doing it with any other group.”
“I told everyone before the start of the game that we need to relax, take a breath, treat it like any other game but that we also need to go out and play as tough as we possibly can, which has been something that sets us a part a little bit,” said Hansen. “I think we did that.”
The last time the Lady Tornado claimed the STAC crown was in the 2000-2001 season when Bennett’s wife, Stefanie (Alger), was the starting point-guard in her junior year.
Norwich (19-1) earned the second-seed in Section IV Class B tournament and host the winner of third-seeded Oneonta or No. 6 Whitney Point at 6 p.m. on February 26 for one of the two semifinal games that night. Top-seeded Owego (18-1) hosts the other and will faced the winner of fourth-seeded Waverly or fifth-seeded Susquehanna Valley at 6 p.m. also.
The two winners of the semis will meet at 5:30 p.m. on March for the Championship at Floyd L. Maines Arena in downtown Binghamton.
Norwich 74, Owego 39
STAC Championship (at Elmira High School)
Owego 15 14 8 2 – 39
Norwich 26 21 20 7 – 74
Owego: Zoe Mahon 0 1-2 1, Anna Felice 1 5-6-7, Ella Kopalek 0 1-4-1, Summer Pierce 0 0-0 0, Kaci Donovan 8 10-10-26, Cam Kopalek 0 2-4-2, Lauren Angelone 1 0-1-2, Maddie Bennett 0 0-0 0, Lauren Gilbert 0 0-2 0. Totals: 10 19-27 39.
Norwich: Destiny Gladney 0, Taylor Hansen 5 4-5-15, Sydney Coggins 2 0-0-6, Emily Evans 1 0-0 2, Abby Flynn 4 2-2-10, Halea Eaton 1 3-4-6, Ashton Wenzel 0 3-4-3, Emerson Burton 1 0-0-2, Hailey Colabelli 3 0-0-6, Saige Benedict 3 2-4-9, Triniti Myers 4 0-0-12, Nicole Jeffrey 1 0-0-3. Totals: 25 15-19-74.
Fouled out: (O) Kopalek. 3-point goals: (O) None; (N) Myers 4, Coggins 2, Eaton 1, Hansen 1, Benedict 1, Jeffrey 1.
Norwich made 10 3-pointers in the contest, nine of them coming in the first half when the Tornado went into the break leading by 18 points. Owego did not register one made 3-pointer in the game, giving Norwich the 30-0 advantage leading to their 35 point victory.
Four made shots from behind the arc in the first quarter came by the shooting hands of four different Lady Tornado players – Sydney Coggins, Halea Eaton, Triniti Myers, and Nicole Jeffrey – as the team totaled a 26-point opening game stretch. Eaton’s 3 ball closed the quarter out with a buzzer-beater.
On the other side of the floor, Owego’s stand-out Kaci Donovan tallied 10 of her 20 first-half points while teammate Anna Felice made three trips the foul line, going 5-for-6 to help keep the Indians close.
To start the second, Donovan converted an old-fashioned 3-point play, pulling Owego within single digits. However, the long-range shooting by Norwich sparked a 12-2 run in the first four minutes of the stanza to change the lead from eight points to 18 points quickly.
Using ball-movement and penetration from the guards, the Tornado got the ball to the open player who in return knocked the shot down.
Taylor Hansen of Norwich started the run with an and-1 play after she drove baseline and was fouled on her way up for the floater that she sent through the net. Making the free-throw, Hansen erased Donovan’s 3-point play to put Norwich back on top by 11.
Then back-to-back 3-pointers were made by teammate Myers after receiving passes from Hansen, who was driving the open lane to draw the defenders away.
Sneaking out on the fast break was Felice finishing the layup, breaking up the run for a brief second.
Back at the Norwich offensive end, Myers and Hansen connected again as it looked almost like Norwich was running instant replay. Hansen drove, kicked to Myers and the hot shooting hand for the Tornado drained her third 3-pointer of the quarter with 4:33 left in the first half.
The next two minutes became the Donovan show as she went on a 7-0 run on her own to bring Owego within 11 of the Tornado. She used another bucket and the foul, a rebounded put-back and a 15-foot jumper to score the seven points.
Her teammate Ella Kopalek added a made foul shot to cut another point of the Norwich lead with 2:17 left in the quarter.
However, back came the Lady Purple Tornado. Saige Benedict made the second of two free throws before Hansen finished at the rim to extend their lead to 13. A 3-pointer by Coggins and one by Hansen finished the first half off, sending Norwich into the locker room at the intermission leading 47-29.
Following the break, the balanced scoring of Norwich returned to see five players – Emily Evans and Haliey Colabelli picking up their first points of the game in the quarter – to score another 20 points in the stanza.
Benedict knocked down a 3 from the corner, hitting the final shot from behind the 3-point line for the Tornado.
Owego was held to two made field goals in the second half and a total of 10 points over the next two quarters of play. Donovan scored six – all in the third quarter – to finish with a game-high 26 points.
Colabelli, Emerson Burton and Ashton Wenzel combined to score Norwich’s seven points in the final eight minutes of play, giving nearly every Lady Tornado on the roster a basket scored in the game.
“I think this group this year has been together so long that we are able to mesh so well together and believe in each other – on and off the court – that has made us a different team this year,” said Hansen. “To get this far with them has been really amazing and I can’t imagine doing it with any other group.”
“I told everyone before the start of the game that we need to relax, take a breath, treat it like any other game but that we also need to go out and play as tough as we possibly can, which has been something that sets us a part a little bit,” said Hansen. “I think we did that.”
The last time the Lady Tornado claimed the STAC crown was in the 2000-2001 season when Bennett’s wife, Stefanie (Alger), was the starting point-guard in her junior year.
Norwich (19-1) earned the second-seed in Section IV Class B tournament and host the winner of third-seeded Oneonta or No. 6 Whitney Point at 6 p.m. on February 26 for one of the two semifinal games that night. Top-seeded Owego (18-1) hosts the other and will faced the winner of fourth-seeded Waverly or fifth-seeded Susquehanna Valley at 6 p.m. also.
The two winners of the semis will meet at 5:30 p.m. on March for the Championship at Floyd L. Maines Arena in downtown Binghamton.
Norwich 74, Owego 39
STAC Championship (at Elmira High School)
Owego 15 14 8 2 – 39
Norwich 26 21 20 7 – 74
Owego: Zoe Mahon 0 1-2 1, Anna Felice 1 5-6-7, Ella Kopalek 0 1-4-1, Summer Pierce 0 0-0 0, Kaci Donovan 8 10-10-26, Cam Kopalek 0 2-4-2, Lauren Angelone 1 0-1-2, Maddie Bennett 0 0-0 0, Lauren Gilbert 0 0-2 0. Totals: 10 19-27 39.
Norwich: Destiny Gladney 0, Taylor Hansen 5 4-5-15, Sydney Coggins 2 0-0-6, Emily Evans 1 0-0 2, Abby Flynn 4 2-2-10, Halea Eaton 1 3-4-6, Ashton Wenzel 0 3-4-3, Emerson Burton 1 0-0-2, Hailey Colabelli 3 0-0-6, Saige Benedict 3 2-4-9, Triniti Myers 4 0-0-12, Nicole Jeffrey 1 0-0-3. Totals: 25 15-19-74.
Fouled out: (O) Kopalek. 3-point goals: (O) None; (N) Myers 4, Coggins 2, Eaton 1, Hansen 1, Benedict 1, Jeffrey 1.
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