NORWICH – After the first meeting between the two teams ended up in favor of the Seton Catholic Saints by 21 points, the Purple Tornado were anticipating the rematch on their home floor.
In front of a packed house Friday night, a huge team effort gave Norwich the revenge they were seeking by taking down the fourth state ranked team in Class B by a final of 73-66.
With a quiet start offensively in the first half, scoring only five points, Purple Tornado senior Carson Maynard came alive in the second to lead Norwich on the scoreboard. Maynard finished with a team-best 18 points while two others –JT Vinal (16) and Tommy Flanagan (13) – reached double figures.
However, it wasn’t just the Tornado’s offense that was on display.
The Norwich team defense allowed just three Saints players to score the entire contest and came away with crucial stops in the second half to fend off the visitors.
Seton Catholic’s leading scorer – and the top scorer in the Southern Tier Athletic Conference for the 2019-2020 season – Brett Rumple single-handedly kept the Saints in the game with 28 points in the first half as the junior rarely missed.
The rotation of Norwich defenders pressuring Rumple changed often in the first three quarters but in the fourth, the coverage rested on the shoulders of first-year varsity player Keegan Franklin. Franklin stepped up in his role, holding Rumple to eight points in the stanza.
Norwich held a one point lead after both the first and second quarters, heading into the locker room ahead 36-35.
In the third, the Tornado’s 3-point shooter Tommy Flanagan made three long range shots and both Maynard and Jahlil Jones had six points in the quarter to help the home team pull ahead of the Saints by four with eight minutes left in the game.
The two teams were never separated by more than five points until late in the game when Norwich’s Jahlil Jones stripped the ball from a driving Marcus Dyes of Seton and fired up the floor to a streaking Vinal for a layup and the foul.
The two point basket put the home team head 70-64 with a 1:13 left.
Shortly after the big defensive stop and bucket at the other end, Norwich’s defense came away with another steal. Attempting to stop the fast break and take the ball was Rumple. Instead the Saints junior was called for a reach, fouling Maynard near half court.
The foul call was Rumple’s fifth, sending him to the bench for the remainder of the game.
Maynard knocked down the next three free throws he took and Dyes finished at the rim for the last points of the game scored by the two teams, giving Norwich the seven-point victory.
Dyes ended the night with 27 points while the only other Saints player to record points was Michael Bucko, who drained a big 3-point bucket in the third.
Jones ended with nine points and Carson Thorton had two big 3-point buckets in the second quarter to finish with six.
Also taking the defensive responsibility of covering Rumple in the game were Torin and Shane Lawrence.
Having huge nights on the glass of the Tornado were Vinal and Logan Ford. Ford came off the bench to help with rebounds as Norwich had more height than Seton Catholic on the floor. Vinal ended the night with a game-high 21 rebounds.
Norwich, now 10-3 on the season, has just six games remaining in the regular season schedule. First the Tornado are set to host Susquehanna Valley Tuesday evening. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:45 p.m.