NORWICH – The clash between the two long-time rivals Norwich and Oneonta was a game of scoring spurts and momentum shifts all night. The Purple Tornado, however, used their early run in the first quarter to gain the lead and the eventual 57-52 win of the Route 23 battle.
The Tornado’s head coach Tom Collier honored his eight seniors: Carson Maynard, Tommy Flanagan, Anthony Collier, JT Vinal, Shane Lawrence, Kyle Shepard, Jahlil Jones and Brayden Supensky prior to the start of the contest.
Norwich’s senior starting five instantly made their presence known as Flanagan tipped the opening jump ball to teammate Vinal, who then found a streaking Lawrence on his way to the rim. Lawrence caught the laser pass and finished the layup for a quick two points.
A forced turnover on the defensive end of the floor led to a fast break bucket by Carson Maynard and a 4-0 lead for the Tornado.
The ensuing trip up the court for Norwich ended with a 3-point field goal for Flanagan – his first of four in the game – and the home crowd erupted with excitement.
The Yellowjackets promptly responded with five points of their own with a bucket on the inside and a 3-pointer from Alex Osterhoudt.
The Tornado, however, used the nine points on the inside from Maynard to take the first quarter battle 17-10.
The momentum continued to swing in Norwich’s favor to start the second as they gained a 10 point lead when Flanagan’s second deep ball hit nothing but net, forcing Oneonta head coach Jerry Mackey to call a timeout.
Regaining their focus with the break in the action, the Yellowjackets found their drive. Osterhoudt hit his second 3-point field goal to end Norwich’s second stanza run.
Later in the second, a Tornado miscue led to an Oneonta steal. The Yellowjackets ended the play with a two-handed slam by Zyair Lawrence, cutting the deficit down to single digits.
Once again answering the run by their rival, Norwich capped the second quarter off with three made free throws to take the 29-21 halftime edge.
Flanagan’s 10 points in the third, which nearly outscored the Yellowjackets in the stanza, gave the host Purple Tornado a 12-point advantage before the start of the fourth quarter.
Later in the third, Norwich was faced with foul trouble. Every foul the Tornado committed for the rest of the contest sent Oneonta to the charity stripe and the Yellowjackets made use of their free throws, shooting 13-for-16 at the line.
In the fourth quarter alone, Oneonta missed just three chances and that helped the visitors get back into the game.
For Norwich, Carson Thornton made a 3-point field goal in the early minutes of the fourth. His made basket was the only shot made for the Tornado in the quarter as Norwich picked up the rest of their points at the foul line.
The Purple Tornado went 9-for-16 down the stretch, helping hold off the Yellowjackets’ late-game surge and securing the Southern Tier Athletic Conference win.
Three players finished in double figures for Oneonta as they were led by Kevin Kurkowski’s 22 points. Osterhoudt, who ended every Norwich run with a basket to shift the momentum in favor of his team, tallied 10 and Kai Atchinson contributed 11 in the road loss.
Flanagan’s 18 points was a team-high for Norwich and Maynard ended the night with 15 points. Vinal chipped in nine and Thorton registered seven.
The Purple Tornado are now 14-3 on the season (10-2 in conference play) and hold down the No. 12 spot in the New York State Class B rankings. Norwich’s final regular season contest is scheduled for Saturday at Whitney Point. Game time is slated for 2:45 p.m.