NORWICH – The Purple Tornado boys basketball team secured their spot in the Section IV Class B semifinals early in the game against Whitney Point, avenge a one point loss a week earlier to top the visiting Eagles 72-55 Friday night.
Norwich’s JT Vinal came away with a triple-double in the game, scoring 22 points and pulling down 15 rebounds while stealing the ball 10 times in the win. Vinal aided in the Tornado’s 12-2 run in the first two minutes of action as he scored eight of Norwich’s points in the spurt.
The Tornado senior took the ball and finished the at the rim. On the ensuing trip up the floor for the Eagles, Vinal came out of no where for a second straight steal. He then kicked the ball ahead to a streaking Carson Maynard, who laid the ball in.
Whitney Point scored their first points of the game with 6:10 left in the first quarter. After a 3-point basket by Hunter James, the Eagles were able to cut the deficit down to seven with 3:51 remaining in the stanza.
The visiting team trimmed another two points off the Norwich lead but Maynard drove to the rim, bringing it back to seven. Maynard followed it up with another finish at the hoop to extend the lead to nine before the end of the quarter.
The Purple Tornado senior tallied eight points in the first. Maynard and Vinal combined to score 18 of Norwich’s 20 points from the stanza. Jahlil Jones added two made free throws to make it the quarter total.
In the second quarter, Torin Lawrence and and Keegan Franklin came off the bench and immediately made an impact. Franklin, with his long wing span, played pressuring defense on Whitney Point’s big man James to prevent one of the Eagles’ leading scorers from putting points on the board.
On the offensive end of the floor was Lawrence making his mark, scoring five consecutive points on Maynard assists. The first was a driving kick-out from his senior teammate and the Norwich sophomore knocked down a 3-pointer.
Adding two more during Norwich’s big push in the second quarter, Lawrence completed the fast break play as he and Maynard got out in transition. The Purple Tornado senior captain made the extra pass to Lawrence and it opened the flood gate for for the home team.
Norwich went into the locker room ahead 15 and extended their lead to 19 before the closing quarter where Whitney Point outscored the Tornado 19-17.
Before the half, Flanagan scored 10 with six coming from behind the 3-point arc and two buckets were tallied due to the inside game as the senior guard had a slight size advantage over the Whitney Point defender. Flanagan ended the night with 12 points.
Maynard recorded a double-double in the win, grabbing 10 rebounds to go with his 16 points. Lawrence finished with seven.
The Eagles were led by Tanner Kallfelz 15 points. Teammate Levi Burns added 14 and James tallied 12 in the loss.
All Norwich players saw time on the floor in the win, including Athen Genute and Trent Wessles who were recently moved up from the junior varsity team.
Hitting the final three points for the Tornado was senior Kyle Shepherd, hitting a corner 3-point basket after the play started with Genute passing to Andrew Mullen. Mullen instantly kicked the ball to Shepherd in the corner and the gymnasium erupted as the ball swished through the net.
Norwich will now take on third-seeded Owego at home on Tuesday. Owego came away with a 51-38 victory over Chenango Forks in the quarterfinals match up. The Indians will travel to the Tornado gym for a 6 p.m. tip-off.
The winner will advance to the Section IV Class B championship and will see the winner of the Seton Catholic and Oneonta contest, which is also set for Tuesday at six. The championship will be played at the Floyd L. Maine Arena on Sunday, March 8 at 6:30 p.m.