NORWICH – Trailing 69-68 with just 3.2 seconds left in overtime and the ball in the front court Norwich’s Carson Thorton looked to inbound the ball following the timeout by head coach Tom Collier. Thorton found senior teammate Jahlil Jones on the right side wing but immediately two Owego Indians defenders were on the ball.
As the clock was winding down, the Purple Tornado faithful were screaming for Jones to shoot as the chance for Norwich to win the game were dwindling. However, Jones recognized Logan Ford was left wide open under the rim.
With just enough time left to make the pass and get a shot off, the Tornado duo made the play work and Ford made the layup as the buzzer sounded. The court filled with Norwich fans at half court while the rest stood on their feet with excitement as the Tornado captured the 70-69 win in dramatic fashion.
Jones did it all in overtime, pacing his team with six points to take the lead in the extra minutes of basketball. The Norwich senior added a much needed block from behind in the closing seconds, preventing Owego from taking the late-game advantage. He finished with 14 points and the game-winning assist.
Owego went ahead early in the contest after Evan Hamed scored the first 11 points, going on an 11-0 run on his own. Tornado guard Carson Maynard ended the spurt with a 3-pointer to put the first Norwich points on the scoreboard with 3:24 left in the opening quarter of play.
Hamed then extended the Indians’ lead with another four points and teammate Mike Waslyn helped get Owego to 19 by the end of the quarter.
The Purple Tornado chipped away at the deficit slowly but were provided with a slight momentum shift in their favor with Tommy Flanagan’s three-quarter court heave that swished through the net as the stanza ended to make the score 19-12.
Flanagan followed the buzzer-beater with another long ball to open the second quarter, cutting the lead down to four points, but Owego then went on a small run with Hamed knocking down another two 3-point field goals and Waslyn scoring six on the inside.
Tired of seeing Hamed knock down shots from the outside, Coach Collier turned to his lengthy defender in Keegan Franklin. Earlier this season, Franklin had the job of shutting down Seton Catholic’s leading scorer Brett Rumple – he filled the role largely as Norwich came away with the big win.
Hoping he was going to do the same with Hamed in Tuesday’s quarterfinal game, Collier sent Franklin into the game with just one job. The Norwich junior excelled, holding the Owego shooter to zero points during his minutes on the floor.
Overall, the Purple Tornado defense shut down the Indians’ as they allowed just one more basket to be scored in the second quarter. Norwich’s offense went to work to get back into the game, going on a 9-2 run to close out the first half.
Torin Lawrence hit a left wing 3-pointer with Ford and Thorton adding baskets at the rim. Jones dished to Ford right before the end of the half, making the score 36-28 at the intermission.
The Tornado came out of the locker room and picked up where they left off, going on yet another 9-2 run to cut the lead to a single point with 4:12 left in the third quarter.
Hamed responded with his sixth and seventh 3-point field goals, but Norwich had an answer of their own.
With 1:10 left in the stanza, Ford was fouled as his shot attempt fell through the net. After sinking his free throw attempt, the score was tied at 44-44. His sophomore colleague Lawrence gave the Tornado their first lead of the game with a floater down the middle of the lane with seconds left before the end of the third.
For the fourth quarter, the lead flirted with a three point difference for several minutes. Pushing it to five for the last time was Maynard at the foul line with two made attempts.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Owego’s Brendan Evans gave the Indians the 59-58 lead with 1:15 left. However, on the ensuing possession for Norwich, Flanagan took the ball coast to coast and finished at the rim to take back the one point advantage.
The Tornado added another two free throws to go ahead by three points with seconds remaining. Hamed wasn’t about to let this game slip away from his team. Catching the ball far outside the 3-point arc, Hamed took a couple of dribbles to shake the Norwich’s defenders for a clean look. Once available, the Indians’ guard fired and drained the shot from well behind the line to force overtime.
Owego took the first lead as Waslyn slipped through the Norwich defense to the rim and was fouled on the made basket. Making the foul shot, the Indians went ahead 65-62 but Jones then scored the next six points to give the Tornado the three point margin.
Waslyn once again cut through the lane for two points and Evans finished the baseline runner to put Owego ahead 68-67 with 10.8 seconds left.
The Indians put the press on, trapping Maynard on the baseline. While many of the Norwich faithful wanted a foul called as it appeared the Tornado senior was pushed out of bounds, the official said he stepped on the line and awarded the ball back to Owego.
Forced to foul in order to stop the clock, Hamed went to the charity stripe for the 1-and-1. Missing the front end, Jones came down with the rebound. Attempting to kick it ahead, Owego tipped the ball out of bounds, giving the ball to Norwich near the half court line with 3.2 left for the better look at the late-game win.
Hamed ended with a game-high 30 points while Waslyn added 23 for the Indians in the exciting game loss. Evans came away with 11 points at crucial moments for Owego.
Flanagan led Norwich in the scoring column with 18 and Maynard finished with 12. Ford’s game winner gave him nine for the night and Lawrence chipped in seven.
The Tornado will now play Seton Catholic for the third time this season in the Section IV Class B championship on Sunday. The Saints came away with a 74-73 win over Oneonta Tuesday night to set up the Southern Tier Athletic Conference showdown at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Arena in Binghamton.
The Norwich-Seton Catholic series this season is split with each team winning one game. Tip-off for the title game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.