Norwich defense tosses third-quarter shutout in rout of Forks

Boys’ Basketball

Norwich 60, Chenango Forks 31

NORWICH – Norwich is accustomed to holding a team scoreless for a quarter on the gridiron. But on a basketball court?

“We’ve had some good defensive teams over the years, but we’ve never held a team scoreless for a quarter in my tenure,” said Norwich varsity coach Mark Abbott.

In a virtuoso third quarter in which the offensive output matched the defense’s stinginess, the Tornado (8-3) turned a 10-point halftime lead into a 31-point rout in which the reserves from both teams were playing out most of the last stanza. “Sometimes when you’re playing great defense, it doesn’t always carry over to the offensive end,” Abbott noted. “We played unselfish basketball and took good shots; it was something to watch (the third quarter).”

Norwich scored the game’s first 10 points and never trailed in the contest. Amos Parry scored six in the opening quarter to lead the fast start.

Norwich maintained that 10-point advantage taking a 32-22 lead into the locker room.

Nate Foote scored all 11 of his points in the third quarter including back-to-back three balls off passes from Keegan Edwards in the high post. Edwards and Robert Martin led a balanced Tornado scoring effort with 12 points apiece. Martin also dished out a season-best 10 assists.

“Chenango Forks was a scary team because of their team speed, and they can put up points in bunches,” Abbott said. “We have shown that we can diversify our defense and take away certain things that other teams like to do. Tonight we wanted to make their leading scorer (Chris Statts) put the ball on the floor, and then take away penetration from the rest of the team. We were able to do that.”

Statts had nine points for Forks, who had just three total field goals in the second half, and shot 3-for-33 (11 percent) over those two periods.

Notes: Norwich finished 27-for-58 from the field (47 percent), while Forks was just 9-for-56 (16 percent); Norwich won the rebounding battle, 48-27. Justin Ballin had nine boards to pace the team....Parry finished with five blocked shots and three steals.

CF: Dylan Warner, 2 0-0-5; Jeff Creagh, 1 0-0-2; Michael Alle, 1 0-1-2; Drew Pero, 0 4-4-4; Derek Guzenski, 1 2-6-4; Matt Mirabito, 0; Garrett Cade, 0 2-2-2; Clint Cade, 1 0-0-2; Tyler Plahanski, 0 1-4-1; Jason Gildea, 0; Chris Statts, 3 1-2-9. Totals: 9 10-19-31.

Norwich: Shane Thompson, 2 0-0-4; Chris Mattingly, 0; Patrick Coates, 2 1-2-5; Keegan Edwards, 6 0-3-12; Nate Foote, 4 0-0-11; Robert Martin, 5 2-2-12; Vaughn Labor, 0; Tyler Saroka, 1 0-1-2; Justin Ballin, 3 0-0-6; Wade Kornegay, 0; Amos Parry, 4 0-0-8. Totals: 27 3-9-60.

Score by quarters

CFks 11 11 0 9–31

NHS 18 14 21 7–60

Fouled out: none. Three-point goals: (N) Foote 3, (CF) Sats 2, Warner. JV: Norwich won 50-49. Officials: Dadamio, McPeek.

Unadilla Valley 60, Greene 53

GREENE – Unadilla Valley finished strong over the final four minutes to defeat Greene for the sixth straight time Friday night.

Trailing the Trojans by one point with four minutes left, the Storm finished the game on an 11-3 run. “We weren’t physical enough with their big men, and they killed us inside,” said Greene coach Jeff Paske.

UV center Matt Potter scored a career-high 23 points, and forward Josh Rivenburgh added 10. The two combined for 13 points in a 21-point final quarter, and guard Mason Wyman also tacked on half a dozen points in the last eight minutes. Wyman finished with 12 points. “UV was able to penetrate our defense, and the big guys made themselves available,” Paske said. “We had a chance to pull it out, but didn’t make it happen.”

Mike Porter scored 14 points in the first quarter, but was held to seven foul shots the rest of the way to lead Greene (6-4) with 21 points.

UV: Mason Wyman, 5 2-3-12; Ryan Johnson, 1 0-1-2; Raffi Perry, 1 2-2-4; Juston Parks, 3 0-0-7; Darrin Garcia, 0 2-2-2; Josh Rivenburgh, 4 2-2-10; Matt Potter, 7 9-10-23 . Totals: 21 17-20-60.

Greene: Trevor Johnson, 2 0-0-4; Corey Breck, ;2 0-0-5; John Carlin, 2 0-0-4; Mike Porter, 5 8-11-21; Amell, 3 2-5-8; Chris Engler, 0 5-6-5; Anthony McDaniels, ; Adams, 0; Cameron Daniels, 3 0-0-6. Totals: 17 15-22-53.

UVall 17 12 10 21–60

Gre. 21 8 12 12–53

Fouled out: (UV) Parks, (G) Engler. Three-point goals: (G) Porter 3, Breck, (UV) Parks. JV: UV won 56-53 (OT) Officials: McFadden, Ewing.

Afton 56, B-G 47

BAINBRIDGE – B-G had no answer defensively for Afton junior Bryant Winans.

Winans scored a career-high 39 points for the Crimson Knights, who were coming off a tournament title last weekend at Downsville, and have now won four straight games.

“We couldn’t stop him; he had a great game,” said B-G coach Ben Nelson of Winans. “He drove and got layups, and if we backed off, he shot the three. He didn’t take bad shots and played within himself.”

B-G was plagued by foul trouble to starters Willie McGinnis and Adam Sprague, who both fouled out. Additionally, starter Brandon O’Brien was injured in the first half and did not play the final two quarters.

Ken Pixley’s season-high 17 points led the Bobcats (2-7).

Afton: Bryant Winans, 13 9-12-39; Phil Sanford, 2 1-2-6; Ethan Wharton, 0; Matt Davy, 1 0-2-2; Adam Berkeley, 0; Karl Rogler, 2 0-0-4; Jacob Snyder, 0 1-2-1; Jacob Metch, 0; Conor Tarbell, 0; Keith Lockwood, 2 0-0-4. Totals: 20 11-18-56.

B-G: Adam Sprague, 0; Ricky Margarum, 1 0-0-3; Craig Laing, 0 0-2-0; Brandon O’Brien 2 1-2-6; Greg Dicks, 3 0-1-6; Tim Feyerabend, 0 2-4-2; Ken Pixley, 8 1-2-17; Willie McGinnis, 3 3-6-9; Chris McGinnis, 1 2-4-4; Toby Shields, 0; Nick Reyes,0 ; Dylan Whitaker, 0. Totals: 18 9-21-47.

Afton 16 10 12 18–56

B-G 14 9 12 12–47

Fouled out: (BG) W. McGinnis, Adam Sprague. Three-point goals: (A) Winans 4, Sanford, (B) O’Brien, Margarum. JV: B-G won 51-34. Officials: Bennett, Cavanaugh.

G-MU 44, Laurens 41

COPES CORNERS – Four minutes – the last four – of good basketball were enough for G-MU to overcome a shaky performance for 3 1/2 quarters in a win over Laurens Friday.

Down 39-30 midway through the last stanza, the Raiders finished the game on a 14-2 run. Dan Moreno had three steals that he converted for layups, and Drew Hartman was 4-for-4 from the foul line to help seal the win.

Moreno’s 18 points was a career-high and led the Raiders, and Hartman totaled 15. “Our guards really carried us the last four minutes,” said G-MU coach Bill Hartman. “We had some clear challenges the first 28 minutes, but we showed remarkable maturity and understanding of what we had to do late in the game.”