Oneonta holds on against Norwich; Oxford dominating

Boys’ Basketball

Oneonta 47, Norwich 41

ONEONTA – Oneonta made defensive stops on Norwich’s final five possessions, and senior Dan O’Brien canned a big three-pointer with under 20 seconds remaining to put a dagger in the Tornado’s victory hopes Friday.

O’Brien had 19 points in the victory and Zach Harlem added 10. The Yellowjackets jumped out a 9-2 lead in the first three minutes of the game getting a pair of three balls from Harlem to establish early command.

Norwich, however, dictated tempo and was never out of reach rallying back to take a 14-13 lead at the first turn.

OHS limited NHS to just 15 points over the middle two quarters, and subsequently took a four-point lead into the last quarter. Leading by seven, a pair of Josh Borfitz three balls drew Norwich to 42-41 with just over 3:16 to play.

Down the stretch, Norwich missed two open shots, two layups, and the front end of a one-and-one foul shot. The only turnover among those last possessions led to O’Brien’s decisive three-pointer. “Our effort and intensity were tremendous, we just could not score down the stretch,” said Norwich coach Mark Abbott.

The Yellowjackets led by five at halftime, and had 10 blocked shots out of their 12 for the game over the first two periods. “With the exception of their blocked shots, it was basically a statistically even game,” Abbott said. “Even though they had just two blocked shots in the second half, instead of taking the ball up strong around the basket, we were kind of looking over our shoulder.”

Corey Dietrich led Norwich with nine points off the bench. Vaughn Labor grabbed nine rebounds and Patrick Coates had eight boards. Norwich shot just under 33 percent from the field; however, it limited the Yellowjackets to just 34 percent shooting.

Norwich: Timmy Clark 2 0-0 4, Chris Mattingly, 0 0-0 0, Jeff Handy 0 0-0 0, Patrick Coates, 1 0-0 3, Corey Dietrich, 4 1-4 9, Nate Foote 1 0-0 3, Josh Borfitz 2 0-0 6, Vaughn Labor 3 1-4 7, David Carson 1 1-1 3, Brian Wightman 0 0-0 0, Justin Ballin 2 0-0 4, Cory Law 0 0-0 0, Craig Berg 1 0-0 2. Totals: 17 3-9-41.

Oneonta: Alex VanDeusen, 2 0-0 6, Zach Harlem, 4 0-2 10, Brendan Harder 1 1-2 3, Dustin Haney 0 0-0 0, Monte Richardson, 1 1-2 3, Dan O'Brien 8 0-0 19, Alex Mirabito 1 4-4 6, Nate Eastman, 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 6-10-47.

Norwich14 8 7 12 - 41

Oneonta13 14 6 14 -47

Three-point field goals: (N) Coates, Foote, Borfitz 2); (O) VanDeusen 2, Harlem 2, O'Brien 3. JV score: Norwich, 59-41(15-0 overall)

Oxford 72, Afton 37

OXFORD – Oxford left little room for doubt and no hope for Afton racing to a 40-9 halftime lead in a rout of the Crimson Knights Saturday evening.

It was Oxford’s sixth division win by at least 27 points this season, and extended its division lead to two games over Afton with four to play.

Scott Seiler’s 17 points paced the Blackhawks (13-2) and Alex Champlin netted 15. Four other Oxford players had at least seven points.

Bryant Winans scored 26 points for Afton, although most of those came when the outcome was no longer in doubt.

Afton: Bryant Winans, 10 2-3-26; Jacob Snyder, 0 0-2-0; Conor Tarbell, 2 0-0-4; Casey Mohrein, 1 3-6-5; Ethan Wharton, 0; Jacob Metch, 0; Corey Mohrein, 0 0-2-0; Matt McArthur, 1 0-0-2; Travis Jones, 0. Totals: 14 5-13-37.

Oxford: Cory Seiler, 2 2-2-7; Andrew Hubman, 1 0-0-2; Scott Seiler,7 0-0-17 ; Nate Sortino, 1 0-0-3; Tom Gould, 4 0-0-8; Alex Champlin, 7 0-0-15; Jeff Champlin, 4 1-1-9; Robert Amor, 3 1-1-7; Ethan Paul, 0; James Loughren, 1 2-2-4; Hugh Witchella, 0. Totals: 30 6-6-72.

Aft. 3 6 10 18–37

Oxf. 17 23 16 16–72

Three-point goals: (A) B. Winans 4, (O) S. Seiler 3, N. Sortino, C. Seiler, A. Champlin. JV: Afton won.