Boys’ Basketball

Norwich 52, Owego 46

OWEGO – A week after cruising past Owego in the finals of the Tom Schwan Tournament, Norwich found the road to victory over the Indians Friday night much bumpier.

The Tornado overcame a poor start and a 12-point deficit to defeat Owego for the second time this season. The Tornado missed their first nine shot attempts and were 2-for-18 from the field the first eight minutes. “We played very poor offense in the first quarter,” said Norwich coach Mark Abbott. “We settled for jump shots off the first pass, then stood and watched. We didn’t play with a lot of effort at either end of the floor.”

Abbott used 10 players in the first quarter to find some chemistry on the floor. What ultimately worked was playing more aggressive on the offensive end to put Owego on the defensive.

Dennis Oralls was 4-for-4 from the foul line in the second stanza, and Jacob Kelly made 3-for-4 from behind the charity stripe as Norwich closed the deficit to one point at halftime.

After an even third quarter, Norwich grabbed the lead and held it in the fourth despite four Owego three balls.