Girls’ Basketball

Union-Endicott 44, Norwich 38

JOHNSON CITY – At the Pete Hyde Coaches Versus Cancer Tournament Tuesday, Norwich’s second-half rally came up short in a matchup against a premier Southern Tier Athletic Conference opponent.

The Tigers, who led by double digits in the second half, saw their lead close to two points twice in the last two minutes. Bryn Loomis hit a jumper to pull NHS within two. After U-E made a pair of free throws, Sophie Stewart canned a short-range shot drawing the Purple within a bucket one more time. Over the last 40 seconds, Union-Endicott went 4-for-4 from the foul line as Norwich failed to score again.

“They’re a tough team, and other than Binghamton, (Union-Endicott) is probably the second-best team in our league,” said Norwich coach Josh Bennett. “It’s a different level of basketball, and they are probably the most physical team in the conference. We struggled in figuring out how to score in the first half, but we made the extra pass in the second half, and got better looks at the basket.”

Norwich was also aggressive in taking the ball to the basket finishing 12-for-17 from the foul line in the second half alone. Loomis led Norwich with 18 points, and Hailey Dietrich scored nine. Norwich plays Vestal today at 7:45 p.m.

U-E: Prosinski, 0; Sierra McGiver, 3 0-2-7; Hewitt, 0 4-4-4; G. McGiver, 3 0-1-6; Norris, 2 2-4-6; Kazmarcik, 0; Vinenneau, 3 3-6-9; Eastman, 0; Samiari, 5 2-4-12. Totals: 16 11-21-44.