Boys’ Basketball

Sus Valley 42, Norwich 41

CONKLIN – Norwich failed to hold a fourth-quarter lead for the second time this past week, and suffered another hard-luck defeat Friday at Susquehanna Valley.

Norwich (8-5) has two losses this season by one point and two more in overtime, one of those to Chenango Valley this past Tuesday. “This was a tough one,” said Norwich coach Mark Abbott. “It was a game of great effort on both sides, and some ugly, ugly basketball. The defenses were stingy, but at the same time, the offenses were really bad.”

Coming off a lackluster first half in which Norwich trailed SV 16-13, Robert Martin spearheaded the Tornado’s one solid quarter of basketball dumping in 10 points in a 20-point outburst that gave NHS a 33-25 edge with eight minutes to play.

SV rallied using a strong inside game to close the gap, and after a Nate Foote jumper put Norwich up 41-39 with 1:01 to play, it was the SV defense that swung the tide.

Norwich regained possession after a defensive stop, but turned the ball over leading to a Ryan Mitchell layup that allowed the hosts to tie the game at 41-41 with 34.7 seconds left.