Norwich 65, Oneonta 56

NORWICH – Oneonta had Norwich’s number last season, perhaps it is the Tornado’s turn at role reversal.

Norwich used an 8-0 run early in the fourth quarter to take the lead for good, and received career-high nights from seniors Corey Dietrich and Vaughn Labor to move to 2-0 on the season.

“It was an important win,” said Norwich coach Mark Abbott. “We’ve lost some tough games to them over the last two years. We seemed to play them tough and come up short. Tonight, at the end, we had too many weapons for them.”

Dietrich scored 25 points on a variety of drives to the basket, penetrating moves, and even a pair of dead-on three balls. Labor worked exclusively in the painted area hammering the Oneonta interior to the tune of 23 points. It was a contrast to Wednesday’s opening win over Sidney in which six players had at least six points.

“I thought our team did a really nice job recognizing offensively where our points were coming from,” Abbott said. “A lot of times, guys made the extra pass to get the ball to Vaughn or Corey, and let them use their ability to score. They’re a tough tandem.”