Yes, Vaughn Labor did play on the Norwich 2006-2007 varsity boys’ basketball team. He didn’t score much, he didn’t play a heck of a lot, but the dues he paid that year reaped huge benefits for the Tornado this season.

Labor improved as a starting junior forward earning all-division and all-county honors in the process, and now as a senior, he is a captain and leader on a team that won the school’s fourth-ever Section IV championship.

“As a sophomore he learned, as a junior he grew, and now as a senior, he has matured,” said Norwich varsity basketball coach Mark Abbott.

Labor may have not been the number one option at the start of last Saturday’s sectional final against Elmira Southside, a rematch from a STAC semifinals playoff game won by the Tornado, 66-55. Labor had just eight points in the initial meeting, instead deferring to his outside-shooting mates who combined for 10 three-pointers.