Boys’ Basketball

Norwich 78, Oneonta 37

NORWICH – Norwich finished its first run through division play with a rare blowout win over longtime rival Oneonta on Saturday.

Playing on back-to-back nights, the Tornado were even more impressive than Friday’s 23-point win over Owego. The ‘Jackets were limited to 26 percent shooting (13-for-50) on the night, and had just 18 points after three quarters as the Tornado built their advantage to 62-18.

“The guys are probably sick of us preaching about playing good defense,” said Norwich coach Mark Abbott. “They heard the message. We played very good defense tonight and last night.”

Norwich scored the first nine points of Friday’s matchup. After a pair of Mike Calkins buckets for Oneonta, the Tornado rattled off 10 more points for the early 15-point lead. Richie Bonney had eight in the opening quarter, Josh Borftz netted five, and Derek Hughes had both of his buckets during the opening eight minutes.

Abbott was substituting freely in the opening half, and had every player on the floor seeing good minutes. In all, 12 of 13 Norwich players scored, and 12 of 13 players had assists.

Bonney had 14 points and seven rebounds for the Tornado, and Seth Thomsen came off the bench to score 14. Norwich had assists on 28 of 33 baskets, and shot a season-best 57 percent from the field (33-of-58). That included eight three-pointers made on just 12 attempts.