Girls’ Basketball

Norwich 39, Ithaca 31

Seton Catholic Central 48, Norwich 41

BINGHAMTON – Norwich salvaged a third-place finish in the Alice O’Neil Tournament hosted by Seton Catholic Central beating Ithaca in the tournament’s consolation game Saturday evening.

Hailey Dietrich and Bryn Loomis led Norwich to a 22-19 halftime lead scoring nine points apiece. The Tornado outscored Ithaca 11-2 in the third to take command of the game. “We made a defensive change at halftime at the suggestion of the girls,” said Norwich coach Josh Bennett. “We haven’t practiced it much, but we shut them down.”

Loomis had a team-high 16 points and Dietrich chimed in with 13.

Ithaca made a trio of three-pointers in the last quarter to keep the final score respectable.

In its first-round game Friday against the host Saints, the Tornado had difficulties with foul trouble as well as the prodigious inside size of Seton in a seven-point loss on Friday afternoon.

The Saints went with two six-footers in their starting lineup, and had 6-foot-3 Chenango Forks transfer Angelica Hower coming off the bench. “They’re a big, tough team. They changed shots in the middle, and forced us to shoot outside,” Bennett said. “We were not making outside shots, and they made some outside shots.”

The Saints pulled away in the fourth quarter after the Tornado made up a five-point halftime deficit tying it at 32-32 after three periods.