Girls’ Basketball

Owego 45, Norwich 35

OWEGO – Lexi Hiliker and Ciarra Bodnar combined for 19 points to offset the scoreless night of three-point sharpshooter Jill Silvanic as Owego pulled away from Norwich in the second half Tuesday night.

It was the second win for Owego over Norwich (6-3) this season, and it also snapped the Purple Tornado’s four-game winning streak. Owego’s Six-foot-three center Rachel Merrill had seven of her 13 points in the third quarter to erase Norwich’s halftime lead and give the Indians a five-point margin. Hilliker added 11 in the win, and Bodnar canned a pair of threes on her way to an eight-point evening. “If you told me Silvanic would not score and we would still lose, I would bet my paycheck,” said Norwich coach Josh Bennett. “Hiliker and Bodnar stepped up and hit some shots.”

Norwich led by two points at the break, but struggled to score in the third period as Owego slowly gained momentum. “It wasn’t that our defense was bad in the third quarter, we just weren’t getting to the rim on offense, and we weren’t making outside shots,” Bennett said.

Jennifer Borfitz led Norwich with 12 points, who play at Chenango Forks on Monday.

NHS: Lexi Race, 0; Carin Kuhn, 1 2-2-4; Caitlyn Brown, 0; Breanna Cashman, 3 0-0-7; Jennifer Borfitz, 4 2-2-12; Cassie Sutton, 3 0-0-6; Shelby Benjamin, 2 0-0-4; Taylor Cook, 1 0-0-2. Totals: 14 4-4-35.