Boys’ Basketball

Norwich 49, Chenango Forks 33

NORWICH - For the second time this week, Norwich salvaged a subpar scoring night with one solid offensive quarter and four quarters of stingy defense.

The Purple Tornado stretched a two-point halftime lead over the Blue Devils to 14 in the third period, and won their third straight game. Danny Carson had 14 points and seven steals, Michael Oralls added 11, and Michael Sutton finished with nine.

The Tornado failed to reach 50 points in either win this week, but gave up just 31.5 points per game, and held the Blue Devils to just 28 percent shooting. “When you’re not having a good night shooting the ball, defense can be the great equalizer and limit the damage,” said Norwich coach Tom Collier. “We did a pretty good job holding down their leading scorers, and we shut down everyone else.”

Norwich scored the final four points of the first half to lead 19-17. Zan Stewart hit a three from the top of the key after a quick swing pass from Grant Brightman on Norwich’s first possession of the second half to kick-start the offense. Forks converted just one bucket and a single free throw over the first six minutes and 50 seconds of the quarter. During that stretch, Oralls hit two baskets, and Matt Burke drained a jumper from the foul line. Carson finished off the quarter with a steal and layup to make it 36-22.