Boys’ Basketball

Norwich 85, Chenango Forks 45

CHENANGO FORKS – Whatever the Norwich coaching staff is telling its players during the halftime break, they might want to bottle the speech and save it for a big game.

For the second straight game, Norwich ripped through the opposition in the third quarter. This time, it was Chenango Forks who bore the brunt of the Tornado onslaught in Tuesday night’s rout.

“We missed 15 layups in the first half and outshot them 40-8,” said Norwich coach Tom Collier, who did note that his team still led by 16 at halftime. “We played sloppy in the first half, but we came out much more focused in the third quarter.”

Michael Sutton led a 34-9 third quarter scoring nine points and dishing out multiple assists. Mike Oralls added eight in the quarter, while Brendon Budd, Chris Trevisani, Carlos Ithier, and Zan Stewart tacked on three-pointers to turn a 16-point halftime lead into a 41-point shellacking.

Just three days earlier, Norwich put 30-plus points on the board in the third quarter on its way to a 32-point win over Whitney Point. Sutton’s play sparked the Tornado in the third quarter, something Collier hopes to see a bit more in future games.

“Michael just dominated and came out with a purpose,” Collier said. “We want him to play like that in every quarter.”