Girls’ Basketball

Owego 48, Norwich 44

NORWICH – Norwich’s last comeback bid fell a little short Wednesday night.

Owego used a quick start to the fourth quarter to build an 11-point lead, but needed a pair of free throws from 6-foot-3 center Rachel Merrill with 9.6 seconds left to finally sew up the victory.

“We executed our game plan to perfection - as good or better than any team I have coached,” said Norwich coach Josh Bennett. “We just got too far behind in the fourth.”

Owego had two six-point leads wiped away in the first half, but seemed to finally distance itself from the Purple Tornado in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter. Rachel Merrill and younger sister Emily Merrill had a pair of buckets, and Jill Silvanic’s runner in the lane made it 45-34 with just under four minutes to play in the game.

“(When we got behind) we had to stretch out our zone, and they were able to toss it over the top for some easy ones,” Bennett said. “But we still found a way to create some turnovers and grab a few rebounds.”

Jenni Borfitz hit a three with 2 1/2 minutes left, and Carin Kuhn’s trey on the left wing made it 46-44 with 1:22 to play. Norwich had two more possessions with an opportunity to tie or take the lead, but turned it over both times.