BINGHAMTON – It was all going so well for Norwich: A strong first half, and a lead that was stretched to 10 points early in the second half. It looked like the Purple Tornado would finally solve Oneonta and end the Yellowjackets’ six-year string of Section IV titles.

Then the momentum switched – big time.

“We got into a rut,” said Norwich senior guard Jenni Borfitz, who paused for a moment before adding, “a pretty big rut.”

The ‘Jackets nearly doubled their point total rattling off 22 unanswered points to turn a 10-point deficit into a 12-point cushion on their way to a 51-44 victory in the Section IV Class B finals, Saturday night at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.

Carin Kuhn hit a three for Norwich to elevate her team’s lead to 33-23 with 5:15 left in the third quarter. That three-spot prompted an Oneonta timeout and a change in strategy. Norwich’s offense then went into a 9-minute, 29-second slumber in which Oneonta came out of its patented zone, and went for broke with a man-to-man defense.

“They had figured out our zone, and were getting a lot of good looks,” said Oneonta coach Matt Miller. “We switched to man because we thought we would get more pressure on their shooters. Honestly, we’ve gone man a little bit, but we’ve been a zone team all season. I was a little nervous making the switch, but we had our backs to the wall.”