Coming out of a brutally competitive tournament in New York City, Norwich has no easy task in its first Southern Tier Athletic Conference game.

Tonight, the state-ranked Purple Tornado (2-1) travel to Chenango Valley, who have four wins under their belt including back-to-back league wins, and possess one of the best starting fives in the league.

"They have multiple wins in our league, and we don't have any," said Norwich fourth-year coach Tom Collier. "So we're already down two games, and we haven't even played a league game yet. Moving our schedule around and playing in New York City, that makes this a really big game for us."

About that New York City trip to the Brother Arnold Tournament: Norwich won two of three, and its four-point loss in its opening game – to St. Dominic's – is particularly telling as St. Dominic's went on to win the tournament taking the final by eight points over Monsignor McClancy.

Collier and his staff hoped to raised the competitive level of Norwich's schedule, and that goal was achieved. "All eight teams in that tournament would be among the top teams in our league," Collier said matter-of-factly.

Collier's starting lineup and top players off the bench began to gel, and Collier pointed out each player's contributions:

• Zan Stewart, a senior co-captain: "Was one of the best players in the tourney.".