Boys’ Basketball

Oneonta 58, Norwich 52

ONEONTA – Norwich suffered its first league loss and first defeat to a Section IV Class B school in three seasons Thursday night at Oneonta.

George Foti had a four-point play early in the fourth, and hit another three that raised the lead to 50-39 with 3:15 remaining as the Yellowjackets held off the Purple Tornado.

“Any time you play over at Oneonta, it’s a tough game,” said Norwich coach Tom Collier. “We survived over there last year, and this year we didn’t.”

Foti scored 18 points for the Yellowjackets, who have just four losses on the season. One of those was a 16-point defeat at Norwich when the Tornado had a relatively easy time putting the ball in the basket.

Coming off a subpar third quarter in which it scored just six points, Norwich didn’t eclipse the 40-point mark until the final three minutes of the game. Junior Carlos Ithier led a furious NHS rally scoring 13 points in the final period on his way to a season- and career-high 18 points.

“Carlos played really well and he tried to put us on his back in the fourth quarter,” Collier said. “He does all of the dirty work covering the other team’s best guard. Tonight he really shined.”