NORWICH – The Norwich varsity Purple Tornado conquered their weekend in commanding fashion, as they downed their opposition to emerge the 21st annual Tom Schwan Champions with a win over Newark Valley at 61-42.

The tournament featured host Norwich as well as Unatego, Newark Valley and Dryden – as the four squads dueled it out over the weekend games spanning from Friday, Dec. 2, until the night of Saturday, Dec. 3.

After slamming the door on Unatego in the first round on Friday – winning 75-34 – Norwich powered their way into the finals where Newark Valley waiting.

Norwich dominated their first game on the court, smashing through the Unatego ranks for a 31-4 lead after just one period and a halftime score of 44-14, essentially sealing their ticket to the finals as Unatego would ultimately fail to rally in the second half while only posting 34 total points. While the Tornado offense shined in their opening game – with two players in double digits scoring, Skylar Wenzel at 12 points, and Dashawn King with 18 – it was the defense that earned them the early win as they held all Unatego players under 8 points a piece – with only one Unatego player making it to 8, Cody Smith.

The finals proved to be much more of a challenge when Saturday rolled around, as Norwich was faced with a more capable opponent in Newark Valley.