Frank Speziale Photo

NORWICH – The Purple Tornado held the lead through the first three quarters of the contest but a 24-10 in the fourth quarter lead to the Johnson City Wildcats stealing a 61-52 win over the host Norwich Tuesday night.

The first stanza was a game of back-and-forth between the two teams, each answer their opponents lead. Marcus Cashman continued his hot shooting from Friday’s game into Tuesday, hitting a three-pointer near the end of the quarter to give Norwich the 12-10 advantage.

Again in the second, the Tornado and the Wildcats played point-for-point but JC pulled out the quarter 18-17. Despite the one point difference in the quarter, the Purple held the one point lead into in the intermission, due in large part to the scoring by Michael Carson. Carson finished the half with 12 of his team-high 22 points.

The Norwich defense limited the Wildcats to just three baskets and three made free-throws after the halftime break, again outscoring JC 13-9 to go into the final quarter of play leading by five.

The stingy Tornado defense only allowed Johnson City’s leading scorer, Xavier Hill, to just 12 after three quarters. In the last two games Hill has played in, he has scored a combined total of 90-plus points.