Norwich’s Carson Maynard and Logan Ford jump in celebration as the Purple Tornado pulled off a big upset over Seton Catholic Friday night. Norwich held off the No. 4 team in the state to earn their 10th win of the season. (Jamey Mullen Photo)

NORWICH – After the first meeting between the two teams ended up in favor of the Seton Catholic Saints by 21 points, the Purple Tornado were anticipating the rematch on their home floor.

In front of a packed house Friday night, a huge team effort gave Norwich the revenge they were seeking by taking down the fourth state ranked team in Class B by a final of 73-66.

With a quiet start offensively in the first half, scoring only five points, Purple Tornado senior Carson Maynard came alive in the second to lead Norwich on the scoreboard. Maynard finished with a team-best 18 points while two others –JT Vinal (16) and Tommy Flanagan (13) – reached double figures.

However, it wasn’t just the Tornado’s offense that was on display.

The Norwich team defense allowed just three Saints players to score the entire contest and came away with crucial stops in the second half to fend off the visitors.

Seton Catholic’s leading scorer – and the top scorer in the Southern Tier Athletic Conference for the 2019-2020 season – Brett Rumple single-handedly kept the Saints in the game with 28 points in the first half as the junior rarely missed.

The rotation of Norwich defenders pressuring Rumple changed often in the first three quarters but in the fourth, the coverage rested on the shoulders of first-year varsity player Keegan Franklin. Franklin stepped up in his role, holding Rumple to eight points in the stanza.