NORWICH- High scoring- check. Three point barrages- check. Norwich taking care of business in their season opener- check. The Norwich girls’ varsity basketball team checked off every box as they took care of business at Jack Jones gymnasium on Wednesday night, defeating the Chenango Forks Blue Devils by a final score of 83-46.

The Purple Tornado needed just the opening half of play to settle into their historically fast-paced game plan.

“It definitely took us awhile (to get into rhythm). Right about the second or third possession of the third quarter, you could feel it starting to turn” said Norwich head coach Josh Bennett, “We started to space the floor a little better, we got a couple clean looks on offense...we just really went on a good four to five minute run, we really moved the ball well. ”

Once the Tornado found their groove it was full speed ahead. The Purple’s explosive 33 point third quarter featured six different Tornado scorers, while also featuring four of the team’s nine three point buckets of the contest. The potent Purple offensive output was highlighted by NHS seniors Margaret Dougher and Mackenzie Hess each connecting on a pair of trifectas. Adding into the mix was fellow senior Emily Evans that added in 11 of her 21 points in the contest during the standout period for the Purple.

At the conclusion of the third, Norwich held a gargantuan 72-31 lead over the visiting Blue Devils heading into the contest’s final eight minutes of play as the Tornado coasted to their season opening victory.

Emily Evans led the Tornado in scoring with a game high 21 points, fellow seniors Margaret Dougher scored 19 and MacKenzie Hess added in 13 points in the victory. Olivia Schiraldi and Cameron VanHouten each scored nine points apiece to round out the top Tornado scorers.

Chenango Forks seniors Sadie Zemanck led the Blue Devils with 11 points and junior Helena Willis added in 10 points.

Transitioning to what is on the horizon for the Tornado for Saturday’s game, Coach Bennett took the opportunity to focus on what adjustments his squad will have to make.

“We’re going to work real hard on our defensive rotations and we’re going to work really hard on our defensive rebounding” said Coach Bennett ahead of Saturday’s contest with Windsor. “We’ve been a team the last four or five years we’re the type of team where if we play well defensively, we’re going to play well offensively.”

Norwich is back in action on Saturday, December 18 when they travel to Windsor High School to play the Windsor Black Knights with game time scheduled for 1:45pm.

Score by Quarters

Chen. Forks: 15 4 12 15 - 46

Norwich: 21 18 33 11 - 83

Norwich (1-0): Maddy Morris 7, Olivia Schiraldi 9, Emily Evans 21, Devin Flanagan 5, Margaret Dougher 19, Julie Turner 0, Cameron VanHouten 9, MacKenzie Hess 13, Julia Llewellyn 0. 29 FG, 16-35 FT – 83

Chen. Forks: A. Sirgany 2, J. Stone 7, S. Zemanck 11, A. Ackerson 5, M. Ashman 0, H. Sifen 4, A. Bough 6, H. Willis 10, A. Specchio 0, T. Parks 1. 18 FG 8-28 FT- 46

3-point goals: Norwich 9 (Dougher 4, Hess 2, Schiraldi, Evans, Flanagan); Chen. Forks 2 (Willis 2)