NORWICH- It was a total team effort for the Purple Tornado boys varsity basketball team on Friday night as they not only dispatched the Windsor Black Knights by a score of 70-56, but also snapped their four game losing streak in the process.

Norwich surged out to a 21-10 lead at the end of the first quarter, due in large part to Norwich seniors Torin Lawrence and Logan Ford with each recording eight and six points respectively in the opening stanza.

Norwich’s ball movement on offense was critical to their first period scoring as Lawrence and Wyatt Thornton each canned a long-distance trifecta- and Ford’s teammates found him for easy layups on the interior. The Tornado continued their excellent offensive effort in the second quarter as Steven Dowdall, Franklin and Lawrence combined for 22 of their team’s 25 second quarter points- highlighted Lawrence and Dowdall each hitting a pair of threes in the period. One noteworthy three by Dowdall found the mark just as time expired in the first half to put the Purple up 46-28.

“Our intensity was really good…the kids worked really hard for two days in practice” said Norwich Head Coach Tom Collier, “The first half we really controlled the boards…the point of emphasis this week was don’t turn the ball over, stay in front of your man, and keep them out of the paint and we got to own the boards.”

The trend of Tornado dominance continued as Norwich closed out the game- with 12 of the Tornado’s 20 second-half points coming from the long-range marksmanship of Jerell Stokes and Steven Dowdall who each recorded one trey ball, and Torin Lawrence who sunk two in the final half of basketball.

Norwich’s Torin Lawrence led the way for the Purple with a dominant shooting display by drilling five three pointers on his way to 24 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 64% from the field. The Tornado’s Keegan Franklin and Steven Dowdall each recorded 13 points in the victory.

Windsor’s KoJohn Hagley led the Black Knights in scoring with 19 points, James Lindsley was the second leading scorer with 13 points.

Looking ahead, the Tornado goes back to the hardwood on Tuesday December 28th when they play the Greene Trojans in the Unadilla Valley Holiday Tournament with tip-off scheduled for 3:00pm.

“Now we have a week where we have to work on getting better” said Collier noting his team’s upcoming tournament games.

Score by Quarters

Windsor: 10 18 12 16- 56

Norwich: 21 25 9 15 - 70

Norwich (2-4): Torin Lawrence 24, Jerell Stokes 3, Colin Olds 2, Steven Dowdall 13, Keegan Franklin 13, Wyatt Thornton 5, Damien Kane 2, Logan Ford 8. 27 FG, 6-11 FT – 70

Windsor (3-2): K. Hagley 19, A. Buckler 4, Z. Hagerman 9, D. Decker 1, A. Balachick 7, James Lindsley 13, R. Centorani 3. 17 FG, 16-24 FT- 56

3-point goals: Norwich 10 (Lawrence 5, Dowdall 3, Stokes, Thornton); Windsor 6 (Hagley 3, Lindsley 3)