Norwich 64, Sherburne-Earlville 41

NEW BERLIN- Norwich played a near flawless first half of basketball in the UV Holiday Tournament finale, earning a 64-41 victory over Sherburne-Earlville.

Norwich’s Torin Lawrence and Jerell Stokes combined for 26 first half points, putting the Tornado up 44-17 at the halftime intermission. Lawrence and Stokes found their scoring footing early from beyond the arc with Lawrence sinking two treys and Stokes finding the mark on three trifectas.

The Purple Tornado relied on the long-range marksmanship of Stokes, Lawrence, Steven Dowdall, and Wyatt Thornton to bring them to victory. Of the nine three pointers the Purple sank in the contest, six of those treys came in the opening quarter which were responsible for 18 of NHS’ 25 first quarter offense.

Despite the big lead in the opening half, the Sherburne-Earlville Marauders found their offensive rhythm in the second-half and subsequently outscored the Tornado 24-20 over the final 16 minutes of play.

Torin Lawrence led the Purple in scoring with 19 points, Steven Dowdall pitched in 12 points and Jerell Stokes finished with 11 points; all of which Stokes scored in the opening quarter. Taylor Gryzmkowski led S-E in scoring with 10 points, while sinking two three-pointers along the way.

Norwich (4-4) is back in action on Tuesday January 4th when they travel to play longtime rival the Oneonta Yellowjackets at Oneonta High School with tip-off slated for 7:30pm.

The Marauders (5-5) will also be back in action on January 4th when they travel to play Utica Academy of Science with tip off slated for 7:00pm.

Norwich: 25 19 11 9- 64

Sherburne-Earlville: 5 12 10 14 - 41

Norwich (4-4): T. Lawrence 19, J. Stokes 11, C. Olds 5, K. Turner 2, S. Dowdall 12, K. Franklin 8, W. Thornton 5, L. Ford 2. 23 FG, 9-14 FT – 64

S-E (5-5): T. Frisbie 6, E. Simonds 2, T. Gryzmkowksi 10, P. Eaves 4, Z. Trass 7, D. Miles 4, E. Kober 3, G. Fleming 3, J. Redman 2. 15 FG, 9-14 FT- 41

3-point goals: Norwich 9 (Stokes 3, Dowdall 3, Lawrence 2, Thornton); S-E 2 (Gryzmkowski 2)

Unadilla Valley Holiday Tournament All-Tournament Team:

Jerell Stokes, Norwich (MVP); Keegan Franklin, Norwich; Preston Eaves, Sherburne-Earlville; Taylor Gryzmkowksi, Sherburne-Earlville; Zach Fleming, Unadilla Valley; Liam Flanagan, Greene.

Rome Free Academy 73, Norwich 46

ROME- Amya McLeod was a one-manned wrecking crew for the Rome Free Academy girls’ varsity basketball team on Wednesday afternoon.

McLeod scored 29 points to lead all scorers in the game as Rome Free Academy dispatched the Norwich Purple Tornado by a final score of 73-46. McLeod scored 16 of her points in the first half, surging Rome’s halftime lead 34-23 over the visiting Purple.

Mira Mirabelli and McLeod combined for 17 of their club’s 23 third quarter points to nearly put the game out of reach entering the fourth quarter with a 56-38 lead.

Margaret Dougher led the Purple Tornado in scoring with 16 points, Maddy Morris chipped in 11 points for the Tornado in the loss.

In addition to McLeod’s 29 points, Mira Mirabelli was second in scoring for Rome Free Academy with 17 points- 15 of which came over the final two stanzas.

Norwich (3-3) is back in action on Monday January 3rd when they host the New Hartford girls’ basketball team at 6:00pm at Jack Jones Gymnasium.

Score by Quarters

Norwich: 15 8 15 8 – 46

Rome F. A.: 17 17 23 17- 73

Norwich (3-3): Maddy Morris 11, Olivia Schiraldi 6, Emily Evans 2, Margaret Dougher 16, Cameron VanHouten 2, MacKenzie Hess 9. 16 FG, 11-20 FT – 46

Rome F. A.: A. Jackson 7, C. Crossman 5, M. Mirabelli 17, I. Colin 2, T. Front 6, N. Matthews 7, A. Mcleod 29. 31 FG 3-17 FT- 73

3-point goals: Norwich 2 (Morris, Schiraldi); Rome Free Academy 8 ( Frost 2, Moleod 2, Matthews, Jackson Crossman, Mirabelli)