Norwich girls basketball honors seniors Karoline Olesen (L) and Cameron VanHouten (R) alongside their parents and head coach Dennis Eaton (Middle). (Photo by Morgan Golliver)

NORWICH – The Norwich Purple Tornado girls basketball team knew that they had to be on top of their game Tuesday evening against Cherry Valley-Springfield.

CV-S came into the matchup 15-1 and defeated Norwich 48-42 in Overtime. Despite the loss, Norwich certainly gave the Patriots a challenge they were not used to from dominating other opponents.

Prior to the contest, Norwich honored CV-S’ and their own two seniors. Cameron Van Houten and Karoline Olesen were recognized for their dedication and commitment to the Norwich basketball program.

Olesen is a foreign-exchange student from Denmark and has been an asset to coach Dennis Eaton during her short time at Norwich High School. She also played a season of girls soccer. Olesen will be returning to Denmark after the school year where she will be pursuing a degree in math and foreign language.

Cameron Van Houten has been a veteran on the basketball court, including being a three-year starter for the Varsity basketball team. She helped the Purple Tornado last season go for their third straight sectional championship and win the Section IV, Class B title. She will be attending St. Bonaventure where she will be studying Psychology and Vet Science.

Norwich and CV-S played neck and neck on both ends of the court, but the Patriots took a 22-20 lead at halftime from the two-point advantage in the first quarter (15-13) Norwich was not discouraged at all as they came out strong in the second half to tie the game right off the bat.

There were several lead changes throughout the contest that both the third and fourth quarter, the game was tied and sent into overtime. CV-S was very consistent with making their foul shots and made six of the 12 received to win the game. In all, the Patriots made 17 of 31 free-throws on the night.

Norwich’s Olivia Schiraldi led Norwich with 10 points while eighth grader Josey Ryan knocked down three three-pointers to finish with nine points. Cameron Van Houten led the seniors with eight points and hit two three’s in the loss.

Norwich is currently 5-11 on the season and will host Oneonta on Saturday at 1:45 p.m.

Scores by Quarter:

CV 15 7 10 10 6—48

NO 13 7 12 10 0—42

CV: Joleen Lusk 16, Morgan Huff 16, Mia Dubben 7, Kyra Druse 6, Daphnee West 2, Lydia Lusk 1.

NO: Olivia Schiraldi 10, Josey Ryan 9, Cameron Van Houten 8, Julie Turner 7, Emma Ergo 4, Julia Llewellyn 4.

Three-Pointers: CV 1 (Huff); NO 7 (Ryan 3, Van Houten 2, Schiraldi, Turner)