Norwich’s Graham Burton posts 22 points in the 56-41 win over Charlotte Valley. (Photo by Morgan Golliver)

NEW BERLIN – The Norwich Purple Tornado boys’ basketball team advanced to the UV Holiday Tournament championship game with a 56-41 win over Charlotte Valley. Norwich will once again take on neighboring Sherburne-Earlville for the second straight year in the tournament title game. Norwich won last year in a tight game.

Norwich played steady throughout the contest against the Wildcats with posting a high of 20 points in the third quarter. The Wildcats had a few players show threat late in the game, but it wasn’t enough for a comeback. Norwich saw strength from inside the paint with the help of a tall Graham Burton.

Burton hurdled in 22 points and pushed 12 points alone in the opening quarter. Every time he was in the game, the Purple Tornado knew he was their go-to guy.

Otherwise, the Purple Tornado offense struggled in passing with a few miscommunication issues here and there. However, that never stop them as they would get the ball back with a big defensive stop. Jacob Morris, Steven Dowdall, and Jerome Palen led the charge on defense with a few blocks and steals. Dowdall finished behind Burton with 16 points on offense, including two three’s.

Norwich looks forward to the tournament title game against S-E, which will be this evening at 6:15 to close out the annual UV holiday tournament. Congratulations to the Norwich JV boys team on defeating S-E in the JV championship game 52-29.

Scores by quarter:

NO 18 13 20 5–56

CV 9 6 14 12–41

NO: Graham Burton 22, Steven Dowdall 16, Mitchell Collins 11, Kassen Stubb, Carmello Ithier 2, Zak Meyers 1.

CV: Ezra Ontl 15, John Gonsalves 11, Trevor Waid 10, Ethan Barrett 3, Luke Montgomery 2.

Three-pointers: NO 3 (Dowdall 2, Collins); CV 3 (Ontl 2, Gonsalves).