Congratulations to the Norwich Purple Tornado boys’ basketball team for winning the 2023 UV Holiday tournament. Norwich defeated neighboring Sherburne-Earlville 68-45. (Photo by Morgan Golliver)

NEW BERLIN - The Norwich Purple Tornado boys' basketball team picked up their second UV Holiday Tournament title with a fierce 68-45 victory over neighboring Sherburne-Earlville. After a tight game in 2022, Norwich made sure this one wasn't as close. In fact, Norwich pumped up the boards early and settled in with a dominant lead in the final 16 minutes.

With both teams battling out in the first half, Norwich took a brief 28-22 lead at halftime. The Purple Tornado fired up on offense in the second half, pushing a total of 40 points to have a comfortable lead. The Marauders could not catch up, even with getting hot themselves with a few three's. Norwich also took advantage of S-E's foul troubles in the third quarter.

Norwich's Steven Dowdall pushed nine of his strong 23 points in the third quarter alone with making four of five free-throws. Dowdall also had help from his tall teammates as Colin Olds and Graham Burton were strong with collecting rebounds. Burton led the charge with 11 rebounds and settled in with six points on offense. Olds, along with Kassen Stubb, finished with eight points behind Dowdall's stellar night.

Dowdall was named the tournament MVP while Burton received all-tournament honors in the win.

Darren Miles, who was named to the all-tournament team as well, scored a team-high of 13 points while Dilen Maceda, who also earned all-tournament honors, pushed through with 10 points in the loss.

Norwich (4-4) hosts Windsor on Friday at 7:15 p.m. while S-E (4-7) hosts Canastota on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Scores by quarter:

SE 13 9 11 12–45

NO 19 9 20 20–68

SE: Darren Miles 13, Dilen Maceda 10, Garret Winton 8, Nelson Hadlock 4, Parker Goedel 3, Avery Parsons 3, Nick Hull 2, Noah Bigford 2.

NO: Steven Dowdall 23, Colin Olds 8, Kassen Stubb 8, Graham Burton 6, Wyatt Thornton 6, Mitchell Collins 6, Jacob Morris 3, Chase Colley 3, Carmello Ithier 3, Jerome Palen 2.

Three-pointers: SE 5 (Maceda 2, Miles, Winton, Goedel); NO 3 (Thornton 2, Morris).