Southside boys fall in STAC semifinals

NORWICH - For fashion, it's not recommended to put purple and green together. But it can make for an entertaining basketball game.
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The Norwich Purple Tornado clashed with the Southside Green Hornets on Tuesday night and emerged with a 66-55 win in a Southern Tier Athletic Conference boys basketball semifinal game. Norwich will next take on Vestal, a 69-46 winner over Seton Catholic in the other semifinal, at 8:45 p.m. Saturday at Binghamton University in the championship game.
Norwich (17-2) hit seven 3-pointers in a 43-point second half, coming from behind to put Southside away down the stretch. Josh Borfitz led the assault with 19 of his 24 points in the third and fourth periods.
"It's nice to shoot like that against such a good team," Norwich coach Mark Abbott said. "And I can't say enough about what a scrappy, athletic team Southside is. John (Fesetch) is doing a great job there and they're just a fantastic team. I'm awfully excited that we beat them."
In a fast-paced first half, Southside (13-6) led 18-13 after the first quarter and 27-23 at halftime. Brent McLaurin fueled the Hornets in the opening period, slamming a two-handed dunk for the game's first points and capping his eight-point quarter with another two-handed slam off an offensive rebound.
Mike Backer scored five points for Southside in the second quarter, but Norwich closed to within 25-23 on Borfitz's first 3-pointer. Kevyn Walker hit a 16-foot jumper at the buzzer to give the Hornets the four-point halftime cushion.
Borfitz tied the score at 30-30 in the third period with the first of his five second-half 3-pointers. By the time Richie Bonney hit two free throws to finish the third-period scoring, Norwich had eased out to a 43-40 lead.
Bonney contributed eight fourth-quarter points to finish with 19, and Borfitz continued his hot shooting with 11 points in the final quarter.
"Our big guys were setting good picks," Borfitz said. "I'm just happy to get the good looks and lucky I was hitting the shots. We're known for our 'D,' so to hit some threes in a big game is a plus."
McLaurin and Bryan Gilbert each had 12 points to lead Southside. Anderson Brooks came on in the fourth quarter to hit three 3-pointers and twice bring Southside within a point. Southside was within 56-55 with about three minutes left, but Norwich scored the game's final 10 points.
"I'm not disappointed with the way we played," Southside coach John Fesetch said. "In fact, I'm happy with how we played. It's just that Norwich knows how to use that 3-point line, and we couldn't stop them."