Senior Alex Mirabito's 25 points weren't enough for visiting Oneonta High in a 65-56 Southern Tier Athletic Conference boys basketball loss to rival Norwich on Thursday.
Mirabito, who scored 27 points in OHS' season-opening, 65-56 loss to Maine-Endwell on Nov. 25, hit 10 field goals, including two three-pointers, and went 3-for-4 from the line.
"He's certainly a tough matchup for anyone we're going to play," OHS coach Jerry Mackey said of Mirabito.
But the Purple Tornado received 25 points from Corey Dietrich and 23 from Vaughn Labor.
The Yellowjackets led by one point with six minutes to go after Mirabito hit a three-pointer, but Norwich answered with a run to go ahead by about eight or nine points, Mackey said.
"We had a couple of possessions where we didn't do well defensively," Mackey said.
Nate Eastman (seven points) scored inside and Monte Richardson hit a three-pointer to make it 60-56, but that's as close as OHS would get.
The teams played to a 30-30 standoff in the first half and the Yellowjackets trailed by two points entering the final quarter, when Norwich went on a 20-13 run led by Dietrich's eight points.
"Certainly when you look with how we played Norwich in summer league and how much they had coming back, if you told me we'd be up by a point with six minutes left, I certainly would have taken it," Mackey said. "I'm very pleased with how we've played so far."
Richardson contributed 11 points for OHS, which fell to 0-2 a season after winning its second straight sectional title.
The Yellowjackets host Owego a week from today.
Norwich 65, Oneonta 56
ONEONTA (0-2, 0-2): Tony Burns 3 1-2 7, Dan Dailey 0 0-0 0, Nate Eastman 3 1-2 7, Ben Ehrets 0 2-2 2, Alex Mirabito 10 3-4 25, Monte Richardson 3 3-6 11, Ty Southard 1 1-2 4. TOTALS: 20 11-18 56.
NORWICH: Andrew Austin 0 0-0 0, Richie Bonney 0 0-0 0, Josh Borfitz 2 0-0 5, David Carson 4 0-1 8, Tim Clark 0 4-4 4, Corey Dietrich 9 5-6 25, Casey Edwards 0 0-0 0, Derek Hughes 0 0-1 0, Vaughn Labor 9 5-9 23. TOTALS: 24 14-21 65.
Oneonta14 16 13 13 _ 56
Norwich13 17 15 20 _ 65
Three-point field goals: O 5 (Mirabito 2, Richardson 2, Southard); N 3 (Borfitz, Dietrich 2).
Delhi 63, B-G 36
Luke Burns scored a game-high 25 points on 11-for-16 shooting from the field in helping host Delhi to a first-round victory in the Ed Shalkey Tournament.
"He was lights out," Delhi coach Warren Kelly said of Burns, who played power forward last season but started as a swingman in the Bulldogs' season opener. "I'm looking at the shot chart and most of his shots were within five feet of the basket."
Curt Beall contributed 10 points and Sean O'Connell finished with nine points, eight steals and six assists for Delhi, which plays Middleburgh in the championship game at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
Bainbridge-Guilford meets Stamford at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the consolation game. Also Saturday, Delhi's junior varsity team will play for the title in the Bill Mokay Tournament.
Delhi 63, B-G 36
ED SHALKEY TOURNAMENT
First round
BAINBRIDGE-GUILFORD (1-2): Mat Robinson 1 0-0 3, Travis Colburn 2 2-2 8, Shane Cornish 1 0-5 3, Steve Patten 0 0-0 0, Ben Roosa 0 2-3 2, Patrick Mertz 0 0-0 0, Ryan Porter 2 5-7 9, Justin Pepper 4 0-1 11. TOTALS: 10 9-18 36.
DELHI (1-0): Michael Morales 0 0-0 0, Anthony Salerno 1 0-1 2, Tyler McAteer 0 0-0 0, Ethan Sackett 0 0-0 0, Curt Beall 5 0-0 10, Sean O'Connell 3 3-5 9, Luke Burns 11 2-2 25, Jacob Cipperly 0 0-0 0, Matt Nicholson 1 0-0 2, Geoff Hartmann 3 0-0 8, Zach Newkerk 1 1-2 3, Jacob Haynes 2 0-0 4. TOTALS: 27 6-10 63.
Bainbridge-Guilford6 9 5 16 _ 36
Delhi19 16 13 15 _ 63
Three-point field goals: B 7 (Pepper 3, Colburn 2, Cornish, Robinson); D 3 (Hartmann 2, Burns). JV score: Delhi won.
Walton event moved
Inclement weather moved the first round of the Walton boys basketball tournament from Thursday to Saturday, the school announced Thursday.
The revamped tournament schedule is as follows:
Saturday at Walton Central: Varsity, Harpursville vs. Tri-Valley, 3 p.m.; Walton vs. Sullivan West, 4:30 p.m.
Saturday at Walton Middle School: Junior varsity, Walton vs. Sullivan West, 3 p.m.; Harpursville vs. Tri-Valley, 4:30 p.m.
Monday at Walton Central: Varsity, consolation, 5:30 p.m.; championship, 7 p.m.
Monday at Walton Middle School: JV, consolation, 5:30 p.m.; championship, 7 p.m.
