After playing from behind in its first three matchups of the year, the Newtown High School boys’ basketball team got off to a fast start and fended off the visiting Darien Blue Wave, 63-50, in an afternoon clash on December 29.

The Nighthawks used a 10-0 run to close out the first half and begin the second half, and maintained a double-digit lead for much of the afternoon.

Ryan Zaniewski led the way with 22 points and Makai Coleman dropped in 18, scoring all of his points from behind the 3-point arc, to help carry the offense.

Newtown built a double-digit lead in the second quarter and saw Darien get the deficit down to nine before Drew Bradley finished a fast break to restore an 11-point cushion, 31-20, heading into halftime.

Coleman’s 3-pointer opened the second-half scoring just 15 seconds into the third stanza. Zaniewski went coast to coast for two points, and Coleman made a nice save to prevent a backcourt violation, which set up a Zaniewski 3 for a 39-20 lead less than two minutes out of the break.

After Darien scored a 2-pointer for the Wave’s first points of the half, the Nighthawks answered with a 3-point play the old fashioned way when Ben Barber picked up a defensive rebound and set up Zaniewski’s basket and foul shot. Coleman’s right-corner 3-pointer extended the lead to 45-23 with 4:09 left in the quarter. Coleman’s straightaway 3 pushed the advantage to 48-25 with 3:35 to go in the third.

Darien trailed 52-34 heading to the fourth and climbed to within 12, at 55-43, prompting the Nighthawks to call timeout at exactly the mid-point of the fourth. Andrew Grenier’s pullup jumper got the advantage to 14, but Darien applied a full-court press, forced some turnovers, and chipped away to twice get back within nine in the final two or so minutes. Newtown hit enough free throws down the stretch to close out the win.

Grenier scored nine points and Declan Regan added five. Aidan Walker had five assists. Asher Williams grabbed three steals and a dozen rebounds, 11 of which came on the defensive end of the court. Regan had four assists, two steals, and 11 rebounds. Barber had a pair of assists and five rebounds. Coleman registered two assists, two steals, and five rebounds.

Newtown Coach Matt Murphy was especially pleased with his team’s performance in the opening half.

“In the first half we played basketball the way we want to play basketball on a regular basis,” Murphy said. “We defended well, we moved the ball well.”

In the second half, the Hawks “unraveled a bit,” but made the necessary plays to get the job done, the coach added.

“We’re making steps in the right direction,” Murphy said.

Speaking of making strides, the Hawks continued their challenging early-season nonconference schedule with a visit to Northwestern Regional in Winsted the next day, as Newtown looks to prepare itself for late-season success. The Nighthawks fell 54-51 despite 21 points from Coleman, nine from Regan, and eight from Zaniewski.

Newtown, following Thursday’s home game with South-West Conference foe Bethel, will visit Greenwich in another out-of-conference battle, Saturday, January 6 at 1 pm (game time changed from original 5:45 pm start time).

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.