NHS Boys Earn 30-Point Triumph In Rematch With Weston

By Andy Hutchison

A solid defensive effort by Newtown coupled with a poor shooting night by Weston resulted in an easy 55-25 victory for Newtown High School’s boys’ basketball team on January 10. The Nighthawks evened their record at 3-3, and Weston fell to 3-4, in the makeup game that was originally scheduled for January 7 but postponed because of snow.

The Nighthawks got six blocked shots from Robert Mascher, two steals each from RJ Roman and Kyle Wilcox, and five rebounds apiece from Mascher and Wilcox as the Trojans were forced into tough shots and limited to few second-chance points.

Ten Nighthawks got onto the score sheet, led by Sean Maher’s 13-point effort, and 11 each from Josh Engler and Wilcox. Matt Datin had seven points, Sean Elliott hit a 3-pointer, and Kevin LeBlanc, Josh Barrett, Taylor Steimle, Roman, and Mascher all added two points.

“It was a good team effort. It was good to get off on the right foot,” said Mascher, adding that the Nighthawks were embarking on a tough week, which included a rematch of last year’s South-West Conference title game against Stratford and always-tough Masuk of Monroe.

Weston took an early 5-0 lead but the Nighthawks held the Trojans scoreless for nearly ten minutes and built a 13-5 advantage. The baker’s dozen run of points was keyed by an Engler block and basket at the other end, followed by another fast-break bucket by Engler following another NHS blocked shot. After Weston ended the run and got to within 13-8 at the midpoint of the second quarter, Wilcox converted a 3-point play for a 16-8 lead. Maher scored down low, and Wilcox’s diving effort poked a loose ball out of the reach of a Weston player and sprung Engler for an easy layup as Newtown built a 22-11 lead.

The Trojans, who were victimized by Wilcox’s three-quarter court shot just before the halftime buzzer of the first meeting between these teams in the December 29 conference holiday tourney clash, returned the favor when Justin Mettel banked home a buzzer-beating half-court heave in the most recent meeting, making it 22-14 NHS at the intermission.

The difference this time around is that the wild shot-making team didn’t continue its offensive fortunes in the second half. Newtown, which won the first meeting 63-54, pulled away in the second half of this game, holding Weston to just two third-quarter points. Weston managed just two points in a 12-or-so minute span from the early stages of the third quarter until the waning minutes of the game.

Newtown Coach John Quinn has been pleased with his team’s defensive efforts throughout the season and was happy to see his team bounce back from what he called a “flat” 45-32 loss to Pomperaug of Southbury on January 4.

“I think we’re better when we run and we saw it tonight — when we ran we were able to run some plays,” Quinn said.

“We know our defense fuels our offense,” Engler added.

This was the first conference game for the Nighthawks and, because it was a blowout, the younger players, and those who see less court time, got a chance to play. Engler said they’ve earned the opportunity to get out there.

“They’ve really stepped it up in practice. They’ve been giving the first team guys reps that helped prepare us for tonight,” the senior captain said after the game.