NHS Girls’ Basketball Qualifies For State Tourney—

Shorthanded Hawks Fall To Weston, Rebound To Beat Stratford

By Andy Hutchison

Newtown High School’s girls’ basketball team bounced back from a tough loss to Weston on January 15 with a win at Stratford on January 19, which qualified the team for the state tournament.

Newtown had no problems with Stratford in a 61-27 triumph. Riley Wurtz had 17 points, Sara Kelley in limited court action (about 10 minutes of playing time) in her first game back from injury, had 10 and Jess Lynch contributed 8. Newtown improved to 8-3 overall and (4-2 in the South-West Conference).

NHS Coach Shawn O’Brien said he is thrilled for this young team, with only one senior and two juniors, qualifying for the state tourney.

“That was our goal coming into the season and we’re happy to put it behind us,” said O’Brien, adding that the team will now turn its attention on its secondary goal of earning a berth in the SWC tourney.

“We’re going to have our work cut out for us,” said O’Brien, adding that the Nighthawks are embarking on the toughest part of their schedule. Newtown visits five-win but always-dangerous Masuk on Friday, January 22, and has upcoming tough tests with eight-win Bunnell and nine-win Brookfield.

Without Kelley, the team’s leading scorer (sidelined for one game with an ankle injury sustained in practice), the Nighthawks fell short in a resilient comeback effort against visiting Weston two games ago. Newtown trimmed an 18-point deficit to 9, but lost 61-46 in a physical game chock full of fouls.

“They hustled a lot and worked hard,” Kelley said of the effort of her teammates. “It’s so frustrating. I just wanted to go out there and play.”

O’Brien noted that all teams have to deal with injuries, but acknowledged that being without one of the area’s top scorers will hurt a team. The coach, however, was pleased with the effort.

“We had some looks. Shots just weren’t really falling for us tonight,” O’Brien said.

Newtown got a pair of 3-pointers from Wurtz, who had 15 points to lead the Hawks, and a 3 each from Abbey Doski (12 points) and Bridget Power (8) as the Hawks hung tough.

“After halftime we came out firing,” Wurtz said.

Despite the game being in the bag as the final seconds ticked off the clock, Wurtz dove for a loose ball and generated a late shot opportunity for Newtown — displaying the kind of hustle O’Brien likes to see from his players.

“You’ve got to play 100 percent all the time,” the energetic and competitive Wurtz said.

“I thought the kids rallied around, did a good job — battled all the way through,” O’Brien added.

Taylor Benson, who has missed the last few weeks with a knee injury, is expected back by next week, O’Brien said. The coach is excited to have his team at full strength going into the most difficult part of the schedule.