By Kim J. Harmon

MONROE – Even though it was, perhaps, the most critical juncture of the game between South-West Conference arch rivals Newtown and Masuk, five players were somehow lulled to sleep with 16.6 seconds remaining.

Morgan Haines was NOT one of them.

Because of a little bit of confusion on the Newtown bench Haines, who was fouled in the back court, walked to the free throw line without her teammates to shoot a one-and-one. Coach Simon assumed it was a two-shot foul and wanted to use the first shot to talk over some strategy with the rest of his team, but by the time he discovered it was a one-and-one Haines already had the ball and the rest of the ‘Hawks had to be content to watch the action from near half court.

It turned out to be a nice vantage point.

Haines took that first shot and hit back iron but, inexplicably, the ball bounced neatly into the lane untouched. Haines jumped into the lane, grabbed the rebound, and scooped a shot through a maze of befuddled Masuk players to give the Lady Nighthawks a 45-41 lead enroute to their thrilling 45-43 win over the Pantherettes last Friday night in Monroe.

Haines finished with just two field goals on the night – but that last one was one of the biggest.

“We were all pumped up (heading over to Masuk),” said Haines, who well remembered the last time Newtown was in Monroe for a basketball game (a 49-40 loss for the ‘Hawks). “We wanted to take it at them and show them who was the better team.”

Last month, the ‘Hawks – bewitched by poor shooting and turnovers – fell into a deep hole in the first quarter of the Masuk Holiday Tournament championship game and never really crawled out of it until late in the fourth quarter.

By then, though, it was too late.

“(Coming in) we didn’t want to throw the ball away and we wanted to play more as a team,” said Haines, “which I think we did a lot of tonight.”

The ‘Hawks jumped out to a quick 6-0 run in the first period thanks to baskets by Ally Gellert (11 points), Lori Iwanicki (8 points) and Lisa Masella (11 points) and that helped ease the sting of a 13-2 Masuk run that just about closed out the first period.

“We wanted to come out and hit them right away,” said Iwanicki, “and one of our big concerns was rebounding because we got beat off the boards (last game). We were so determined to get out there and not let that happen again.”

The ‘Hawks got down as many as five points in the first half, 21-16, before regaining their poise for a late second period run.

And RUN is the operative word, for the ‘Hawks used their speed to convert three fast break opportunities into baskets by Masella, Iwanicki and Gellert to take a 22-21 lead. The two teams traded points (Newtown got a pair when Mary Bell nabbed an inbounds pass under her own hoop for a quick basket) and Masuk went into the locker room with a 25-24 lead.

Newtown reclaimed the lead early in the third quarter thanks to a bank shot by Jayme Beckham (6 points on the night). Masuk went back on top (there were 13 lead changes in the game) before Haines drained a three-point basket to give Newtown a 29-27 lead. And a moment later, after the Pantherettes knotted up the score, Gellert hit a three from the corner to put Newtown ahead 32-29.

The ‘Hawks seemed to be in control of the momentum, but it was an illusive sort of control because the Pantherettes went on a 7-0 run at that point to take a 36-32 lead. Being a tight game, it could be a moment for the nerves of a young, sophomore-laden team to come unraveled.

“At times it was a little hard,” Iwanicki admitted. “But we definitely put our minds to it and the rest came easy.”

Gellert scored on a miraculous scoop shot in the lane and then Iwanicki hit 2-of-2 from the free throw line to tie the score, 36-36. The teams traded fouls and then Gellert scored off a fast break generated by a steal by Haines. The ‘Hawks had a briend 39-37 lead, only to see Masuk snatch it back with a basket and a foul shot.

With 1:13 to go in the game, however, the lead would change for the final time. Iwanicki canned a short baseline jumper that gave Newtown the 41-40 advantage and then it was up to a couple of players to make some heroic efforts to keep the ‘Hawks on top.

After the Iwanicki basket, on the other end of the floor, Masella created a big presence in the lane, altered a shot and came up with a huge rebound. She was later fouled and, with 34.7 seconds remaining, hit both shots to give Newtown a 43-40 lead.

Masuk hit one free throw with 21.6 seconds remaining to trim the Newtown lead to one and then, just five seconds later, Haines came up with the play that sealed the victory for the Lady Nighthawks and kept them in first place in the Colonial Division.

“I take a lot of pride in the fact that we don’t have just one player on this team,” said coach Simon. “We play as a team and you don’t know who, on a given night, is going to go out there and do it. And I have to give these girls credit. In our first 12 games, we played eight on the road and they have been able to hang tough.”

The win boosted Newtown’s record to 11-2, 8-1 in the SWC. Next week, the ‘Hawks will start a four-game string of tough games with Bunnell, Bethel, Jonathan Law and Lauralton Hall and hope to further solidify their position as – at least for right now – the No. 2 team in the SWC.

Routing Of Brookfield

Because of the nor’easter that breezed through Connecticut and because of the early start during exam week, there was little fan fare on Wednesday for Newtown’s SWC battle with Brookfield.

Fewer than two dozen people were on hand to see the Lady Nighthawks romp past the Lady Bobcats, 54-18.

With the score tied 2-2 early in the first quarter, the ‘Hawks went on an incredible 33-0 run to close out the half.

Kate Ryan scored all 13 of her points in the first 16 minutes. Iwanicki chipped in with 12, Massella added nine, and Haines tossed in eight.

The ‘Hawks, now 12-2, will face Immaculate on Friday at home

NEWTOWN     10   14   8   13 - 45

MASUK         13   12  11    7 - 43

 

NEWTOWN (45): Gellert 5 0-3 11, Ryan 0 0-0 0, Haines 2 0-2 5, Bell 1 0-0 2, Masella 4 3-4 11, Iwanicki 3 2-2 8, Beckham 2 2-2 6, Adamek 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 7-12 45.

MASUK (43): Delmedico 3 3-4 9, Reynolds 3 4-6 10, Antinozzi 0 0-0 0, Martinik 2 2-5 6, Moyse 4 0-0 8, Dwyer 4 0-3 8, Larrow 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 11-20 43.

Three-pointers: Gellert (N), Haines (N)

 

BROOKFIELD   2     0    9   7 - 18

NEWTOWN     13   23   14   5 - 54

BROOKFIELD (18): Fox 1 0-0 2, Lutz 0 0-1 0, Russell 0 0-0 0, Najam 0 2-2 2, Bishop 1 0-0 2, Arbuckle 1 0-2 3, Nardej 0 2-2 2, Ross 1 1-2 3, Mazzarella 2 0-0 4. Totals: 6 5-9 18.

NEWTOWN (54): Gellert 3 0-0 6, Ryan 5 3-3 13, Haines 4 0-0 8, Masella 3 3-3 9, Bell 0 0-0 0, Iwanicki 6 0-0 12, Beckham 1 1-2 3, Adamek 1 1-2 3, Kohn 0 0-0 0, Phillips 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 8-10 54.

 

Three-pointers: Arbuckle (B)