By Steve Bigham

The Nighthawks’ midseason push to get back into the South-West Conference (SWC) playoff picture got a night off Tuesday as their match up with Brookfield was snowed out. Therefore, Newtown will seek to notch its first three-game winning streak Friday night at Immaculate in Danbury.

Sporting a 3-4 SWC record, Newtown desperately needs a victory against the talented Mustangs, who enter the game with a 5-1 league record (10-1 overall). Immaculate beat Newtown, 57-56, in a non-conference contest earlier in the season.

“We would have like to have made that our fourth in a row,” joked Coach John Quinn Wednesday, “but we’re looking forward to this game. We know Immaculate well. We know what they like to do.”

Newtown made it three out of four last Friday night with a 68-56 win over a Masuk team that entered the game with wins over Immaculate and Stratford. Trailing by four at intermission, Newtown put on its most impressive offensive display of the season during the final 16 minutes, outscoring Masuk, 47-31. Junior John Fiscella led Newtown in scoring once again, pumping in 21 of his game-high 25 points in the second half. Senior center Courtney Steele scored all 12 of his points after halftime and enjoyed another monster game inside. Steele is incredibly active down low, making is seem like he is scoring a lot more points.

“Courtney hit some huge shots. He is much more of a presence out there than last year. With that it appears he’s scoring more. He’s playing real well,” Quinn said,

Energetic sophomore Josh Dittmar had another standout game for the Nighthawks, scoring 11 of his 13 points in the third and fourth quarters. His bank shot late in the third quarter was, according to Quinn, the play that really got Newtown going. It put the locals up by six and they never looked back.

“Josh was just outstanding. I think he was really the key to the turnaround. When he hit that bank shot I felt very good about our chances. That told us we were in control,” Quinn said.

The real key to the comeback was the tight man-to-man defense that also got a big spark from Rich Engel and Bret McEvoy, the team’s two fastest players. Some key steals and a handful of other Masuk turnovers led to numerous easy baskets. In addition, the Nighthawks went to the line 38 times, converting 23 shots.

Quinn is brutally honest about the situation his squad currently finds itself in.

“Had we lost to Masuk, we might as well have thrown in the towel in,” he said. “And all those previous efforts might have been somewhat of a waste.”

The Nighthawks fine showing against the Panthers proved that they are more than capable of accomplishing what might otherwise be considered an impossible feat - winning at least 8 of its final 10 games. That was the scenario Quinn put before his team if it wanted to make the SWC’s eight-team playoff list.

“We want to run the table, but we want to do it one at a time,” the Newtown coach stated.

 NHS struggled to a 1-4 start to open SWC play as it started against the league’s elite teams. The four losses came against Kolbe Cathedral, Notre Dame, Stratford and Pomperaug, who have a combined conference record of 14-7. However, Newtown’s second-half schedule may turn out to be just as tough. The locals must still face Bunnell (6-1 in the SWC), Immaculate (5-1), Joel Barlow (4-2), Bethel (3-2) and Weston (3-3), which upset Kolbe earlier in the year.

A makeup date with Brookfield has not yet been set. After visiting Immaculate on Friday, Newtown heads home to face Bunnell on Tuesday. Newtown has a bye February 4, but will return to action later in the month to close out the 20-game schedule.

 

MASUK      12  13  13   18 - 56

NEWTOWN   9  12  20   26 - 68

 

MASUK (56): Brady Simpson 2 0-0 5, Joe Cavanaugh 1 0-0 2, Jeff Hourigan 2 0-0 4, Earl Robinson 1 0-2 2, Joe Caruso 4 2-2 12, Mike Malandra 1 0-0 3, Eric Jachimowski 0 0-0 0, John Galvin 0 0-1 0, Brian Kiraly 4 8-10 18, Don Hutchinson 5 0-0 10. Totals: 20 10-15 56.

NEWTOWN (68): Courtney Steele 4 4-6 12, Jason Godoy 2 0-0 4, John Fiscella 8 8-15 25, Rich Engel 2 5-7 9, Bret McEvoy 0 1-2 1, Andrew Smith 1 0-0 2, Josh Dittmar 4 5-6 13, John Wesley 1 0-2 2. Totals: 22 23-38 68.

Three-pointers: Fiscella (N), Simpson (M), Caruso (M) 2, Malandra (M), Kiraly (M) 2, Hutchinson (M).