By Kim J. Harmon

Fans of Newtown High School sports were treated to a few special moments this past week … perhaps, most notably, the visit from a collegiate coaching legend (see related story, below).

But on the field of play, a rousing win by Bob Pattison in Newtown’s eventual loss to wrestling rival Brookfield and a stunning display of athletic ability by Marcus Tracy in Newtown’s basketball win over Bunnell were equally as special.

The weather continues to play havoc with the schedule, but Newtown continues to make the most of its moments.

Read on –

BOYS BASKETBALL

Newtown 55, Bunnell 36

Newtown 55, Joel Barlow 42

Forget the enormous vacuum left behind by the absence of Andrew Fiscella and Dave Anderson. Forget the 0-4 start to the 2004-05 season and the painfully anemic offense struggling to find someone – anyone – to put the ball in the basket.

Forget all of that, for this is a different team.

“Whenever you lose tremendous players like Andrew and Dave, it’s a challenge,” said senior forward Josh Rouse. “But we have been playing together for a long time and we’ve always believed in ourselves. We knew we just had to figure out what it took (to win).”

What it took – so far – is strong defense and the ability to get out and run up and down the floor. Those two things enabled the Newtown High School boys’ basketball team to rout Bunnell (55-36) and Joel Barlow (55-42) and improve to 5-5 overall, 5-1 in the South-West Conference.

“It feels great,” said Rouse, who scored nine points but spearheaded a man-to-man defense the Bulldogs just four points in the first period and four more in the third period. “We have everyone contributing and everyone playing hard.”

That wasn’t necessarily the case back in December when the Nighthawks dropped a dismal 43-35 decision to the Bulldogs. Sure, the ‘Hawks were missing Brennan Coakley (who was out sick) then and he would have helped against a team with a solid inside presence, but the ‘Hawks were also a more methodical offensive team – and one that was unsure of who was going to lead them on the floor.

Not so on Tuesday night.

After the ‘Dogs tied the score, 4-4, the ‘Hawks scored 14 unanswered points and staked themselves to an 18-4 lead early in the second quarter. Anthony Santella had eight points in that run and Coakley had four. Rouse had a nice basket on a drive down the lane, but his biggest contribution was in shutting down the inside game of the Bulldogs. After he was forced to leave the floor early in the second quarter with a pair of fouls, the ‘Dogs got their offense untracked a bit and went on a 15-8 run to close out the first half.

Rouse returned to the floor in the third quarter and the ‘Hawks once again shut the Bunnell offense down, allowing only four points and turning a seven-point lead into a 19-point lead. Of the 16 points the ‘Hawks scored in the period, 12 came either on the break or off stellar defensive plays.

The ‘Hawks continued to run in the fourth period and extended their lead to as much as 25 points before head coach John Quinn began to pull his starters out of the game.

It was a strong team effort, but in the midst of it all senior Marcus Tracy put on a dazzling show.

Tracy scored 16 points, okay, but it was three incredible assists (one on a court-length pass to Santella that defies description), three wicked blocks, and a quick-handed steal under his own basket that were the real jewels in his diamond-studded performance.

On a frigid Friday night last week, it was Coakley and Kevin Troy who had the strong performances in a 55-42 win over Joel Barlow. Coakley scored 14 points and Troy – with the aid of three three-pointers – added 11 more.

But the ‘Hawks had to rally in this one. Early in the second quarter, the locals found themselves down 16-6 before going off on a 14-2 run to take the lead. Troy popped off the bench and tossed in a couple of three-pointers, one at the first-half buzzer that put the ‘Hawks on top, 28-23.

After a huge rebound by Rouse and then a big steal and dish by Tracy to start the third period, the ‘Hawks jumped out to a nine-point lead and never looked back. The Falcons could only get as close as five points the rest of the way.

The ‘Hawks will take their new-found confidence into a Friday night showdown – in the Hawk’s Nest – with Kolbe Cathedral. The ‘Hawks will finally get to play Immaculate on Monday (in a game postponed from December 20) and will host Brookfield on Tuesday night.

Newtown 55, Joel Barlow 42

NEWTOWN (55): Brennan Coakley 6 2-4 14, Kevin Quinn 2 0-0 5, Josh Rouse 3 1-3 7, Anthony Santella 2 0-0 4, Marcus Tracy 2 3-4 7, Joey Devellis 1 4-4 7, Kevin Troy 3 2-2 11. TOTALS: 19 12-17 55.

JOEL BARLOW (42): Chris Stevens 1 0-0 2, Luke Trauth 6 2-3 17, Ricky Muir 0 0-1 0, Evan Kaufman 2 4-6 8, Evan Hanczor 2 0-0 4, Billy Kastanaras 0 0-0 0, Matt Lisi 3 4-5 11. TOTALS: 14 10-15 42.

Three-pointers: Troy (N) 3, Trauth (B) 3, Devellis (N), Quinn (N), Lisi (B).

Newtown 55, Bunnell 36

BUNNELL (36): Marcus Easley 2 2-2 7, Matt Wojcicki 3 0-0 6, Dwight Franklin 6 0-4 12, Dan Paolini 1 0-0 2, Donald Peeler 1 1-3 3, James Jordan 2 1-3 6, Matt Carey 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 15 4-12 36.

NEWTOWN (55): Josh Rouse 4 1-3 9, Anthony Santella 6 2-2 14, Marcus Tracy 8 0-2 16, Joe Devellis 2 1-2 5, Brennan Coakley 3 3-5 9, Kevin Quinn 1 0-0 2, Dave McLaughlin 0 0-0 0, Ryan McGrath 0 0-0 0, Kevin Troy 0 0-0 0, Adam Drummond 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 24 7-14 55.

Three-pointers: Jordan (B), Easley (B).

SWIMMING

Brookfield 94, Newtown 84

Head coach Matt Childs knew there was no way to fiddle with the lineup and no way to crunch the numbers to turn the Newtown High School swim team into a winner over powerhouse Brookfield. All he was looking for was some close races and a meet as competitive as it could be.

Close?

Let’s see, senior Chris Jacob was touched out by Chris Delcasino by 22/100ths of a second in the 50 freestyle while freshman Anthony Fiore was touched out by David Ely by only 1/100th of a second in the 100 backstroke.

Competitive?

The two-time state champion Bobcats – who just last week suffered their first lost in two years – didn’t start pulling away until the 100 freestyle and didn’t start swimming some lanes unofficially until the 100 breaststroke.

It went about as well as it could have.

“Brookfield is a very good team,” said coach Childs.

Andrew Heller (100 butterfly – 57.75) and Jake Maher (100 breaststroke – 1:07.91) were the only individual winners for the Nighthawks while the 200 medley foursome of Fiore, Maher, Heller and Jacob was the only relay winner.

The ‘Hawks went 1-3 in the 200 medley relay and jumped out to a 10-4 lead to start the meet, but Brookfield then swept the 200 freestyle to take the lead – ostensibly for good.

How tough was it?

wChris Jacob went 24.22 and Max Barrett went 24.53 in the 50 freestyle, but only finished second and third to Delcasino (24.00). Even Fiore touched the wall with a strong 25.55 finish, but only took fourth.

wJacob then went 53.36 in the 100 freestyle but finished second by almost two seconds to Brookfield’s Billy Magin (and yet finished only 16/100ths of a second ahead of Ely in third). Even Barrett’s nifty 54.81 mark was only good for a fourth-place finish.

The ‘Hawks dropped to 5-2 overall and have just two dual meets left in the 2004-05 season before taking a nice three-week vacation in preparation for the South-West Conference championship meet in March. They will travel to Weston on Tuesday before returning home the following Tuesday to host New Fairfield.

Brookfield 94, Newtown 89

200 medley relay – 1. Newtown (Fiore, Maher, Heller, Jacob) 1:48.61, 2. Brookfield 1:52.35, 3. Newtown (Toi, Hubbard, Maurer, Modzelewski) 1:58.95). 200 freestyle – 1. Sackerson (B) 1:54.69, 2. Magin (B) 1:55.67, 3. Sorena (B) 2:09.55, 4. Scott Whalley (N) 2:07.46, 5. Dave LaMarche (N) 2:07.69. 200 individual medley – 1. Palmrotto (B) 2:09.22, 2. Andrew Heller (N) 2:12.63, 3. James (B) 2:12.78, 4. Stefan Toi (N) 2:17.57, 5. Jake Maher (N) 2:22.83. 50 freestyle – 1. Delcasino (B) 24.00, 2. Chris Jacob (N) 24.22, 3. Max Barrett (N) 24.53, 4. Anthony Fiore (N) 25.55, 5. Reiff (B) 25.74. Diving – 1. Duffield (B) 182.85 points, 2. Bryan Lacouture (N) 176.50, 3. Dunn (B) 158.80, 4. Bion (B) 152.70, 5. Tim Kutt (N) 111.35. 100 butterfly – 1. Andrew Heller (N) 57.75, 2. Delcasino (B) 58.13, 3. James (B) 1:01.70, 4. Dave LaMarche (N) 1:04.95, 5. Dunn (B) 1:08.23. 100 freestyle – 1. Magin (B) 51.63, 2. Chris Jacob (B) 53.36, 3. Ely (B) 53.52, 4. Max Barrett (N) 54.81 5. Jones (B) 55.71. 500 freestyle – 1. Reiff (B) 5:45.07, 2. Melville (B) 5:54.34, 3. PJ O’Dell (N) 6:00.88, 4. Scott Whalley (N) 6:02.71, 5. Modzelewski (N) 6:24.44. 200 freestyle relay – 1. Brookfield 1:35.57, 2. Newtown (Maher, Toi, LaMarche, Barrett) 1:40.43, 3. Newtown (Bonacorso, Mammem, Herring, Maurer) 1:53.62. 100 backstroke – 1. Ely (B) 1:00.30, 2. Anthony Fiore (N) 1:00.31, 3. Jones (B) 1:02.07, 4. Sorena (B) 1:04.53, 5. Mike Parker (N) 1:10.30. 100 breaststroke – 1. Jake Maher (N) 1:07.91, 2. Sackerson (B) 1:08.36, 3. Stefan Toi (N) 1:09.44, 4. Palmrotto (B) 1:10.57, 5. Allen Hubbard (N) 1:12.88. 400 freestyle relay – 1. Brookfield 3:39.18, 2. Newtown 3:42.28, 3. Newtown 4:12.98.

WRESTLING

Brookfield 39, Newtown 33

Newtown 50, East Haven 30

Newtown 50, Vinal Tech 15

Simsbury 51, Newtown 24

It was, perhaps, the match of the year.

Down 3-1 in his 171-pound match with Ben Haddon of Brookfield, senior Bob Pattison pulled off one of the most stunning moves in Newtown High School wrestling memory when he earned a one-point escape and two-point takedown in the final 12 seconds of the third period to grab a 4-3 win.

Unfortunately, Pattison’s rousing victory wasn’t enough to lead the Nighthawks to a win. Just one week after securing their first win over Bethel under head coach Al Potter, the ‘Hawks suffered a disappointing 39-33 loss to rival Brookfield.

But a Saturday morning quad match at Morgan High School – before the brunt of the snowstorm struck Connecticut – saw the ‘Hawks pull off wins over East Haven (50-30), Vinal Tech (50-15) and Shelton as they fell to Simsbury (51-24).

After all of that, the ‘Hawks are 9-3 overall, 4-2 in the South-West Conference.

Skye Perry pinned Alex Stewart in 1:42 at 160 pounds and Pattison followed with his 4-3 win over Haddon at 171 pounds and the ‘Hawks were off to a 9-0 start against Brookfield, but the Bobcats earned pins at 189, 275 and 112 pounds, a three-point decision at 215 pounds, and a forfeit at 103 pounds to take a 27-9 lead. Jeff Lipnick broke the string by pinning Tom Leisegang in 5:37 at 119 pounds.

Newtown then lost a step when Mike Rambone was pinned by Dave Hall at 125 pounds, but gained it back when Ben Snyder pinned Matt Kozak in :30 at 130 pounds. But the match turned against the ‘Hawks for good at 135 pounds when Kevin Wasicki lost a 7-4 lead and was pinned 30 seconds into the third period by Kyle Bonn.

Justin Bass (140) and Ryan Peters (152) earned decisions while Colin O’Connor (145) earned a pin, but it wasn’t enough for the ‘Hawks.

The ‘Hawks did have a good weekend at Morgan, however. In the win over East Haven, Lipnick (119), Perry (171) and Thomas (275) all earned pins while Steve Giacolone (135) grabbed a 21-6 technical fall over Sean Jones.

In the win over Vinal Tech, Dana VanBuskirk (112), Rambone (119), Perry (171) and Alex Read (189) earned pins as Lipnick (125) and O’Connor (145) both earned major decisions. And Anthony Klabonski (152) earned a 9-7 overtime decision over Nate Lineberry.

In the loss to Simsbury, VanBuskirk (112), Giacolone (130) and Read (189) earned pins while Perry (171) and Pattison (189) earned three-point decisions.

The ‘Hawks were slated to host New Milford, but the second snowstorm to strike Connecticut in four days wiped that off the schedule for now. The locals will be in Newington on Saturday morning and New Fairfield next Wednesday.

Brookfield 39, Newtown 33

160: Skye Perry (N) pinned Alex Stewart, 1:42; 171: Bobby Pattison (N) dec. Ben Haddon, 4-3; 189: Doug Sutherland (B) pinned Brian Aliago, 1:43: 215: Max Beaudry (B) dec. Alex Reed, 4-0; 275: Nick Fiore (B) pinned Joel Minalgo, :57; 103: Chris Christos (B) by forfeit; 112: Matt Volpe (B) pinned Dana Vanbuskirk, 1:36; 119: Jeff Lipnick (N) pinned Tom Leisegang, 5:37; 125: Dave Hall (B) pinned Mike Rambone, 1:34; 130: Ben Snyder (N) pinned Matt Kozak, :30; 135: Kyle Bonn (B) pinned Kevin Wasicki, 4:30; 140: Justin Bass (N) dec. Joe Milone, 11-6; 145: Colin O’Connor (N) pinned Matt Schmauch; 152: Ryan Peters (N) dec. Brian Connor 13-10.

Newtown 50, East Haven 30

103: Vinny Staffa (EH) by forfeit; 112: Mike Onafrio (EH) pinned Dana VanBuskirk, 1:20; 119: Jeff Lipnick (N) pinned Ivan Tella, 5:21; 125: Mike Rambone (N) by forfeit; 130: Kevin Wasicki (N) by forfeit; 135: Steve Giacolone (N) tech. fall Sean Jones, 21-6; 140: John Foley (EH) pinned Ben Snyder, 2:40; 145: Justin Dodge (EH) pinned Colin O’Connor, 1:29; 152: Anthony Klabonski (N) by forfeit; 160: Jeff D’Albero (EH) pinned Ryan Peters, 2:22; 171: Skye Perry (N) pinned Mark McCurley, 1:24; 189: Bob Pattison (N) dec. Alex Sulpaffo, 5-1; 215: Alex Read (N) by forfeit; 275: Brandon Thomas (N) pinned Enzo Auriemma, 2:42. 

Newtown 59, Vinal Tech 15

103: Erving Duque (V) by forfeit; 112: Dana Van Buskirk (N) pinned Tom Devose, 3:27; 119: Mike Rambone (N) pinned Chris Cox, 5:59; 125: Jeff Lipnick (N) major dec. Chris Dreoner, 16-6; 130: Kevin Wasicki (N) by forfeit; 135: Steve Giacolone (N) by forfeit; 140: Ben Alling (V) dec. Ben Snyder, 8-3; 145: Colin O’Connor (N) major dec. Nate McCarthey, 12-1; 152: Anthony Klabonski (N) dec. Nate Lineberry, 9-7 (OT); 160: Ryan Peters (N) by forfeit; 171: Skye Perry (N) pinned Dave Freemantle, 2:17; 189: Alex Read (N) pinned Eric Steffman, :52; 215: Brandon Thomas (N) by forfeit; 275: Tim Rustic (V) pinned Joel Minalgo, 1:22.

Simsbury 51, Newtown 24

103: Bob Simsbury (S) by forfeit; 112: Dana VanBuskirk (N) pinned Christian Colontonio, 1:13; 119: Joey Martin (S) pinned Jeff Lipnick, 1:44; 125: Steve Bryant (S) pinned Mike Rambone, 1:24; 130: Steve Giacolone (N) pinned Grant Osbourne, 1:30; 135: Brent MacDonald (S) pinned Kevin Wasicki, 1:22; 140: Andrew Carlson (S) pinned Ben Snyder, 2:36; 145: Daniel Argast (S) pinned Colin O’Connor, 5:37; 152: Dan Schloss (S) pinned Anthony Klabonski, 3:04; 160: Todd Everett (S) pinned Ryan Peters, 4:45; 171: Skye Perry (N) dec. John Steele, 9-4; 189: Bob Pattison (N) dec. Marcus White, 10-3; 215: Alex Read (N) pinned Adam Shea, 1:10; 275: Dana Kate (S) dec. Brandon Thomas, 3-2.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Joel Barlow 55, Newtown 50

Newtown 57, Bunnell 53

Back at full strength and back in the groove.

Four days after suffering their first loss to Joel Barlow in several years, the Newtown High School girls’ basketball team – with Meg Kelley returning to the floor in better health – defeated Bunnell on Tuesday night, 57-53, and improved to 9-5 overall, 6-2 in the South-West Conference.

The Lady Nighthawks jumped out to an 18-8 lead after one period, but had to hold off the Lady Bulldogs – and it took some steady shooting from the free throw line (11-of-13 in the fourth quarter alone) to do it.

Ashley LaRocque canned 20 points and was 4-for-4 from the line while Kelley added 18 points and was also 4-for-4 from the line. Katie O’Connor and Carly Curran combined for 11 points as Ciara Simek, Kristi Nowak, Christie Iwanicki and Kacy Foehrenbach added a couple of points apiece.

Last Friday, the ‘Hawks were shocked by the Lady Falcons of Joel Barlow, 55-50. After a low-scoring first period, the locals grabbed a five-point lead at the half but were unable to hold on to it as the Lady Falcons poured in 25 third-quarter points.

Jenn Shinall and Kristin Hanczor led the way for the Falcons, combining for 26 points.

The ‘Hawks had to make do without Kelley, who was out sick. LaRocque popped in 17 points while Darcy Fiscella had nine. O’Connor and Foehrenbach chipped in with six points apiece as Siobhan Cooper and Nowak added three points each.

The ‘Hawks will host Kolbe Cathedral on Friday and try to avenge a 60-35 loss suffered back on December 16. The locals will also be in Brookfield next Tuesday.

Joel Barlow 55, Newtown 50

JOEL BARLOW (55): Becky Sheehan 2 1-2 5, Sara Cram 3 2-5 8, Karra Damascus 1 7-10 9, Emily Ahlberg 2 1-1 5, Jenn Shinall 6 0-0 14, Sarah Urban 0 0-0 0, Kristin Hanczor 5 2-7 12. TOTALS: 19 13-25 55.

NEWTOWN (50): Darcy Fiscella 3 2-2 9, Katie O’Connor 2 2-3 6, Ashley LaRocque 8 1-4 17, Carly Curran 1 0-2 2, Ciara Simek 1 0-2 2, Siobhan Cooper 1 1-3 3, Kristi Nowak 1 1-1 3, Christie Iwanicki 1 0-0 2, Kacy Foehrenbach 3 0-0 6, Jill Logan 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 21 7-17 50.

Three-pointers: Jenn Shinall (JB) 4, Darcy Fiscella (N).

Newtown 57, Bunnell 53

BUNNELL (53): Jen Payton 5 1-2 13, Alyssa Mirafiore 0 0-0 0, Sheena Boyd 5 3-3 13, Jackie Defeo 5 0-0 11, Eszence Walker 2 2-2 6, Chrissy Calabrese 4 0-0 8, Amanda Poniatowski 1 0-0 2, Rebecca Carss 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 22 6-7 53.

NEWTOWN (57): Meg Kelley 6 4-4 18, Darcy Fiscella 0 0-0 0, Katie O’Connor 3 0-0 6, Ashley LaRocque 8 4-4 20, Carly Curran 1 3-4 5, Ciara Simek 0 2-4 2, Siobhan Cooper 0 0-0 0, Kristi Nowak 0 2-2 2, Christie Iwanicki 1 0-0 2, Kacy Foehrenbach 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 20 15-18 57.

Three-pointers: Payton (B) 2, Meg Kelley (N) 2, Defeo (B).