By Steve Bigham

The Nighthawks’ playoff hopes remained alive and well earlier this week after a huge 64-57 win over a strong Bunnell team Tuesday night.

Senior Courtney Steele scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half and Newtown turned a five-point third-quarter deficit into a victory thanks to a 25-13 fourth quarter burst. Senior Jason Godoy, who did not start for the first time in two years, scored eight of his 11 points in the pivotal fourth.

Newtown has now won three of its last four games to raise its South-West Conference record to 4-5 - not bad when you consider it started out 0-3. The Nighthawks now sport an overall record of 6-8 after starting 2-6.

“Most importantly for us, we finally beat one of the elite teams,” said Coach John Quinn. “Bunnell has got to be considered one of the top four seeds. This win puts us in a great mindset for the rest of the year. They were the best team we have remaining on the schedule. To beat them puts us in a very good position and state of mind.”

Against Bunnell, Steele had another one of those monster games he’s been having recently. The 6-5 center took advantage of the injury to the Bulldogs 6-8 big man Matt Czaplinski, yanking down a game-high 18 rebounds to ensure the win. He also converted 9-of-10 free throws.

Newtown led by as many as 11 points in the second quarter and held a six-point advantage at intermission. The third period saw both teams go back-and-forth before a Bunnell spurt toward the end of the period, which was highlighted by Jason Amos’ acrobatic move along the baseline. But Newtown regrouped in the fourth quarter, scoring the first seven points behind a lineup that included Steele, Godoy and John Fiscella, as well as sophomores Josh Dittmar and John Wesley.

“We were very disciplined running our offense and we managed to shut them down defensively,” Quinn explained.

Fiscella had another big game, scoring 16 points and performing well on defense. His three long balls all came at key moments and gave him 49 for his career. Greg Gallagher, a 1995 NHS grad, is the all-time school leader with 62.

Wesley, making his first start, played well, scoring eight points and pulling down eight rebounds.

Up until last night, Newtown had a record of 0-6 against the top teams in the league. After dropping so many close contests against good teams, it was high time the locals came out on top. However, the Nighthawks can not afford a let down the rest of the way. When you’re this close to playoff elimination, everyday is judgement day even if the final six games come against the conference’s lesser teams. Eight teams qualify for the league tournament.

“We’re still on the down side of the ledger. We still need to run the table. I don’t believe we can afford any more bumps,” Quinn said.

Newtown was scheduled to travel to Brookfield Thursday night for a 6 pm match up with the mediocre Bobcats. This is a makeup game from January 25. Then, after a bye on Friday, Newtown visits a scrappy Bethel club next Tuesday before coming home to host struggling Jonathan Law February 11.

The Bunnell win came on the heels of last Friday’s disappointing 67-60 loss at Immaculate in Danbury. The 12-1 Mustangs are the pride of the league and proved against Newtown that they don’t rest on their laurels. The Nighthawks were out hustled for rebounds and loose balls all night and it showed in the final score.

“We played terrible,” Quinn admitted. “We knew coming in that they were one of the two top teams in league. They are well-coached, they spread the floor well and they take it to the basket.”

Doug Riepe, Immaculate’s 6-2 center, outsmarted Newtown’s defense to the tune of 29 points. And when he wasn’t hitting, Chris Haddad was burying four three-pointers on his way to a 20-point night.

Fiscella and Steele both scored 15 points for the Nighthawks, while Godoy added 10. Andrew Smith added eight points and Josh Dittmar seven.

Without making excuses, Newtown did have to deal with a snowout on Tuesday and a lack of gym space for practice on Wednesday.

Like last year, Newtown is making it interesting as the final stretch of the season gets set to start. However, Quinn can only hope that next week’s report cards don’t show four players academically ineligible. That’s what happened last year and a promising season went down the tubes. Quinn vowed to keep closer tabs on grades this year and reports that all of his players are passing their classes.

“I think the kids are more focused this year on the academics and the basketball side. And it’s making for a much more rewarding year for everyone,” Quinn said.

 

BUNNELL     8   14    22  13 - 57

NEWTOWN  15   13    11  25 - 64

 

BUNNELL (57): Jason Amos 5 3-4 15, Shannon James 6 0-0 15, Chris Stonoha 3 0-0 8, Jeff Kalapos 3 2-2 8, Dwight Holly 1 1-2 3, Calvin Catlin 4 0-0 8. Totals: 22 6-10 57.

NEWTOWN (64): Courtney Steele 6 9-10 21, John Fiscella 4 5-6 16, Jason Godoy 3 2-2 11, Rich Engel 1 2-2 4, John Wesley 4 0-0 8, Bret McEvoy 0 0-0 0, Josh Dittmar 1 2-7 4, Jeff Wolcott 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 20-27 64.

Three-pointers: Fiscella (N) 3, Godoy (N) 2, James (B) 3, Amos (B), 2, Stonoha (B).

 

NEWTOWN  13   19    9  19 - 60

IMMACULATE 19  16    13  19 - 67

 

NEWTOWN (60): Courtney Steele 6 3-3 15, John Fiscella 5 4-7 15, Jason Godoy 4 0-0 10, Rich Engel 1 0-0 2, John Wesley 0 0-0 0, Bret McEvoy 0 0-0 0, Andrew Smith 2 4-4 8, Josh Dittmar 3 0-0 7, Jeff Wolcott 1 0-0 3, Ryan Walker 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 11-14 60.

IMMACULATE (67): Doug Riepe 12 4-6 29, Chris Haddad 6 4-7 20, Pete McEwen 0 2-2 2, Pete Spallino 0 0-0 0, Anthony Simone 2 0-0 5, Jon Tomasewski 0 0-0 0, Tom Wilson 3 0-0 6, Dave Bonilla 2 1-2 5. Totals: 25 11-17 67.

Three-pointers: Fiscella (N), Godoy (N) 2, Dittmar (N), Wolcott (N), Riepe (I), Haddad (I) 4, Simone (I).