Newtown Niners Win YAC Classic

The Newtown Niners, a select group of fourth graders, captured a divisional championship in the 23rd Annual Yorktown Athletic Club Winter Basketball Classic, held at the Brewster Sports Center in New York this past weekend.

The Niners survived a grueling two-day schedule with a perfect 4-0 record, the last one of which was a 36-24 win over host Yorktown in the championship game.

The Niners utilized a tenacious fullcourt man-to-man pressing style of defense that led to countless scoring opportunities throughout the tournament. In their only game in pool play on Saturday, the Niners cruised past the Playmakers, a New York AAU team, by the score of 44-19. Pool play continued on Sunday morning and the Niners maintained their intensity in victories over host Yorktown and Danbury by the scores of 33-20 and 37-17, respectively. These three victories were enough to secure a spot in the Sunday night championship game, a battle with Yorktown for the second time that day.

In the final, it was much of the same for the Niners, who used its full court press to race out to an early 16-5 lead. Yorktown battled back and cut the lead to two at one point late in the first half, but Newtown responded and extended the lead to five at the break.

Early in the second half, the Niners continued to pressure Yorktown into turnovers and extended the lead to double digits, never looking back.

Throughout the weekend, solid offensive and defensive efforts were put in by all team members. Niner team members on the roster for this tournament included Connor Barrett, Scotty Bauer, Justin Dunn, Bobby Haskins, Andrew Lee, Colin McCafferty, Jack Moulder, Henry Primavera, Mitchell Savoca and Gavin Stubbs. Other team members that did not participate in this particular tournament were Peter Clifford, Tommy Kitzmiller, Christopher Mok and Paul Whitaker.

The Niners’ record stands at 13-8. The team just completed a very competitive 14-game schedule in the Tri-State Basketball Super League at the Brewster Sports Center in New York and looks to extend its season into late March. Coach Kevin Barrett has entered the team into several more tournaments including the Adidas President’s Day Elite Invitational held at Sacred Heart University and the 19th Annual Sal Tinari Basketball Tournament in East Haven in the middle of March. By season’s end, the Niners will have played more than 30 games.