NHS Boys’ Basketball SWC Playoff Bound?—

Players Return To Help Hawks During Stretch Run

By Andy Hutchison

With five games to play, the Newtown High School boys’ basketball team is in a fight for a South-West Conference playoff spot. Newtown, Coach John Quinn believes, will need another couple of wins in the final five games to qualify. It all gets started with a potentially crucial battle at Brookfield on Friday, February 13.

Believe what you will about bad luck on Friday the 13th, at least Newtown has some good news heading into the game. Two recently suspended NHS players returned to the court in Tuesday’s game, a 77-64 loss to Kolbe Cathedral, and are expected to help the Nighthawks in their playoff push.

Senior captain Dan Quinn and senior Ian Cooper were back in the lineup and, although it was not enough to overcome Kolbe, their presence gives the Nighthawks a better shot at qualifying, the Hawks believe.

“It’s going to be a huge help for us,” said John Quinn, adding that while the younger players have stepped in and done a nice job during the last five games, during which Newtown went 2-3, experience of upperclassmen is crucial.

The reason two of the three players were able to return to the team after a five-game suspension was not made known.

Senior captain Kurt Nacewicz led Newtown scorers with 15 points, Quinn had 9 (sinking a trio of 3-pointers) and Cooper, Josh Engler, and Nick Nazer all scored 6 in Tuesday’s defeat. The Newtown coach said Nazer played a great game, contributing timely rebounds and a solid all around effort in the loss.

The Nighthawks are 7-8 (6-7 in the SWC) and need just one more win to qualify for the state tournament. Kolbe, which has nine wins, has defeated and lost to a .500 Masuk team Newtown beat in its first game shorthanded a couple of weeks ago. All of these teams are among the contenders for one of the last few playoff seeds, along with Pomperaug.

“It just tells you the league is a lot more balanced this year,” Coach Quinn said of these results among the playoff contenders. Eight teams will qualify, and Newtown is in a mix with a handful of teams vying for the sixth, seventh, or eighth seed.

Brookfield (4-12 overall) has lost nine in a row but Quinn is not about to look past his conference rivals.

“Anytime you go there it’s a battle,” he said.

Following the Brookfield game, Newtown will host Notre Dame-Fairfield, one of the top SWC teams, on February 17. Then, the Hawks host Oxford on February 20 in what would appear to be a must-win contest. Oxford, a first-year program, has struggled as expected and the Nighthawks cannot help but expect a win as long as they play well. The last two regular season games are against Pomperaug, which already defeated Newtown once, and New Fairfield, a 13-win team and, along with Notre Dame and Stratford, among the best in the conference.