On the heels of a major win and a disappointing loss, the Newtown High School girls’ basketball team returned to business with a 44-19 win over visiting Joel Barlow of Redding on Senior Night, February 10.

The Nighthawks had defeated the Notre Dame Lancers, 41-36, on February 3. Going into that game, the Lancers were ranked No. 1 in the state. However, on the flip side of that, just a few days later, Newtown experienced a disappointing loss to Pomperaug of Southbury. Wins over Joel Barlow and Bunnell of Stratford on the road in the regular season finale on February 15 — the Nighthawks beat Bunnell 48-28 — give the Hawks confidence for the higher stakes games to come.

Girls’ basketball will have both the South-West Conference and state tournaments. The playoffs have not been in full force for two years. In 2021 there was a conference tournament in which Newtown advanced to the semifinals, but no state tournament. In 2020, Newtown was runner up to Notre Dame in the SWC tournament, but the state tournament was cut short due to the coronavirus.

The victories over Joel Barlow and Bunnell give Newtown momentum going into the postseason. The Hawks went 16-4 overall and 11-2 in conference play this winter.

“I was very happy with how we played and am looking forward to hopefully making a run in the playoffs,” Newtown coach Jeremy O’Connell said after the Barlow game.

The first 12 points of the game were scored by Bella Gerace who helped the Nighthawks to a 18-4 lead over the Falcons at the half. In the third quarter, Newtown scored 18 more to grow their lead to 36-12 at the end of the third quarter.

Gerace led all scorers with 17 points and Izzy Caron put up 11 of her own. Senior captain Molly McCleary put in four, and senior captain Chloe O’Connell had four assists and two free throws. Senior captain Molly Connors added two points to the tally, and senior captain Kendall Reed had a steal.

The win was extra special to the Nighthawks as they honored their senior captains.

“After being a part of the team for four years and putting together Senior Nights, I never thought how special the memory would be when it was my Senior Night. It was definitely one of my favorite memories,” Connors said.

The past four years have been unlike anything any athlete could have imagined with modified seasons and schedules being cut short. These seniors were celebrated for their dedication to their sport.

“Such a terrific Senior Night — so extremely proud of these four seniors. They have dedicated so much to this program,” Coach O’Connell said.

Senior Night is always an emotional night for all involved, especially for Coach O’Connell having a daughter among the four, but the Nighthawks pushed the emotions aside and came through with a win.

Newtown won the SWC Colonial Division and tied New Fairfield for the second-best record in the SWC; New Fairfield defeated NHS so the Hawks earned the No. 3 seed. The SWC tourney begins Saturday, February 19, and Newtown will host No. 6 Brookfield at 5 pm.