NHS Girls’ Basketball Team Solid All Around—

Team Effort Leads To Success For Nighthawks

By Andy Hutchison

STRATFORD — A steal near half court had Coach Jeremy O’Connell pumping his fist and yelling in excitement. That was just one of many such celebratory moments for the Newtown High School girls’ basketball team in its South-West Conference Tournament semifinal round win on February 22.

The second-seeded Nighthawks did a lot of the little things that don’t show up in the scorebook — getting to rebounds, creating turnovers, drawing charges, making the right decision to pass or shoot on a fast break — en route to an easy 57-40 win over No. 6 Brookfield at Bunnell High School. It’s been that way for most of the season for the Hawks and, as a result, gave the team a chance to play for a conference championship against top-seeded Lauralton Hall of Milford, a team Newtown defeated in the regular season, on Thursday (after The Bee went to press).

Junior Riley Wurtz, who is usually the team’s leading scorer, and handles the ball a bulk of the time, gets a lot of the attention. But it’s the supporting cast, including fellow starters and role players off the bench, who helped the Nighthawks enter into the postseason as a threat to win conference and state championships.

“Everyone always talks about Riley Wurtz, Riley Wurtz — and deservedly so. She’s fantastic,” O’Connell said. “But that is why we’ve been so successful this year — ’cause we are a team. When Riley needs to come off the ball, Bridget Power’s done a phenomenal job on the ball, going to the hoop. She plays fantastic defense.”

Power, a sophomore, handles the ball similarly to Wurtz and, like Wurtz, is a threat to drive to the rim or nail an outside shot at any time.

Then there’s junior Jess Lynch, whom the coach says has “done everything this year.” Lynch led Newtown with 23 points in the win over Brookfield. She has a knack for making timely steals and setting up her teammates or burying a shot from anywhere. “Every single thing you could ask for, Jess Lynch has done it — defensively, offensively. I don’t have enough superlatives, adjectives to talk about Jess Lynch — she’s just fantastic.”

Sophomore Erin Kenning and junior Abbey Doski are two more key components of this team’s success. “When we need someone to hit a big shot, one of them seems to come out of nowhere and hit a big shot for us,” O’Connell said.

“It’s a lot of fun to be able to watch your teammates just click,” Wurtz said.

Junior Carly Iwanicki, who has been battling a knee injury, seniors Taylor Benson and Sarah Pettinelli, and sophomore Maddy Good share the center position duties. “We’ve played a lot of center by committee,” the coach said.

All of them can make a key shot, grab a rebound, or draw a foul to get to the free throw line. Benson does a lot of the dirty work that gives the team a spark — whether it’s boxing out a tough opponent or drawing a charge on the defensive end. She’s absorbed a hit and gone to the floor a fair amount — six or seven times this year, O’Connell said.

“It’s tough,” Benson admits, but quickly adds, “I like it — it’s my favorite part of the game.”

At the beginning of the season, O’Connell promised anyone who drew ten charges a new pair of sneakers of their choice. So how’s O’Connell’s budget? Will Benson get plenty of playing time the rest of the way in the postseason? “She’s close and, believe me, I’d love to buy sneakers,” the coach said.

Freshman Cassie Ekstrom has played her way into game action and showed the ability to get to through the defense and to the rim late in the win over Brookfield. Sophomores Tressa Scott, Sam Steimle, and Kristina Engler round out a roster of Nighthawks who have worked hard to post a 17-3 regular-season record and carry a ten-game winning streak into the playoffs.

“We don’t have kids that pout — we don’t have any of that. We have kids that come work their butts off in practice — and come out and cheer for each other and want to win,” O’Connell said.

They do it with speed and hustle. “We’re short but fast,” notes Benson who, at 5-foot-7, is actually one of the taller girls on the team. Pettinelli stands at about 5-11, Iwanicki is 5-9, and Good is 5-8, but the rest of the roster gives up quite a few inches to the opposition night in and night out.

As Wurtz, who is 5-4, says, the Hawks have had great conditioning and with their running-style of play, wear out opponents by the fourth quarter.

Newtown hasn’t always had it easy this season — even in wins. The Nighthawks escaped a tough No. 7 Joel Barlow of Redding team in a 39-37 win in the quarterfinals on February 19. Wurtz led the way with 13 points, Lynch had 11, and Power added 9 in that win. But when the Hawks are on, they are on — and O’Connell liked what he saw in the win over Brookfield. Newtown jumped out to a 17-4 lead after one quarter and never looked back. “Tonight we played loose and enjoyed the moment,” the coach said. O’Connell left the Bunnell gymnasium believing his team was nearly at its pinnacle.

“I think we’re really close,” he said. “I’m hoping we have one more gear to shift into for Thursday night and then in the state tournament,” the coach said.

Win or lose in the SWC title game, the Nighthawks will play on in the state tournament, which gets underway in March. Newtown is the No. 7 seed in the Class LL tourney, and will host No. 26 South Windsor at 7 pm on March 1.

“If we come out like we did today I definitely think we can win,” Benson said following the triumph over Brookfield.