NHS Girls’ Basketball Team Wins Conference Title—

Champs Of The Court: Hawks Defeat Top-Seeded Lauralton Hall, Brace For Rematch In States

By Andy Hutchison

SOUTHBURY — They have had a lot of wins to enjoy, but when the buzzer sounded at the end of the February 24 game, Newtown High School’s girls’ basketball team members raced out onto the court and celebrated by far their biggest triumph of this memorable campaign — a victory in the South-West Conference Tournament championship game.

Second-seeded Newtown, which had won 17 regular season games, pulled away late to defeat No. 10 Lauralton Hall of Milford, 41-32 at Pomperaug High, using its trademark lock-down defensive efforts and all-out hustle and quickness to seize control of what was a back-and-forth game for most of the evening.

Newtown then went on to win its Class LL State Tournament first-round game on March 1. The seventh-seeded Nighthawks defeated No. 26 South Windsor 54-38. With the win, the Nighthawks advance to face a very familiar foe — No. 10 Lauralton Hall, in the second round, at home on Friday, March 4, at 7 pm.

In the state tourney opener, Newtown built an 18-4 lead after one quarter, and carried a 28-16 lead into halftime before pulling away in the second half.

Newtown got 15 points from Jess Lynch, 13 from Riley Wurtz, 11 from Cassie Ekstrom, and scoring contributions from seven other players in the Class LL opener.

“We played a great first quarter. We let them back in the game in the second quarter — but then we exercised our will in the second half,” Newtown Coach Jeremy O’Connell said. “We definitely have another level to take it to, and we’re going to need to against Lauralton on Friday.”

Newtown will try to beat Lauralton for the third time this campaign after winning what was an upset, handing Lauralton its only in-conference loss, in the regular season. These teams have seen a lot of each other. “We know them inside and out, they know us inside and out. You’re going to have to bring your ‘A’ game to beat them,” the Newtown coach said.

In the SWC final, Tournament Most Valuable Player Wurtz had a game-best 18 points, and teammate Bridget Power added ten for the Nighthawks. Erin Kenning had seven, Lynch contributed four, and Abbey Doski added two for the champions. Power and Lynch, along with Wurtz, were selected to the All-Tournament Team. Nicola Matera had nine points, Olivia Levey had 11, and Marisa Dowling scored seven for the Crusaders.

After the postgame hugs and high-fives, O’Connell climbed up on a chair and cut down the net at the end of the floor where the Hawks clinched the win with a 17-point fourth quarter.

“We’re a team in every aspect of the word. We have earned everything we’ve gotten this year,” the NHS coach said.

“They’re tough and we knew that going in. We never underestimated them,” said Lauralton Hall Coach Alessa Laczkoski, whose team lost only one game within conference play during the regular season — to Newtown. “They just play tough and they defended very well.”

The Nighthawks trailed by a point at halftime and established a 24-22 edge heading into the fourth. Wurtz and Matera traded 3-point shots and Newtown led 27-25 before Wurtz answered back with another shot from beyond the arc for a 30-25 lead. Wurtz then found Power for two points in transition for a 32-25 NHS advantage, prompting a Lauralton Hall timeout with 6:17 remaining. Out of the break, Newtown’s defense came up with a stop and, on the ensuing offensive sequence, Lynch drove through the paint and converted a shot despite being fouled, giving the Hawks a commanding 34-25 cushion with 5:43 to play.

With her team leading 34-28, Wurtz pulled up and hit a jumper on the fast break for an eight-point lead. Newtown’s defense forced a turnover and then the Hawks were patient on offense before Power took a pass down low and finished off a long possession with an easy hoop for 38-28 lead with 2:50 to play.

Kenning came up with a blocked shot, and Maddy Good forced a held ball as the Hawks continued to stymie Lauralton’s normally potent offense. Newtown iced the game at the foul line in the final minutes.

“Amazing … It hasn’t hit me yet,” Newtown senior Taylor Benson, one of the team’s strong defenders who comes off the bench, said of the feeling of winning a title.

The Nighthawks have several team members who won the conference title as members of the volleyball team in the fall, and that experience may have helped the team in its run to the top on the basketball court.

“I think it really helped us kind of eliminate some of the pregame jitters,” said Doski, one of those volleyball/ basketball players. “We knew we had to work for it and we earned it.”

The key to Newtown’s ability to pull away in this game, according to Wurtz, was the team members shaking off nerves and continuing to wear down the opposition. “We finally lost all of our nerves and we came out and we were just ready to play,” Wurtz said.

“All year, we have made a run in the third, fourth quarter where other teams have been tired. That’s been us all year,” O’Connell added.

“I think, just all of a sudden, we all came together — it just clicked,” Power added.

Newtown clicked for most of the season, especially after a loss to Masuk of Monroe midway though the year. The Hawks reeled off ten straight wins to close out the regular season after that setback.

“It’s just a testament to these girls — how hard they work, the effort they put in every day at practice, every minute, every sprint,” said O’Connell, before being pulled away for a few congratulatory hugs. “Everything that they have done this year — they have not complained, they have not whined. They have accepted everything that we set out to do, they bought into it, and it was absolutely amazing.”

“We came and played Newtown basketball,” Lynch said.

“This feels great,” added teammate Sarah Pettinelli, one of just two seniors on the squad. “It’s a great way to end it — with a bang.”

Of course it’s not entirely done yet. The Nighthawks continue to play in the state tourney, and will look to win another title. O’Connell noted that the Hawks have, historically, had success in the SWC playoffs, and he wants to see the team now become a force at the state level. Newtown’s Carly Iwanicki, one of the team’s top rebounders, has been sidelined with a knee injury but provided some solid court time in the state tourney opener. Newtown also got contributions from up and coming players Sam Steimle, Kristina Engler, and Tressa Scott.