Newtown’s Grade 5 Travel Gold team captured the New England Basketball Championship in Tiverton, R.I. March 14-16. The Newtown team defeated St Theresa 29-24 in the title game to avenge two defeats to St Theresa, one earlier in this tourney and a defeat in the Fairfield County Basketball League (FCBL) finals the week before.

The top teams from Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire battled it out for the title. The Nighthawks were placed in the Gold bracket after placing first in a qualifying tournament earlier in the season. They started off hot beating Newington 33-21. Next they faced Simsbury and came out on top 30-28. The third game the Nighthawks met St Theresa’s with both teams showing up defensively. The game ended closely with St Theresa’s winning 22-19. Newtown then beat Grafton 29-24, earning the second seed and a rematch with St Theresa in the finale. The Hawks fought hard and were able to maintain a lead the entire game to earn the title.

Newtown went unbeaten in the regular season and was named champions for its division in the FCBL. The Gold squad was placed in the AA bracket of the FCBL playoffs and made its way to the championship game behind some strong wins. In the first round of playoffs Gold beat Fairfield 43-22, in the quarterfinals it topped New Canaan 45-28, and in the semis defeated Westport 48-34. In the championship game the Newtown lineup fell to St Theresa. Defense was impressive on both sides in the pinnacle contest.