Boys Show Determination In Comeback Win, Then Suffer First Setback

By Andy Hutchison

Newtown High School Coach John Quinn will be the first to say it wasn’t pretty. But, hey — a win’s a win.

The boys’ basketball coach also recognizes that his young and inexperienced squad is going to have some hiccups — particularly early on. The Nighthawks fell behind by 15 points after one quarter, but roared back to knock off visiting Kaynor Tech 61-54 in the Newtown High Tip Off Tournament opener on December 15. The Nighthawks, made up of mostly new-to-varsity players and athletes who saw limited time off the bench a year ago, were beaten by defending South-West Conference champion Notre Dame-Fairfield, a team reloaded with its entire lineup from a year ago, 72-47 in the tourney championship game the next night.

After falling behind early, the Nighthawks clawed back and showed fight against Notre Dame. “The kids didn’t quit,” Quinn pointed out.

Quinn got a big glimpse of this team’s resiliency the night before. Kaynor Tech led 27-12 after the opening eight minutes of play. Newtown outscored its opponent 18-3 in the second to draw even at halftime, and pulled away late in the fourth quarter.

“Most inexperienced teams would have shut down and the game would have been over, but they kind of came together, we made a couple shots, had some momentum — did what I asked them to do on boxing out — and good things happened,” Quinn said. “So that was the most positive takeaway from tonight.”

Quinn notes that the Nighthawks lack height and, therefore, must be strategic to get to rebounds since out-jumping most opponents is out of the question. “It’s critical that we put our bodies on guys and do that first, before boxing out — and go get the ball,” the coach explained.

His son, junior Connor Quinn, and senior captain Kyle Wilcox bring plenty of varsity time under their belts. They scored 10 and 20 points, respectively, in the win over Kaynor Tech. Junior Mike Daubert dropped in 16, and junior Reid Schmidt added 10 in the win.

Newtown got a little help from Kaynor Tech’s poor shooting and, once they started finding a way to get to rebounds, the Hawks seized control.

“I asked the kids — on defense, play hard, and on offense, play smart. And if we build on that I think we’ll be okay,” Quinn said.

The Nighthawks were off until Thursday’s visit to Pomperaug of Southbury (after The Bee went to press), and will go to Ridgefield for the host team’s Holiday Tournament December 27 and 29. The Nighthawks return home to face Masuk of Monroe at 7 pm on January 3.