Newtown High School's girls' basketball team held off tough South-West Conference rival Weston 40-31, in a home game on January 26.

Both teams came into the contest with six wins in seven conference games. The Nighthawks improved to 12-3 overall and 7-1 in SWC play; Weston fell to 11-2 (6-2).

The Trojans previously fell only to Notre Dame-Fairfield in a one-point nail-biter in the team's lowest-scoring effort of the campaign (44) points - until going to Newtown that is.

"This is a big win for us. I'm extremely proud of them," said Newtown Coach Jeremy O'Connell, noting that Weston is a formidable foe. "It's a very good team. They're very well coached."

The Nighthawks built a 21-15 halftime lead and had a good start to the third quarter before the Trojans chipped away and pulled to within 27-23 heading to the fourth.

Weston hit a free throw to make the score 27-24 early in the final period, but that was as close as the visitors got.

"We knew it was going to be a good test for us," O'Connell said. "I've very happy with everything - love the step forward."

A timeout helped Newtown slow Weston's momentum and hold the lead.

"Weston went on a little bit of a run and put us on our heels a little bit, instead of playing with supreme confidence. All of a sudden we got into a rut and looked shell-shocked," said O'Connell, adding that the coaching staff reminded the players, during that stoppage, that they still held the lead and motivated them to finish off the win.

"From then on we made the right decisions. We made all the free throws we needed to hit at the end," O'Connell said.

Free throws were key in this one. Newtown, led by Nicki DaPra's 8-for-11 accuracy from the charity stripe and her team-high dozen points, made 13-of-19 as a team. The Trojans were 8-for-18.

The Nighthawks were 11-for-17 from the line in the final period as they played kill the clock and forced the Trojans to foul.

DaPra hit two clutch front end one-and-one foul shots and Mulligan had another down the stretch.

Amy Sapenter dove to the floor for a loose ball, sparking a fast-break chance which culminated with DaPra converting a 3-point play the old fashioned way with a basket and foul shot. That made the score 32-24 with 5:02 remaining.

After a Mulligan free throw, a Jackie Matthews steal led to a pair of DaPra foul shots for a 35-24 cushion with 2:59 to go.

Weston was held without a fourth-quarter field goal until 2:41 remained.

A big part of the reason Weston was held to by far its lowest point total of the campaign was Newtown's thievery.

The Nighthawks came away with 12 steals. Sapenter had four of them, Matthews had three, Kira Smith and Carlie Smith each had a pair, and DaPra had one swipe/takeaway.

Sapenter scored all nine of her points on 3-pointers in the first half.

Carlie Smith, Cyleigh Wilson, and Mulligan each dropped in five points. Matthews and Kira Smith added two each.

Mulligan pulled down seven rebounds and dished out seven assists.

Matthews had five rebounds and two blocks, and Sapenter also grabbed five boards and blocked a shot.

The Nighthawks return to action on Tuesday, January 30 with a visit to New Fairfield, beginning at 7 pm. The next home game is Friday, February 2, when Masuk of Monroe comes to town for Senior Night for a 7 pm tipoff.