By Andy Hutchison

The Newtown High School girls’ basketball team has clinched a state playoff spot and is one win away from finding itself in the South-West Conference Tournament.

Not bad for a team that was 2-7 and trying to find itself around the season’s midpoint.

The Hawks (9-8, 7-4 in the SWC) have come together and won seven of their last eight games, including a pair of lopsided wins in the past week in which the Nighthawks outscored two opponents a combined 118-44.

Newtown overcame a six-point halftime deficit to topple Weston 62-33 on the road on Friday and had its way in a 56-11 thumping of Stratford on the road on Tuesday.

In the win over Weston, Newtown clinched a spot in the state playoffs behind a huge third quarter in which the Hawks outscored their opponents 31-2.

“That was the best third quarter I’d seen in five years since I’ve been in Newtown,” Hawks’ coach Shawn O’Brien said.

A full-court press forced turnovers and enabled the Hawks to seize control of the game after a sluggish first half in which the Hawks were in foul trouble. A balanced scoring attack led the way in the second half.

Against Stratford, sophomore Sara Kelly dropped in 15 points and was a perfect 7-for-7 from the foul line.

Although Weston and Stratford are two teams out of conference playoff contention, the Hawks have proved themselves against some of the teams they are battling in hopes of qualifying for the tourney. Newtown owns tiebreakers over two of the teams challenging them for a spot — Masuk and New Milford — and will play a crucial game against Immaculate at home on Friday (it is Senior Night and the opening tip is slated for shortly after 7 pm). Immaculate is 7-5 in the conference, just one game behind Newtown, and the winner of this game would hold the tiebreaker edge.

O’Brien hopes the Hawks can ride the adrenaline that comes along with the senior night and notes that the team has fed off the excitement for success in recent years.

“As we got closer we refocused on also trying to get into the SWC Tournament,” O’Brien said. “We’re in a good position right now.”

The three seniors who will be recognized at Friday’s game are captains Katie Condon, Morgan Knees, and Katie Power.

The Hawks conclude the season with a pair of tough games next week. They visit Lauralton Hall, a team that bested the Hawks by 30 points back on December 8.

The regular season ends with a home game against always tough Notre Dame-Fairfield on Wednesday.

Notes: Sophomore Kate Bowen, who sees court time with the varsity team, hit six three-pointers in the first six minutes of Tuesday’s junior varsity game, O’Brien said.