By Kim J. Harmon

MIDDLEBURY – Her name is Katie Cizyurki and there wasn’t a single thing the Newtown Middle School girls’ basketball team could do to stop the rangy seventh-grader or her Memorial Middle School teammates last week.

But while the Lady Lions came out on the short end of a 59-30 score last Thursday the Lion boys rolled along with a convincing 70-49 win.

Both games basically brought the 2004-05 regular season to a conclusion and now all that remains is a visit to the annual Jockey Hollow Tournament (the girls play Thursday and Friday of this week and the boys play Wednesday and Thursday of next week).

Read on –

BOYS

Newtown 70, Memorial 49

The Lions hit the court running last Thursday and put the game away before Memorial even had a chance to blink.

And with a 70-49 win over Memorial, the Lions remained undefeated at 11-0.

Jake DeVellis scored the first six Newtown points (and finished with a total of 18), and the Lions jumped out to a quick 19-4 lead at the end of one period. Ricky Gallucci and Connor Collier had a couple of baskets each in the early explosion.

The Lions continued to pour it on in the second quarter and pretty much put things away in a 20-second sequence that saw the locals scored six points off turnovers. DeVellis – who scored seven points in the period – dished off three assists as David Bray, Gallucci, Kurt Nacewicz, Cole Depuy and John Grimaldi all had an opportunity to score.

The Lions led 39-17 at the half and extended that lead to 53-20 at the end of three periods as DeVellis and Collier both canned three-point buckets. The locals eased off in the fourth period, though, but kept a very comfortable margin of victory as Joe Cappiello and Ian Cooper both dropped in buckets and Gallucci canned a three-pointer.

Now, in previously unreported action the locals defeated Whisconier on back-to-back days (57-35 and 57-34) and added a win over Woodbury (54-27).

In the first win over Whisconier, DeVellis and Gallucci combined for 21 points while Bray, Jason Kostecki and Keith McGrath combined for 14 rebounds.

In the second win over Whisconier, DeVellis canned 16 points while Depuy, Grimaldi and Kostecki sparked the defense. Nacewicz canned a long three-pointer at the first-half buzzer to start the Lions on their way.

And in the win over Woodbury, Cappiello popped in a season-high 14 points with six rebounds and three blocks. DeVellis added 12 points while Nacewicz and AJ Ritchie combined for eight steals.

GIRLS

Memorial 59, Newtown 30

The Lady Lions kept it close – for a little while – before undefeated Memorial pulled away with the win.

Head coach Bill Girard had resigned himself to the fact that there would be little his team could do to contest the impressive height advantage of Memorial but then – while running a zone defense – discovered that Memorial is not only strong on the inside, but can shoot from the perimeter as well.

Still, the Lady Lions remained within five points at the close of the first period on a buzzer beater by Jen Brewer. By the close of the half – with Rachel Taback scoring five points and Emily Kluga and Betsy Vendel chipping in with three points apiece – the Lady Lions were hanging on for dear life, down by nine.

But Memorial really poured it on in the third period, shutting the locals out until a baseline roller with 1:25 left broke the ice.

It was the only bucket the Lady Lions scored in the period but in the fourth they got three baskets from Nora Lynn Shimko and one each from Kluga and Jordyn Good. When it was all over, Shimko and Taback had combined for 11 points to lead the locals while seventh-grader Katie Cizyurki powered Memorial with her 25-point effort.