By Kim J. Harmon

FAIRFIELD – One of the big secrets to success has to be being able to win without really playing well.

The Lady Nighthawks beat both Notre Dame of Fairfield and New Milford this past week, running their record to 10-2, 7-1 in the South-West Conference (and staying on top of the Colonial Division, one game ahead of Masuk), and simply were not as sharp defensively as they had been in the first 10 games of the season.

The ‘Hawks, though, have suffered a bit because of injury – center Lisa Masella has been hobbled by a knee injury and Jessica Oswald has been out of the lineup for the last three games still recovering from injury.

Still, they have won.

But it hasn’t been easy.

A splendid shooting effort from the free throw line (11-of-12 in the fourth quarter, 20-of-26 overall) is what carried the Lady Nighthawks to a 62-56 win over the Lady Lancers last Friday while a quick first period start is what carried the ‘Hawks to a 56-44 win over the Green Wave.

It was all a little shaky, but it came down to two wins nevertheless. Coach Gregg Simon is going to want his squad to be a whole lot sharper on Friday, though, as the ‘Hawks host Masuk and attempt to avenge their loss to the Pantherettes in the championship game of the Masuk Holiday Tournament last week.

Lancing The Lancers

Even though Notre Dame hoisted up a lot of poor perimeter shots and seemingly gave the Lady Nighthawks the opportunity to run away with this South-West Conference game, the Lady Lancers proved harder to shake than a pesky winter cold.

Notre Dame actually jumped out to an 8-1 lead in this game before Newtown quickly came back. Lauren Adamek woke the team up with a nice spin move in the paint for two points and then, at the other end of the floor, taking a charge. With a couple of baskets from Jayme Beckham and one each by Ally Gellert and Lori Iwanicki, the ‘Hawks were soon on top 15-12 thanks to a 14-4 run that just about closed out the first period.

The ‘Hawks could have kept running, but the Lady Lancers came back with a brief run that put them ahead 21-17 early in the second period. The final basket of that run, though, emphasized the problems the ‘Hawks had in the paint in the absence of Masella. The Lady Lancers came up with two offensive boards on that sequence before burying the shot.

But Kate Ryan had a baseline layup and Mary Bell added a putback to tie the game 21-21. Moments later, after Iwanicki dropped in two shots from the foul line, Newtown took the lead, 24-23, and did not relinquish it again.

In fact, the ‘Hawks went on a 9-2 run to close out the half (Morgan Haines had a steal and a cost-to-coast layup, a jumper from the outside, and a great block on the final shot all in that time frame) and take a 33-25 lead.

Both offenses took a breather in the third period but thanks to baskets from Adamek, Iwanicki and Haines, the ‘Hawks maintained a 39-32 lead at the end of the period. Then the ‘Hawks did their level best to break open the game in the fourth quarter and – even though they held a 13-point lead at one point – just couldn’t do it.

The Lady Lancers were always on the edge, cutting leads down to size, getting as close as six points on a few occasions and, once, even as close as five. But near perfect shooting from the foul line proved to be all the difference. Haines was 6-for-6 from the line in the period (she finished with 12 points) while Iwanicki and Ryan were each 2-for-2.

Iwanicki led the way with 18 points while Beckham tossed in 12.

Overcoming Height

Coach Simon was concerned with New Milford’s presence in the paint, thanks to its two six-foot centers, but the Lady Nighthawks still did the job on Tuesday night with a hard-fought, 12-point victory at Newtown High.

A quick start helped the ‘Hawks. They held an 18-9 lead at the end of one period and went into halftime with a 30-25 lead. They opened things up a bit more in the third period on the way to the 56-44 win.

Iwanicki was once again the leading scorer, tossing in 14 points. Beckham finished with nine while Ryan and Adamek chipped in with eight points apiece. Gellert also contributed seven points.

NEWTOWN       15  18   6  23 - 62

NOTRE DAME    14  11   7  24 - 56

NEWTOWN (62): Beckham 4 4-5 12, Ryan 1 2-2 4, Gellert 1 1-4 3, Haines 3 6-6 12, Iwanicki 6 6-7 18, Adamek 3 1-2 7, Bell 3 0-0 6. Totals: 21 20-26 62.

NOTRE DAME (56): Rocha 4 2-2 10, Ambroise 3 0-1 6, DeMaio 4 2-2 11, Doughty 6 0-1 14, Melton 1 0-0 2, Mihaylo 5 0-2 11, Cerulo 0 0-0 0, Crespo 1 0-0 2. Totals: 24 4-8 56.

Three-pointers: Doughty (ND) 2, DeMaio (ND), Mihaylo (ND)

 

NEW MILFORD    9  16   9  10 - 44

NEWTOWN       18  12  16  10 - 56

NEW MILFORD (44): Marks 1 0-0 2, Weaver 1 7-10 9, Errico 2 0-0 5, Bradley 0 0-0 0, Terrillion 1 0-1 2, Schmidt 3 0-0 8, Mazzarella 3 0-0 6, Easley 6 0-2 12. Totals: 17 7-13 44.

NEWTOWN (56): Beckahm 3 3-6 9, Ryan 3 2-3 8, Masella 0 1-2 1, Gellert 3 0-0 7, Haines 3 0-0 6, Iwanicki 6 1-6 14, Adamek 3 1-1 8, Bell 1 1-1 3. Totals: 22 9-19 56.

Three-pointers: Schmidt (NM) 2, Errico (NM), Gellert (N), Iwanicki (N), Adamek (N)