FAIRFIELD — Newtown High School’s girls’ basketball team came from behind and pulled away for a 48-36 win at South-West Conference rival Notre Dame on January 30. Following up a 50-32 victory over visiting Stratford on January 27, the Nighthawks won their 12th game in a row and improved to 13-2 overall heading into a tough couple of games to open the month of February.

Down nine points early in the third quarter the Nighthawks tightened up defensively to hold Notre Dame scoreless for more than ten minutes of game action, got a jolt off the bench from Sam Diaspro, and some key shots from Bridget McCleary and Izzy Caron to take the lead and seize control.

Newtown Coach Jeremy O’Connell noted that Notre Dame’s gymnasium is a tough place to play, in part because it is tight in there, and that the mindset going in was that it would take some time to get acclimated and once the Nighthawks got over the hump they would get on a roll.

The Nighthawks fell behind 13-5 after one quarter of play but battled back to within 24-20 at the half when Ava Rochester beat the buzzer down near the basket. The Lancers scored five quick points to begin the second half, but then it was all Nighthawks.

Diaspro got NHS back on the board nearly four and a half minutes into the third; she hit back-to-back 3-pointers — both from the left elbow — in a span of 45 seconds to make it a 29-26 game and the Notre Dame lead was just 29-27 going into the fourth.

McCleary’s steal led to Caron’s go-ahead shot from downtown, making it 30-29, less than a minute into the fourth. Newtown did not relinquish the lead. The Lancers called time-out but Newtown came away with another defensive stand and Allie Bradley hit a free throw for a two-point lead. McCleary scored in the paint to push the lead to 33-29 with six-plus minutes left. Caron drilled another 3-pointer for a seven-point advantage with 4:10 left, and McCleary connected from long range a minute later for a 39-29 lead.

The Nighthawks continued their shutdown defense and, when they got possession, played keep away and forced the Lancers to foul. Notre Dame did not score until just 1:06 showed on the scoreboard clock, by which time Newtown had established an 11-point lead. A couple of late Lancer baskets were offset by late-game NHS free throws. Newtown hit ten foul shots in the final stanza to help ice things.

“We played great team defense in the second half,” said O’Connell, whose team held the Lancers to just a dozen points in the second half, seven of which were in the final minute-plus, with the outcome well in hand.

“We had so many players step up tonight. Bridget McCleary was lights-out in the second half,” said O’Connell, adding that Diaspro’s two 3-pointers off the bench provided the spark Newtown’s offense needed.

Caron finished with 13 points, McCleary had ten, Gerace and Bradley both had eight, Diaspro six, and Rochester three. Gerace made six of nine foul shots. Caron hit a trio of 3-pointers. Bradley grabbed 11 rebounds, Rochester had eight boards, and McCleary and Caron both had seven. Bradley had three blocks. Gerace came away with two steals and also handed out four assists.

Newtown allowed only 12 second-half points in two straight games. The Hawks led Stratford 27-20 at the half before taking control after the break in that one as well. Newtown has made it a habit of turning things up a notch defensively in the third and fourth quarters.

“As long as we keep winning I’m alright with it,” O’Connell said of his team’s propensity to pull away in the second half.

Against Stratford, Bradley poured in 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for a double-double, and added two blocks; Caron had 11 points, and McCleary scored ten; Rochester had four points and collected eight rebounds; Gerace had four points, five rebounds, five steals, three assists, and two blocks; and Sofia Verdi contributed two points, two steals and a block.

After hosting Pomperaug of Southbury on Thursday in a clash of 13-2 squads the Hawks will host Immaculate of Danbury (13-1 heading into Thursday’s action) on Saturday, February 4 at 4:30 pm, before visiting Joel Barlow of Redding (5-10 heading into this week) Monday, February 6 at 6 pm. Read about this action in the February 10 print edition of The Bee.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.