Sharp Shooting Lifts Nighthawk Girls To Win

By Andy Hutchison

REDDING — A three-point shooting barrage by the Newtown High School girls’ basketball team was exactly what the typically stingy defensively Nighthawks needed to get a win on a night in which the defense was not as sharp as usual.

Sara Kelley drained five three-pointers and Riley Wurtz hit four from behind the arc to lead the Nighthawks to a 61-50 win over host Joel Barlow on January 8.

“We were on target. It was a good shooting game,” said Wurtz, who scored 20 points and combined with Kelley (30 points) to account for all but 11 of Newtown’s points in this one.

It was a good thing the shots were falling because, otherwise, Newtown might have been only Barlow’s second victim of the campaign. Instead, Newtown improved to 6-2 and Barlow fell to 1-7.

“They had a size advantage all the way through and it was a tough matchup for us heightwise,” Newtown Coach Shawn O’Brien said of the host Falcons after the game. “I thought defensively it was a subpar effort, but I’m pleased that the offense picked us up to get us through for tonight.”

The coach added that the size advantage Barlow had lured the Hawks into some foul trouble. O’Brien was pleased with the effort of his players off the bench.

Newtown built a commanding 47-30 lead after three quarters of play and led by 13 midway through the fourth before Barlow started to heat up offensively and get the lead down to single digits. It was seven with less than a minute to play, but Wurtz and Abbey Doski came up with clutch free throws down the stretch to maintain the Newtown lead.

The Hawks got back to action on Tuesday, at home against winless New Milford and pulled away for a 60-40 win to improve to 7-2 overall (3-1 in the South-West Conference).

Kelley had 20 points and Wurtz and Doski each dropped in 11 for the Hawks. Kendall Svanda and Jess Lynch both pulled down seven rebounds in what O’Brien said was a strong defensive effort.

The NHS coach said the return of Bridget Power, after missing two games because of injury, sparked Newtown’s fast-break game during the pivotal third quarter in which the Hawks outscored New Milford 22-4 to pull away. All of Newtown’s players  got a chance to play in the fourth quarter as the Hawks cruised to the lopsided win.

Up next for Newtown is a home game with Weston on Friday, January 15, at 7 pm.

“We’re going to be in for a tough battle Friday night,” said O’Brien, noting that Weston (5-3) beat Barlow by 30-plus points on Tuesday.