By Kim J. Harmon

There might not have been a full slate of games during the holiday break last week, but there was plenty of excitement to go ‘round.

The Newtown High School boys’ basketball team reached the championship game of its holiday tournament while the girls’ basketball team waxed a pair of non-league opponents.

And the hockey team dropped its first game of the 2006-07 season as the wrestlers slipped past Immaculate in a rare morning match.

Read on –

WRESTLING

Newtown over Immaculate

7th at Danbury Invitational

The weight of the match wasn’t totally resting on his shoulders, but first-year wrestler Tyler Reszoly clinched at least a tie in Newtown High School’s South-West Conference wrestling match with Immaculate last Wednesday morning when he secured a 21-second pin in the 103-pound division.

It was a key win for the Nighthawks, who has to rally back from an early deficit to slip past the Mustangs.

John Gouveia made short work of his opponent at 119 pounds, earning the pin to clinch the win for the locals.

With the win, the ‘Hawks improved to 3-1 overall and they took that momentum with them into the Danbury Invitational Tournament last Saturday. The locals finished seventh overall as Joel Minalgo earned a third-place ribbon with his pin of Matt Gillespie of Amity in the 215-pound division.

Captain Bryant Aliaga finished fourth at 189 pounds after losing a 7-5 decision to Nick Amendola of Morgan.

The ‘Hawks hosted New Milford on Thursday in a 7 pm match and will be in Southington on Saturday before visiting New Fairfield next Wednesday for a 6 pm match.

TEAM RESULTS – 1. Danbury 239, 2. Southington 189.5, 3. Amity 148, 4. Stamford 127, 5. New Milford 116, 6. Hand 85.5, 7. Newtown 70, 8. Westhill 68, 9. Morgan 64, 10. New Fairfield 61, 11. Trinity Pawling 43, 12. Brookfield 38, 13. Danbury B 31, 14. Wilton 20, 15. Shepaug 4, 15. Old Saybrook 4.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

103: Championship – Doug Fontaine, Southington, dec. Brian Jennings, Danbury, 3-0. 112: Championship – Anthony Amorando, New Milford, pin Mike Medeiros, Danbury, 5:42. 119: Championship – Stephen Krohley, Amity, dec. Mike Battinelli, Stamford, 6-0. 125: Championship – Jason Camacho, Stamford, dec. George Madkou, Danbury, 9-1. 130: Championship – Dave Badgley, Southington, dec. Tucker Schaefer, Danbury, 7-5. 135: Championship – Mike Vernik, Amity, dec. Brian Onofrio, Hand, 5-1. 140: Championship – Kyle Palmer, Trinity Pawling, dec. Derek Fish, Hand, 7-4. 145: Championship – Dean Smith, Danbury, pin Mike Bellagamba, New Milford, 2:52. 152: Championship – Tyler Howe, Danbury, dec. Trevor Ritchie, Southington, 6-0. 160: Championship – Cody Griswold, New Milford, dec. Ronald Thompson, Westhill, 8-7. 171: Championship – Ryan Roddy, Amity, dec. Richie Zschoche, Danbury, 5-0. 189: Championship – Dan Howley, Southington, pin Joe LaDuca, Danbury, 2:35. 215: Championship – Kyle Kaiunis, Morgan, pin Steven Bendrick, New Milford, :54. 285: Championship – Spencer Charrette, Southington, pin Garth Harrison, Westhill, 1:10.

Outstanding wrestler – Dean Smith, Danbury (145)

HOCKEY

New Milford 7, Newtown 1

A bump in the road?

Could be – through the first two weeks of the 2006-07 season, the Newtown High School hockey team was about as impressive as it could possibly be while recording two shutouts and allowing just two goals.

At 4-0-0, the Nighthawks were at the top of the heap in CIAC Division III … but then came a meeting last Friday with Division II New Milford at the Canterbury School Rink. The Green Wave posted 34 shots and rolled to a 7-1 win.

This week the ‘Hawks dropped to third in Division III behind Staples-Weston (4-0-1) and Housatonic Valley Regional (4-1-0).

Senior PJ Horozsko scored the lone Newtown goal in the second period and made some solid defensive plays along with senior co-captain Taylor Casey and senior Zach D’Agostino, but the Wave was physical and did a good job of controlling the puck while limiting the Nighthawks to just 16 shots on net.

The loss came two days after the ‘Hawks dropped Joel Barlow for the second time this season. The count last Wednesday was 3-0, earned on goals by Max Beitel, Casey and Matt Wright.

Wright scored first at 7:20 of the opening period, with Pat Daly supplying the assist.Casey scored at 11:29 of the second period on a slapshot just inside the blue line and Chris Kraft was credited with the assist. Max Beitel finished off the scoring in the third with Christian Beitel and Blake Bell supplying the assists.

In one of the most exciting plays of the evening, at 1:45 of the second period, Francis Oggeri bolted out of the penalty box just as the puck was being cleared up through center ice. He collected the puck in stride and had a one-on-one break on goal, but was stopped cold.

Newtown out-shot Joel Barlow, 34-27, as Mitch Bloomberg made all 27 saves in registering his second shutout of the season.

A day before that win, the ‘Hawks crushed Fitch/East Lyme, 15-1, at Connecticut College. Eleven different players scored a goal or registered an assist as Max Beitel did the most damage with three goals and three assists.

Christian Beitel added a pair of goals while assisting on three others as Bell scored two goals and notched one assist. Bell (2-1), Graham Moller (2-0),Wright (2-0), Tucker Grose (1-2), Peter Griffiths (1-2), Casey (1-1), Kraft (1-1) and Daly (0-2) all got marks in the scorebook.

The ‘Hawks will host Division III New Fairfield (2-2-1) on Friday at 5:30 pm before returning to the ice next Wednesday in Danbury to host Housatonic.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Newtown 60, Stamford 50

Few people – at least, few people in this neck of the woods – figured it would be much of a game when the Newtown and Stamford girls’ basketball teams tussled last Friday in a holiday matinee at Newtown High School.

But with 3:29 left to play, the Lady Nighthawks were clinging to a 49-45 lead and looking as if they were on the verge of losing their grip on an earlier 11-point lead. With a 15-foot pull-up jumper, though, the locals quelled the Stamford momentum and then went off on an 11-5 run to close out the game and finish with a 60-50 win.

The ‘Hawks improved to 5-2.

The locals were hampered from the start by the loss of junior center Morgan Knees, who was attending a funeral. But the ‘Hawks – already without senior co-captain Darcy Fiscella – made do with a mice mixture of Jordan Good and Jen Brewer. Brewer made a couple of steals and grabbed a couple of rebounds while Good dropped in a career-high nine points.

The ‘Hawks were on the verge of either putting it away … or losing control of it entirely. But Kristi Nowak was there to knock down the two most critical shots of the game to help lift the locals to the win.

Stamford rallied back from an eight-point second-quarter deficit to take a two-point third-quarter lead and had all the momentum when Nowak banked in a shot in the low post to put the ‘Hawks back in the lead.

And in the fourth quarter, after Stamford whittled an 11-point lead all the way down to four with 3:29 left to go, Nowak canned that 15-foot jumper to shift the momentum back to the home side for good. Christie Iwanicki scored a game-high 23 points while Katie Condon added 11 more. Nowak and Good finished with nine apiece.

Two days before, the ‘Hawks pounded Bridgeport Central, 55-37, as Nora Lynn Shimko dropped in 20 points with the aid of three three-point baskets. Iwanicki added 16 points while Condon chipped in 10 more.

Meanwhile, Rachel Tayback scored her first varsity points.

The locals actually trailed, 8-7, after one period but then the offense got rolling as the ‘Hawks scored 12 points in the second period, 13 in the third and 23 more in the fourth.

The girls will host Joel Barlow on Friday.

Newtown 55, Bridgeport Central 37

NEWTOWN (55): Jen Brewer 0 1-2 1, Christie Iwanicki 5 6-6 16, Nora Lynn Shimko 8 1-2 20, Kristi Nowak 1 0-2 2, Morgan Knees 1 0-0 2, Katie Condon 4 2-5 10, Rachel Tayback 1 0-0 2, Jordan Good 1 0-0 2, Emily Leidlein 0 0-0 0, TOTALS: 21 10-17 55.

BRIDGEPORT CENTRAL (37): Octavia Jordan 4 1-4 9, Hucianna Grace 1 0-0 2, Pratrica Corley 4 1-1 9, Telisha Peeler 6 0-0 12, Janiya Finney 1 0-0 2, Shaquasia Allen 0 0-2 0, Tyresa Smith 1 0-0 3, TOTALS: 17 2-7 37.

Three-pointers: Shimko (N) 3, Smith (B).

Newtown 60, Stamford 50

STAMFORD (50): Hasak 0 0-0 0, Smuba 2 0-0 4, Pate 3 1-2 7, Beluk 5 2-2 15, Jones 1 0-2 2, Fonseca 1 0-0 2, Mendez 3 0-2 6, O’Dwyer 6 2-3 14, TOTALS: 21 5-11 50.

NEWTOWN (60): Jen Brewer 0 0-0 0, Christie Iwanicki 8 6-10 23, Nora Lynn Shimko 0 4-6 4, Kristi Nowak 3 3-5 9, Katie Condon 3 5-9 11, Emily Leidlein 2 0-0 4, Jordan Good 4 1-2 9, TOTALS: 20 19-32 60

Three-pointers: Beluk (S) 3, Iwanicki (N).

BOYS BASKETBALL

Newtown 83, Ridgefield 54

Weston 79, Newtown 52

One night they were as good as they could possibly be. The other night – not.

The Newtown High School boys’ basketball team saw both ends of the spectrum last week in the Newtown Holiday Tournament – the dizzying high of an 83-54 shellacking of Ridgefield and the disappointing low of a 79-52 shellacking at the hands of Weston in the championship game.

But six games into the season, the Nighthawks are still 4-2.

In the win over Ridgefield, 13 different players got into the scoring column with four of those reaching double figures. Jake DeVellis led the way with 16 points. Joe DeVellis added 12 points, Mike Kennedy chipped in 11 and Tucker Kass added 10 more.

Guard Dan Smith contributed nine points.

The ‘Hawks clung to a 16-15 lead at the end of one period, but began putting some distance between themselves and the Tigers in the second period. Kass and Kevin Troy had key blocks and Joe DeVellis canned one of his two three-pointers in a 7-0 run that put the locals on top, 23-15. The DeVellis brothers fired off beautiful assists and Jack Quinn knocked down a nice follow up shot and soon enough the ‘Hawks were ahead, 34-22.

The locals closed out the half with a 37-22 lead.

The Tigers kept the ‘Hawks from stretching the lead any further through the first four minutes of the second half, but the locals kept the pressure up and eventually went ahead, 51-30. But the Tigers rallied with a 14-4 run, fueled by four three-point baskets in the final three minutes at the close of the third, to close the gap to 55-44.

From there, it was all Newtown.

The locals out-scored the Tigers 28-10 over the final 10 minutes to salt the game away.

Greg Rodden, PJ Cochrane and JP McDade scored two points apiece and for Rodden and McDade, it was their first varsity points.

Things did not go as well two days later in the tournament championship against Weston. Besides the speed of the Trojan offense, the ‘Hawks had trouble contending with the huge presence of senior center Spencer Galvin, who scored 35 points on 11 field goals and 13-of-18 shooting from the free throw line.

The ‘Hawks were down 14-4 before they even had a chance to take a break and though they knocked the deficit down to six by the close of the first period, they never got any closer. And once the Trojans expanded their lead to 10 with the old school three-pointer (basket and one), the deficit never dropped below double digits.

Kennedy had strong performance despite the presence of Galvin, scoring 15 points to lead the ‘Hawks. Troy tossed in 11 points while Joe DeVellis – with the aid of two three-pointers – chipped in eight points.

The boys will be in Redding on Friday to take on Joel Barlow.

Newtown 83, Ridgefield 54

RIDGEFIELD (54): Mike Welch 1 1-2 3, Matt Weaton 4 4-6 13, Conor Loughlin 4 2-2 11, Adam Carranza 4 0-0 9, Lee Haberlein 1 1-2 3, Rob Bower 0 0-0 0, Andrew Tuohy 0 0-0 0, Grant McGrath 4 1-2 13, Sean O’Dea 0 0-0 0, Zach Messinger 0 2-2 2, Ryan Imparato 0 0-0 0, David Klvana 0 0-0 0, Tom Fisher 0 0-0 0, Tim Burns 0 0-2 0, Rob McHale 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 18 11-18 54.

NEWTOWN (83): Mike Kennedy 2 7-8 11, Tucker Kass 4 2-3 10, Dan Smith 4 1-3 9, Jack Quinn 2 1-2 6, Kevin Troy 3 0-0 7, Jason Smith 0 0-0 0, Mike Maher 2 1-2 5, Jake DeVellis 6 4-6 16, Shaun Coakley 0 1-2 1, Joe DeVellis 5 0-0 12, Greg Rodden 1 0-0 2, PJ Cochrane 1 0-0 2, JP McDade 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 31 17-25 83.

Three-pointers: Joe DeVellis (N) 2, Troy (N), Quinn (N).

Weston 79, Newtown 52

WESTON (79): Daniel Birtwell 1 0-2 3, Josh Smith 0 0-2 0, Jack Foster 0 0-0 0, Ben Kozinski 3 5-6 13, Connor Babcock 0 0-0 0, Daniel Chase 1 0-0 3, Mike Berliner 0 0-0 0, Jeff Ledwick 2 0-0 5, Tom Montelli 4 2-4 11, Spencer Joseph 4 1-1 9, John Galvin 11 13-18 35. TOTALS: 26 21-33 79.

NEWTOWN (52): Mike Kennedy 6 3-6 15, Tucker Kass 1 1-2 3, Dan Smith 1 1-2 3, Jack Quinn 1 0-0 2, Kevin Troy 4 3-5 11, Jason Smith 0 0-0 0, Mike Maher 2 0-4 4, Jake DeVellis 2 0-0 4, Shaun Coakley 0 0-0 0, Joe DeVellis 3 0-0 8, Greg Rodden 0 0-0 0, PJ Cochrane 1 0-0 2, TOTALS: 21 8-19 52.

Three-pointers: Kozinski (W) 2, Joe DeVellis (N) 2, Birtwell (W), Chase (W), Ledwick (W), Montelli (W).