By Kim J. Harmon
By Kim J. Harmon
Get ready to grind those gears because Newtown High School is ready to move in another direction.
The fall season came to an end just nine days ago when the football team lost a 17-14 thriller to Masuk on the night before Thanksgiving and as hard as it may be to believe, the 2007-08 winter season is set to rumble into action.
Okay, rumble might not be the right word. After all, only the girlsâ basketball team will open next week while the rest â boys basketball, ice hockey, wrestling and indoor track â will open almost a full week later.
Tryouts for girls basketball began on November 19, with the rest of the sports opening this week.
For some on the girlsâ basketball team (i.e., Morgan Knees and Jordyn Good) the season opener next Thursday will be an uncomfortable reminder of the way the South-West Conference volleyball championship match went â with the Shinall twins leading Joel Barlow to the win.
Knees and Good have traded their knee pads in for basketball shoes and are set to battle the Shinall twins and Barlow, again, with a 5 pm tip at Lauralton Hall in Milford.
Two days later, the Nighthawks will take on Lauralton Hall in a 7 pm tip.
Boys basketball will open on Wednesday, December 12, when its hosts Kaynor Tech at 8 pm. The boys swimming & diving team will also hit the water on December 12, hosting New Milford in a 4pm meet.
Wrestling will open on Saturday, December 15, at the annual Guilford High School Tournament, which starts at 10 am and lasts pretty much all day.
The ice hockey will also open on December 15 and will host New Fairfield at the Danbury Ice Arena (the puck drops at 6 pm). Returning to the bench this year is former head coach Paul Esposito, who left a few years ago to become an assistant at Immaculate. With the departure of former coach Dustin Zima, Esposito â a teacher at Newtown Middle School â quickly stepped in to grab the reins.
One can only hope that the winter season proves as successful for the Newtown High School sports program as the fall season turned out to be.
Last year, the ice hockey team enjoyed the most success, finishing at 14-8-1. The swimmers â under the guardianship of Matt Childs â finished 8-3 and took third at the South-West Conference championships.
The girlsâ basketball team finished 15-8 and boasted a dramatic regular season win over rival Notre Dame.
The boysâ basketball team made a huge improvement over its 2005-06 campaign, finishing 11-11 overall.
And the wrestling team finished 10-12 and 6th at the South-West Conference champions, with sophomore John Gouveia capturing a CIAC Class LL individual title at 119 pounds.