NHS Boys Getting Good Playoff Tune-ups

By Andy Hutchison

In a couple of weeks, the postseason will commence, and Newtown High School’s boys’ basketball team members hope to be prepared to battle with some of the toughest competition in the South-West Conference, and then in the state.

The Nighthawks certainly have gotten their share of good tests lately. Newtown faced one-loss Crosby of Waterbury in a nonconference game on January 28, took on always-tough Kolbe Cathedral of Bridgeport on February 7, and faced 12-1 Notre Dame-Fairfield on February 8.

The Nighthawks were beaten in all three of those tilts, but gained something from each of the setbacks.

Amid the tough stretch of games, Newtown earned its seventh win of the campaign with a hard-fought 50-47 win over Brookfield on February 4. Following the loss to Notre Dame, the Nighthawks carried a 7-8 overall record into their final five games. Newtown still needs just one win to clinch a state playoff berth and stands to be in SWC playoff mix, but the Hawks would like as many wins as they can muster to bolster their positioning in the conference and state playoffs. Win or lose in those games in which the Hawks are the underdogs, it stands to reason that the clashes make the team better.

“It does make you want to play a little harder,” Newtown Assistant Coach Kyle Lyddy said of going up against top-notch teams. Lyddy and Head Coach John Quinn note that the team lacks no effort, but has been overmatched of late. Quinn believes the exposure to these formidable opponents bodes well for his team competing against teams in similar spots, such as New Fairfield and Joel Barlow, which are fighting for conference playoff positioning.

Kolbe beat Newtown 58-46. On paper, Kolbe could have been considered a slight favorite as the team came to Newtown’s gymnasium with eight wins. NHS fell behind 22-9 before piecing together a 9-0 run to make it a two-possession game. Kolbe pulled back ahead by double digits and Newtown never got back to within striking distance. In the third quarter, the Nighthawks made some defensive stops, had six possessions with which to dig into a 30-21 deficit but couldn’t chip away. Newtown worked hard to try to come back but a few spirited mini-runs were not enough to pull off the win. The Nighthawks compiled 14 blocked shots, including four by Josh Engler, and six steals, but Kolbe’s speed and clutch shots proved to be too much.

“Tonight their quickness got to us,” Lyddy said. “They just outworked us.”

Engler and Kyle Wilcox each had 14 points, and Sean Maher dropped in 13 in the defeat.

Notre Dame, the top team in the conference, knocked off Newtown 88-58. Wilcox led Newtown with 20 points (including a dozen on four 3-pointers), and added eight rebounds and three assists. Engler contributed 12 points and three rebounds, Matt Datin had eight rebounds, RJ Roman had four points and five rebounds, Robert Mascher dropped in a career-high seven points, and Josh Barrett contributed three assists. Sophomore Reid Schmidt came off the bench to play a strong defensive game, and added four points.

“They have improved tremendously,” said Quinn, whose team fell to Notre Dame by just 12 points in the season opener. “They were just very good and they were on fire.”

In Newtown’s win over Brookfield the week before, Wilcox scored 14, Barrett and Maher both had ten, and Engler scored seven. Newtown scored 32 second-half points en route to the win.

The Nighthawks will look to get their eighth win and qualify for the state tourney in a home game this Friday, February 11, against Oxford.