Boys’ Basketball Team Takes Aim At Postseason

By Andy Hutchison

The Newtown High School boys’ basketball team enters the new campaign with plenty of senior leadership back in the fold.

Graduates Daniel Quinn, Kurt Nacewicz, and Ian Cooper will be missed, but six seniors are back and Coach John Quinn says this is the largest number of varsity-experienced seniors he’s coached at one time.

Those final-year highschoolers include Dan Lynch, George Zaruba, and Casey Tenney — all captains — along with Peter Manos, Max Paynter, and Andy Lapple. Quinn said Lapple has made significant improvement since midway through his junior year and figures to be a key element of the team’s success this go-around.

“We have a pretty strong senior class,” said Quinn, adding that this group has plenty of chemistry, having played in off-season leagues since last spring.

Juniors Josh Engler, Sean Maher, and Matt Datin also bring varsity experience to the lineup and will be key to the team’s success, the coach said.

The biggest strengths of the Nighthawks, Quinn says, are defense and overall athleticism.

Engler, at 6-foot-3, is the tallest player on the court and height is not a strong suit for this team but Quinn points out that the athleticism and quickness of the Hawks makes up for that in a game in which height seems to matter most.

“These kids can guard people — in spite of our lack of height and bulk,” the coach said.

Defense is not the only asset. Newtown can score too. “We have kids who can both shoot and drive to the basket,” Quinn said.

Sophomores Josh Barrett and Kyle Wilcox are other players whom the coach sees being a part of the varsity mix early on.

After going 8-12, narrowly missing the South-West Conference playoffs and falling in the first round of the state tournament, the Hawks are looking to qualify for both postseason tourneys in 2009-10.

Newtown will have to play well on the road this year with only six of 20 games scheduled to be played at home. Quinn said regular season tournament scheduling resulted in a few less home tilts than otherwise would be played.

“We have a very difficult schedule,” said Quinn, adding that SWC foes include defending Class M state champion Stratford, and tough Bunnell of Stratford and Notre Dame-Fairfield teams, along with nonconference opponent Norwich Free Academy.

Newtown was scheduled to begin the campaign Thursday (after The Bee went to press) against Notre Dame-Fairfield in the SWC Tip-Off Tournament. The home opener is December 22 against Pomperaug of Southbury at 7 pm.

Quinn is excited for this year as well as the future of the program given the growth in interest in youth basketball in town. More and more current high schoolers are playing in the off-season, too, the coach added. Quinn says he encourages athletes to play a variety of sports, but is pleased to see a lot of interest in the game of basketball.

“Kids want to play,” said Quinn, adding that there were 63 high school age players participating in summer leagues this past year.

Among them were his players, and he is hoping that between-seasons exposure to the game pays off with crisp play on the court this winter.