By Kim J. Harmon

BERLIN – There have been occasions during the 2000-01 season where the Newtown High School girls’ basketball had to draw on the memory of their early season victory over Norwalk . . . draw on it in order to prevail in a tough situation.

And the Nighthawks never needed to draw on that memory more than they did last Friday night in the quarter-finals of the CIAC Class LL state tournament at Berlin High School.

But even the memory of that win – a win over a team that hadn’t lost a game in three years and was ranked in the top 50 in the country – wouldn’t have helped Newtown.

Not against Norwich Free Academy.

Oh no.

NFA was 24-0. NFA was the No. 1 team in the state. NFA hadn’t lost a game in three years. And NFA had one of the premier guards in the northeast, Saona Chapman, who is already packing for her four-year stay at Rutgers University.

That pretty much sums it all up – sums up how NFA won the CIAC Class LL quarter-final rather handily, 67-27. Of course, Newtown had its own part in the loss, turning the ball over more than 30 times (18 in the third quarter alone, where the Wildcats outscored the Nighthawks 29-9).

It was easy to see that the ‘Cats were on a mission right from the very beginning and were not going to let the No. 8 team in the state get in their way. Before the ‘Hawks could even blink, NFA had built up a 7-0 lead.

The ‘Hawks – befuddled by four missed shots, three missed free throws, five turnovers, and three offensive fouls – scored just two points in the first period (coming on a layup by Ally Gellert). They fared little better in the second half, scoring three points on a Lori Iwanicki putback and subsequent foul shot.

At the end of the half, Newtown – which shot just 2-of-14 from the field – was in a 25-5 hole.

It was not a bad defensive effort by Newtown at all, despite the fact that Chapman finished with 22 points and Krista Rappahahn finished with 23 more. But because the Wildcats spent the first three periods in the full court press and forced so many turnovers, the ‘Hawks had little time to spend on defense.

Plus, the ‘Cats were just overwhelming.

Iwanicki led the ‘Hawks with 11 points and finished her junior season with 288 points, giving her 544 for her career – a nifty number which puts her 12th on the all-time scoring list behind Jacquie Smith and (just 125 points out of 10th place overall, where Melissa Eigen now resides).

Amanda Marsilio had four points and Jayme Beckham had three.

The loss ended the Nighthawks’ season at 18-6.

The ‘Hawks, of course, would much rather remember the win that launched them into the CIAC Class LL quarter-finals – the 70-46 romp over No. 9 Rockville last Wednesday.

Lisa Masella had another outstanding performance, scoring 14 points and pulling down 15 rebounds in just 19 minutes of action. Iwanicki added 16 points of her own while Gellert tossed in nine and Morgan Haines, Kelley Haines and Marsilio contributed seven points each.

Now don’t get the idea that Newtown played a pushover.

No, the ‘Hawks simply played some of their best basketball of the year (their best was in the aforementioned game against Norwalk) and rolled to the win despite the fact that Rockville – coming from a strong, 24-team Central Connecticut Conference – was ranked No. 9 in the state at 16-4 (with post-season tournament action, the Rams actually finished up at 16-7).

The ‘Hawks jumped out to a 19-7 first quarter lead in the second round game, an unusual occurrence for a team that has struggled in the first half for most of the season. By the close of the half, the ‘Hawks were ahead 23-15.

It was still close, but the ‘Hawks took care of that in the third period when they scored a whopping 31 points (an average of four points every 60 seconds) to blow the game wide open.

While the offense was going crazy, the defense was shutting everything down. The only serious threat the ‘Hawks had to contend with was that posed by Kim Jackle, a standout guard who scored 23 points (but 16 of those late in the third and fourth quarters, when the game was well out of reach).

Rockville shot just 9-of-24 from the line while the ‘Hawks were 25-of-35.

With the win over Bristol Central that opened the tournament and the easy win over Rockville, the ‘Hawks figured to be on a decent roll heading into the quarter-finals at Berlin High School.

But NFA took care of that.

Rockville     7    8   14  17  - 46

Newtown   19    4  31  16  - 70

 

ROCKVILLE (46): Van Tassell 1 0-0 2, Firetto 2 2-3 6, Jackle 10 2-8 23, Adams 0 2-4 2, Francis 1 0-1 2, McCartin 0 0-0 0, Wilson 1 3-4 5, Fierravanti 2 0-2 4, Hill 0 0-2 0, Garnett 0 0-0 0, Wheelock 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 9-24 46.

NEWTOWN (70): J. Iwanicki 0 1-2 1, Gellert 2 5-6 9, Oswald 0 1-2 1, M. Haines 2 2-5 7, Masella 6 2-2 14, L. Iwanicki 5 6-7 16, Marsilio 2 3-4 7, K. Haines 3 1-1 7, Beckham 1 2-4 4, Kohn 0 0-0 0, Filler 0 0-0 0, Adamek 1 0-0 2, Logan 0 2-2 2. Totals: 22 25-35 70.

Three-point goals: M. Haines (N), Jackle (R).

 

Newtown     2    3     9  13   - 27

NFA          11  14   29  13  - 67

 

NEWTOWN (27): Gellert 1 0-0 2, M. Haines 0 0-0 0, Masella 0 1-4 1, L. Iwanicki 4 2-3 11, Marsilio 1 2-2 4, J. Iwanicki 0 0-0 0, Oswald 1 0-0 2, Beckham 1 1-4 3, Adamek 0 2-2 2, K. Haines 1 0-3 2. Totals: 9 8-18 27.

NFA (67): Kopp 1 0-0 2, Chapman 9 2-2 22, Gomes 2 0-2 4, Shepherd 3 1-1 7, Rappahahn 9 5-6 23, Brown 0 0-0 0, Little 0 0-0 0, Jakubielski 0 0-0 0, Izbicki 1 0-0 3, Brenek 0 0-2 0, Morse 3 0-0 6, Boots 0 0-0 0, Colt 0 0-0 0. Totals: 28 8-13 67.

Three-point goals: Chapman (NFA) 2, Izbicki (NFA), L. Iwanicki (N).