By Kim J. Harmon

They knew the CIAC Class LL road would be a tough one to travel – especially with powerhouse teams like Norwich Free Academy, Norwalk and New Britain traveling that same road and all aching for a shot at the state championship.

They even suspected the ride on that road would be a short one.

So for the Lady Nighthawks, their 55-38 loss to New Britain in the second round of the CIAC Class LL state tournament last Thursday probably was not as disappointing as some would think. In fact, it simply gave them the opportunity to sit back and truly savor their first-ever South-West Conference championship – which they won back on February 25 with a thrilling 46-45 victory over New Fairfield.

The ‘Hawks (21-4) opened the CIAC Class LL tournament with a win over Hall of West Hartford (which was a little bit tougher than the 51-39 final score would indicate) and earned the right to host No. 10 New Britain (16-5). And since the ‘Hawks played New Britain in the pre-season they knew that their opponents’ 16-5 record was merely a product of playing in a tough, tough conference.

But the Lady Nighthawks hung tough themselves in the early going, getting first period baskets from Kate Ryan, Lori Iwanicki and Lisa Masella to rest within three points, 11-8, after the initial eight minutes. But New Britain (which later lost to Norwalk in the third round) began pulling away, riding the strength of center Casey Ryba. At the end of the second period, which was punctuated by a three-pointer from Karen Thuresan, New Britain held a 24-13 lead.

One of the ‘Hawks main tasks, though, during this game was the defensive effort on senior Lindsay O’Neil, who went into the game needing 12 points to reach the 1,000-point plateau. The ‘Hawks did a fine job locking O’Neil up and only allowing her one basket through the first half.

But O’Neil eventually found some cracks in the Newtown defense – but not until the fourth period. In the third, the ‘Hawks worked hard just to stay close to New Britain, but never got closer than seven points. Masella had a pair of baskets (finishing with a team-high 10 points on the night) and Gellert added one herself and the ‘Hawks went into the fourth period down 35-25.

And that’s when New Britain started pouring it on as Newtown began rushing its offense in an attempt to catch up. The ‘Hawks would get only as close as 11 points, 39-28, after Ryan drained a three-pointer early in the period. New Britain followed that with an 11-4 run that effectively put the game away.

Lori Iwanicki, Morgan Haines, Jayme Beckham and Mary Bell all had baskets in the final eight minutes – but they were too little too late. And as the outcome became clear, coach Gregg Simon gave bench players Shannon Kohn and Jessica Phillips a little taste of state tournament action.

Despite that outcome, the 1999-2000 season will, nevertheless, remain as Newtown’s finest ever. With the amazing 21-4 record comes a Colonial Division title and the first conference championship in modern basketball history.

The success was predicated on the efforts of all nine players who saw substantive action this season. Unlike past seasons, coach Simon was blessed with a team where the strength was not centralized all in one or two positions but spread out through the entire team.

For instance:

- Seven different players scored better than 100 points on the season.

- Nine players scored in double figures at least once.

- Ten different players got into the scoring column.

- Seven different players led the team in scoring at least once

- Six different players hit three-point field goals.

- And all this, with just one player (Lori Iwanicki) averaging better than 10 points a game.

 

And the fact that the Nighthawks were a very young team made up of just one senior (Ryan), four juniors (Amanda Marsilio, Lauren Adamek, Oswald and Beckham) and five sophomores (Iwanicki, Gellert, Masella, Haines, and Bell) makes the season and all the accomplishments that much more impressive.

NEW BRITAIN 11  13 11   20 - 55

NEWTOWN     8    5 12   13 - 38

 

NEW BRITAIN (55): Karen Thureson 2 0-0 5, Nicholette Rio 1 0-0 2, Megan Smith 3 6-6 12, Melissa Czeremcha 1 1-3 3, Liz Gurekovich 2 0-0 4, Allison Tiano 1 1-2 3, Lindsey O’Neil 5 3-4 13, Casey Ryba 5 3-5 13, Cathy Celgarz 0 0-2 0. Totals 20 14-22 55.

NEWTOWN (38): Jayme Beckham 1 4-4 6, Kate Ryan 2 0-0 5, Lisa Masella 5 0-0 10, Ally Gellert 2 2-2 6, Morgan Haines 1 0-0 2, Lori Iwanicki 2 3-4 7, Lauren Adamek 0 0-0 0, Mary Bell 1 0-0 2, Jessica Oswald 0 0-0 0, Shannon Kohn 0 0-0 0, Jessica Phillips 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 9-10 38.

Three-pointers: Thuresan (NB), Ryan (N)