The going-away party began with a near upset and ended with a triumph. Newtown High School's boys' basketball team all but erased a 16-point deficit to a powerful Pomperaug of Southbury team before ultimately falling 72-66 on Senior Night, February 12; then put together another strong second-half performance to knock off Stratford 63-55 in the final home game of the campaign, on February 16.

"The kids really played a great Senior Night. The energy in the building was great," said Newtown Coach Tim Tallcouch, whose then three-win lineup sliced 14-win Pomperaug's massive lead down to just three points with about a minute to go. "It was anybody's ballgame."

Pomperaug led 39-23 at halftime but Newtown put together a 24-point third quarter to get back into it.

"We went out proud - we went out with our heads held high," Tallcouch said.

The comeback kids were at it again in the Stratford game. Although the deficit was just three - 27-24 - going into halftime, and the opponent had only four wins, the Nighthawks still had to battle from behind.

Another third-quarter scoring explosion changed the face of this game. Newtown outscored the Red Devils 19-5 in the stanza - sparked by four of the team's nine 3-pointers in the contest - and never looked back.

Nick Weiland, Tom Cotton, Mason Melillo, and Dillon Palumbo all hit a pair of shots from beyond the arc, and Joe Duero - generally the team's 3-point specialist - sank one from downtown.

Free throw shooting accuracy was also a strength for the Hawks in this one, as Newtown nailed 16 of 19 freebees, including 15 of 17 in the second half alone.

"We could have hung our heads but, you know what, this crew hasn't quit all year," Tallcouch said. "We've lost a lot of tough games."

Including a pair of early-season overtime contests, one of which went into double OT, as well as setbacks to Joel Barlow of Redding, Kolbe Cathedral, and New Fairfield, all of which were by four points or less.

The coach said he told the seniors at halftime that they had 16 minutes left on their home court and that "you own it - you'd better go out there and show you own it."

Palumbo set the tone for the third by draining consecutive 3-pointers to turn a three-point hole into a three-point advantage.

After Palumbo earned a trip to the foul line and hit one shot, Newtown cashed in off his miss on the second as Nevin Zink pulled down a rebound which led to Melillo's reverse layup off a bounce pass from Weiland.

The Red Devils got their first points of the half at the midpoint of the quarter and Melillo answered with one of his 3-pointers, from the corner, which Cotton set up with a drive and kick-out, making it 36-29 Newtown.

Cotton added a pair of free throws after he was fouled following a steal, then canned a 3 from the corner. Sam Grossano added a pair of foul shots as the Hawks built a 43-32 advantage heading into the fourth.

"They turned up the energy in the third quarter and they did a very nice job," Tallcouch said.

Melillo started the fourth-quarter scoring with, what else but another shot from long-range. After Sam Duffy converted a turnover into a finger roll to stretch the lead to 14, at 52-38, Stratford chipped away and eventually snipped the lead down to six with 1:37 left. The Hawks iced things at the free throw line.

Palumbo led the way with 21 points, Melillo had ten, and Weiland and Cotton each contributed eight. Duffy and Duero each chipped in with five, Grossano had four, and Evan Eggleston tacked on two.

Duffy had eight rebounds, Melillo and Zink had six and five, respectively, and Duero, Cotton, and Weiland all had four boards. Weiland had five assists, and Cotton dished out four. Duffy blocked a pair of shots, and Palumbo and Cotton each came away with a couple of steals.

The Nighthawks had played back-to-back nights against New Fairfield, in a makeup clash on February 11, and Pomperaug of Southbury.

New Fairfield defeated Newtown 49-45. Melillo had 12 points, and Palumbo and Duffy added ten apiece. Duffy had nine of the team's 33 rebounds.

In the Pomperaug setback, Duero led the way with 17 points, and Duffy and Melillo dropped in 15 each. Palumbo and Weiland added 11 and six, respectively. Newtown hit 13 of 18 free throw attempts as Palumbo sank five of six freebies. Duffy pulled down a team-high 12 of Newtown's 35 rebounds. Palumbo had seven rebounds and five assists. Weiland blocked a pair of shots.

Newtown, 4-14 overall, still has two games remaining - visits to Weston on Friday, February 19, and Brookfield on Tuesday, February 23; both at 7 pm.

Regardless of how the Hawks do the rest of the way, Tallcouch is appreciative of how his leaders - seniors Duffy, Palumbo, Melillo, and Duero - have influenced the younger players during a retooling season a year after graduation claimed all of the team's starters.

The coach noted that the seniors did a nice job of demonstrating to the underclassmen the importance of sticking with it and continuing to work hard for good things to happen.