Girls

Grade 5

Newtown 30, Stamford 3: The game started off slow with a score of 6-1 after the first quarter, with Stamford’s only point coming from a foul shot. In the second quarter, Newtown found its groove. Impressive defense held Stamford to just one field goal in the game. Carolina Stubbs led in rebounds, and Jackie Matthews and Kristen Cirone came up with multiple steals. Jenna Lavelle and Kim Buttery led in scoring, chipping in with 17 of the team’s 30 points.

Grade 6

Brookfield 44, Newtown 42: Brookfield handed Newtown its first league loss of the season in a close game decided in the final seconds. Erin Burns led all Newtown scorers with 12 points, battling inside against a big, physical Brookfield team. Julia Haskins and Kira Smith were also very effective, scoring 4 points apiece. Lauren Carrino chipped in 4 points of her own, and Rylee Mulligan and Ashley Santore each added 2 for Newtown.

Grade 7

St. Mary’s 44, Newtown 30: Newtown gave undefeated St. Mary’s of Ridgefield all it could handle in a game much closer than the final score. St. Mary’s had 7-0 runs at the start of the second and third quarters, but a pressing Newtown bounced back each time and eventually tied the game at 29 on a Meghan Doyle foul shot with 4 minutes remaining. However, St. Mary’s finished the game on a 15-1 run. Hailey Conrad (6 steals) drove hard to the basket and scored 11, while Olyvia Shaw (6 steals) scored 6 and distributed a season high 4 assists. Jess Maturo scored 5 and had 4 steals. Jillian Pieretti (4 points) pulled down 6 rebounds, and Cassidy Datin scored 3 points and had 5 boards, and Natalie Shaker added 2 steals to go along with 3 points. Colleen McCarthy had a strong game at the point and added 2 steals.

Boys

Grade 5

Newtown 52, Westport 43: Newtown used a 12-4 run in the second quarter en route to a win over visiting Westport. Newtown was led offensively by Robert Disibio, Dan Mason and Jimmy Davies, who chipped in with 13, 12, and 11 points, respectively. Solid play was also received from Luke Barrett, Michael Cotton, James Doyle, Luke Melillo, Aidan Moulder, Todd Petersen, and Bryan Vander Have.

Newtown 53, St. Mary’s 28: Newtown used its intense full court pressure to jump out to a 22-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. Luke Barrett and Robert Disibio led all scorers with 12 points each. Aidan Moulder and Jimmy Davies contributed 8 and 6 points each. Solid offensive and defensive efforts were put forth by Michael Cotton, Griffin Cross, James Doyle, Luke Melillo, Todd Petersen and Bryan Vander Have.

Shelton 34, Newtown Gold Rush 26: The Gold Rush lost a tough game to Shelton. The game was competitive throughout with Shelton slowly pulling away in the fourth quarter. Cameron Trivers led the Gold Rush with 10 points and pulled down multiple offensive and defensive rebounds. Eric Moore (4 points), Shane Demers (2 points), and Riley McCafferty (1 point) directed the Gold Rush attack and played strong against the Shelton press. Reed Hammond, Shea Talbot and Brennan Mayer chipped in 2 points each, while John Albanesi had a total of 3 points for the game. Shea Talbot played strong defense against Shelton’s star player. Danny Schreiber kept the pressure on with numerous rebounds and multiple assists.

Grade 6

Thunder 49, Hot Shots 29: Crisp passing, strong ball handling, and good rebounding were keys to the impressive Thunder victory. Eugene Citrano led all scorers with 15 points, followed by Matthew Sadowski (11), Alex Janiak (8), and Kai Toomey (7). Alex Janiak led all rebounders with 8. Jack Carello and Kevin Reiss played strong defense. For the Hot Shots Jack Murray continued his aggressive rebounding pulling down 10 rebounds. Brendan O’Hara continually made great hustling plays without regard for his body, diving all over the floor while adding 4 points.  Greg Brissette dropped in 11 points, and Kent Mullen 6.

Tornadoes 29, Black Hawks 28: In a tense battle of first place teams, the Tornadoes traded baskets with the Black Hawks all afternoon before pulling ahead at the end for the victory. The Tornadoes got balanced scoring from John Finnegan, Brian Montoya, Adam Wolff, Michael Garner, and Kevin Riccardi. Montoya, Wolff, Riccardi, and Rhett Saunders all had another strong rebounding performance.  John Finnegan calmly drained two free throws, putting them up by three with 16 seconds left to ice the victory for the Tornadoes. Offensively for the Black Hawks, Thomas Skrelja had 11 points and Robert Murray scored 9 points. Also scoring were Doug Carriero, Ben Terry, Jack Ciaramello, and Ricky Mariani. Grabbing rebounds were Robert Murray 9 and Thomas Skrelja 7. Defensive standouts for the Black Hawks were Ben Terry, Wally Skrelja (4 steals), Doug Carriero and Zack DeMeglio.

Newtown 54 Southbury 45: Rebounds were the name of the game, keeping Newtown in control of a tough Southbury team. Erwin Grewal, Adam Bergeron, and Silas Decker pulled the ball down and put it back up with sure shots. Evan Eggleston, Liam Deakin, and Ryan Escoda were on steal patrol, with Jake Perone and Andrew DeLuca beating Southbury to the glass every time. Nick Weiland and Ryan Kost were beast defenders, and with three minutes left to play, Southbury brought it to within 3, but the Newtown Tough Guys rebounds continued, with Kost securing Newtown’s win.