By Kim J. Harmon

MONROE – The championship game of the Masuk Holiday Tournament was almost anticlimactic in a way with the undefeated Newtown High School Nighthawks challenging the Falcons of Joel Barlow – a team the ‘Hawks had beaten by 22 points just a couple weeks ago.

But it was still a game and one the ‘Hawks weren’t about to take all that lightly – especially since they hadn’t yet won a title in the Masuk tournament since first joining it three years ago.

They have now.

With nine different players scoring at least one points and Lisa Masella leading the way with 10, Newtown crushed Joel Barlow, 46-20, to capture the tournament championship.

The win pushed the Nighthawks’ record to 7-0 overall, 3-0 in the South-West Conference. The ‘Hawks advanced to the final by virtue of a 49-41 win over Masuk last Wednesday night in the marquee match-up of the tournament (see related story).

In the final, it appeared, at least early in the first quarter, as if the Falcons certainly had their own designs on the title and that the 55-33 loss they suffered to the ‘Hawks back on December 12 wasn’t all that relevant.

They came out very fast, very energetic, and built up a quick 5-2 lead with just a couple minutes gone.

The three-point deficit did not, however, prove to be too daunting for the ‘Hawks. All they did was go on a 19-0 run that put them ahead, 21-5, midway through the second quarter.

Morgan Haines (nine points on the night) started the rally with the first of her two three-point baskets on the night. Just about everyone got into the rally, too, as Ally Gellert collected a pair of baskets, and Jayme Beckham, Haines, Lauren Adamek, and Amanda Marsilio had one apiece.

The Falcons finally broke the run with 3:01 left to play in the first half on a short jumper. It was actually the start of a short, 7-0, run that went on into the third period and trimmed the Nighthawks’ lead as low as it would go the rest of the night, 21-12.

Then Lori Iwanicki canned a pair of free throws, Haines drained her second three-pointer of the night, Masella tossed in a putback after two misses, and Gellert buried a three-pointer to quickly expand that lead by 10 points to 31-12.

The ‘Hawks coasted home from there, despite the fact that the Falcons went on a mini 6-0 run to close the third period and shorten the Newtown lead to 31-18. That’s because the ‘Hawks outscored the Falcons 15-2 in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

Masella had seven of her game-high 10 points in the period and Marsilio added half of her eight points. The Iwanicki sisters, Lori and Julie, both chipped in foul shots and Shannon Kohn scored her first varsity point of the season to finish the game.

NOTE: Lisa Masella, Amanda Marsilio and Lori Iwanicki were all selected for the All-Tournament Team. Iwanicki - who scored 24 points in the two games and was dominating off the boards – was also honored as the Most Valuable Player.