Newtown High School’s girls’ basketball team defeated visiting Brookfield 51-34, on January 8, in what Coach Jeremy O’Connell called its “most complete game of the year.” Newtown won its third game in a row, improving to 5-3 overall.

The Nighthawks were led by Haley Ryan with 15 points and eight steals; and Mali Klorczyk with 13 points, four defensive rebounds, a trio of steals, and two assists. Rylee Mulligan and Olyvia Shaw had eight and seven points, respectively. Shaw also contributed five defensive rebounds, four steals, and one block. Lauren Wilcox had four points, and played tight defense to help the Nighthawks shut down the Bobcats for most of the night. Hailey Conrad and Kira Smith both added two points.

Newtown led 21-11 at halftime and 41-23 after three quarters. Ryan drained three shots from downtown, Mulligan hit a pair of 3-pointers, and Klorczyk also nailed a shot from beyond the arc.

Defense led to offense throughout this contest, as the Nighthawks turned steals and rebounds into fast-break opportunities time and time again.

Early in the second quarter, with Newtown clinging to a 10-6 lead, Ryan hit a 3-pointer. A Shaw steal at the other end sparked a fast-break opportunity, and Shaw was fouled and hit one free throw to make it 14-6. Shaw, soon thereafter, added another foul shot. Conrad’s loose ball tie-up led to a Mulligan basket to extend the lead to 11. Pressure defense generated a Conrad basket set up by a long pass from Wilcox to cap a 9-0 run, for a 19-6 cushion.

The Bobcats were within seven, 21-14, early in the third quarter, but got no closer. Shaw, set up by Klorczyk’s long pass, made it a 23-14 game, and Klorczyk converted a defensive rebound into two points when she went coast to coast to push the advantage back to double digits, at 25-15.

A full-court press led to a Newtown steal and a Klorczyk 3-pointer; and Ryan had takeaways on consecutive Brookfield possessions, turning one into an end-to-end layup and the other into a foul shooting opportunity in which she hit one of two shots, giving the Hawks an 18-point bulge through three quarters.

“We’re at our best when we get at it defensively. That dictates everything we do on the offensive end,” O’Connell said. “We had great effort and great energy today.”