Newtown High School’s girls’ basketball team used a pair of great second-half performances to defeat South-West Conference foes New Fairfield 31-24 and Brookfield 44-31, January 5 and 9, at home and on the road, respectively.

With the wins, the Nighthawks improved to 5-2 overall and have held six straight opponents to 38 or fewer points. The Hawks managed only a dozen and baker’s dozen first-half points in the New Fairfield and Brookfield contests, but seized control after halftime of both matchups.

NHS led New Fairfield 12-11 at the intermission and went on a 14-0 run to start the second half to build a commanding 26-11 lead. Izzy Caron opened the third-quarter scoring with a 3-pointer, then stole the ball, was fouled and hit both free throws to set the tone for the period.

After another Newtown defensive stand, Bridget McCleary drained a 3-pointer. Allie Bradley scored off an inbound and added a layup, and Macey Cuomo scored in close to cap the run, prompting a New Fairfield timeout with 2:59 left in the quarter. The Rebels held NHS without another point until the fourth and ended their scoring drought with a 3-point play late in the third but it was 26-14 Newtown going to the fourth.

McCleary’s 3-pointer from the left corner opened the fourth-quarter scoring after strong defense led to a Cuomo knock-away on the defensive half of the court. The Rebels had a 6-0 run to get things back to single digits at 29-20 with 2:30 left but Bradley hit a pair of free throws before Rebels closed out the game with four points to make the score a bit closer.

“We played great defense tonight and I think our defense dictated the run we needed,” said Newtown Coach Jeremy O’Connell, adding that fast-break opportunities and made jump shots helped the Hawks build their lead.

Limiting the Rebels to 24 points was very fulfilling for O’Connell, whose team held three straight teams in the 20s before Brookfield barely cracked the 30s lid. “How could you not be happy with that? We’re learning to play to win instead of playing not to lose,” O’Connell said.

Despite the overall winning ways early on, there has been plenty of room for improvement, according to O’Connell, who said against the Rebels his players took care of and were strong with the ball, moved to open space on the court, and showed an understanding of what to do given the score and time remaining.

McCleary led Newtown with ten points, Caron scored five, and Cuomo, Bradley, and Kristen Reisert each added four. McCleary totaled six rebounds, and Bradley and Caron had five and four, respectively. Bella Gerace had three steals, and Cuomo had a block and steal.

“Tonight was a step in the right direction,” the coach added.

Newtown went from this win to taking an even bigger step forward in the next matchup, in Brookfield. After falling behind 18-13 at the half, the Hawks played their best basketball of the season, O’Connell said. “Extremely proud of the girls,” he added.

Gerace led the way with 16 points, Caron scored ten points, and Bradley added eight.

“Kristen Reisert and Macey Cuomo played exceptional D in the second half against Brookfield’s best player,” O’Connell said.

The Nighthawks, after hosting Bethel on Thursday, will travel to New Jersey to Ridgewood High this weekend before returning to Connecticut for three more consecutive road contests beginning with a January 20 visit to Weston at 7 pm. The Hawks venture back out of the South-West Conference when they visit Greenwich of the FCIAC on January 21 at 12:45 pm. Newtown visits conference rival Masuk of Monroe on January 24 at 7 pm, then is back home January 27 to face Stratford, also at 7 o’clock.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.