Newtown High School’s basketball teams are prepared to embark on four-game stretches on the road and home, respectively. The girls will visit Bethel, and the boys will host Bethel on Friday, January 15 —tipoff for both games is 7 pm.

The girls’ squad defeated host Lauralton Hall of Milford 38-24 on January 9. This marked the third time in a four-game stretch in which Nighthawk opponents were held in the 20s.

Mali Klorczyk led Newtown with 11 points, Haley Ryan had eight, Olyvia Shaw scored seven, and Rylee Mulligan tacked on six with a pair of 3-pointers. Mulligan had a trio of assists, and Shaw pulled down a team-high five rebounds. The Hawks had solid overall defense as Kelly Merrick blocked three shots, Klorczyk came away with three steals, and Ryan and Shaw both had a pair of steals.

Newtown saw its winning streak end at four games as visiting Notre Dame-Fairfield defeated the Hawks 38-17, on January 12.

The Hawks, 6-4 overall, after visiting Bethel, will go to Immaculate of Danbury on January 19, Bunnell of Stratford on January 22, and New Milford on January 26. The next home contest is set for Friday, January 29, when Joel Barlow of Redding comes to town. All games will take place beginning at 7 pm.

Boys Fall Short

Newtown High’s boys’ basketball team showed plenty of resiliency but couldn’t overcome visiting Norwalk, in a 79-65 loss, on January 9.

The Nighthawks trailed by double digits and managed to whittle the deficits down to eight points four times in the final ten minutes of play to hang around before eventually succumbing. Nick Weiland, Dillon Palumbo, and Tom Cotton all hit late third quarter and fourth quarter 3-pointers to keep the Nighthawks in the game, but Newtown got no closer.

Weiland hit a trio of 3-pointers in the game, and Palumbo added a pair of treys among Newtown’s seven shots from beyond the arc.

Palumbo scored 18 points, Weiland had 13, Sam Duffy dropped in 12, Joe Duero had nine, and Cotton added eight to lead Newtown scorers.

Cotton added four assists, Duffy had eight rebounds, Palumbo and Mason Melillo had five rebounds apiece, and Duero pulled down four rebounds.

The Nighthawks lost 71-59 at Torrington, on January 11. Palumbo led the way with 16 points, Duffy had 12, Cotton scored 11, and Nevin Zink added six as ten Nighthawks got on the score sheet.

Duffy had seven rebounds, Zink had five, and Cotton had four. Cotton had four assists, and Sam Grossano had four steals.

Newtown fell 71-40 at Notre Dame-Fairfield, on January 12. Zink led the Hawks with 14 points, Duero had six, and Evan Eggleston and Cotton both added five.

The Nighthawks fell to 1-7 as they head into their four-game stretch of home contests, mirroring the girls’ squad’s slate with the same dates, times, and opponents, beginning with Bethel’s visit on Friday, January 15.