Update: Newtown lost its first game of the season with a hard-fought 49-47 overtime setback at Stratford on Thursday.

It’s only late January. But, then again, it’s already almost February, and Newtown High School’s boys’ basketball team went into Thursday’s visit to Stratford at 7 pm still unbeaten.

The Nighthawks continue to not only win, but win big most of the time, as they have steamrolled much of the competition thus far. The Hawks, with home wins over last year’s Division I state champions Notre Dame-Fairfield (80-48 on January 18) and Brookfield (72-50 on January 22), improved to 11-0 (5-0 in South-West Conference play). Through play on January 22, the Hawks were the only team still unbeaten overall in the SWC, and one of just three lineups that are perfect in conference play.

Although the Nighthawks have been led by go-to scorers, namely Robert DiSibio (19.6 points per game), Tucker Garrity (14.6), and Riley Ward (12.9) as the team has averaged a shade under 70 points per contest, there are contributions all around.

Todd Petersen (9.5 points per game) leads in the rebounding department with an average of 8.1 pull-downs per game. DiSibio averages 7.3 rebounds. Jack Petersen averages 5.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. Max Bloomquist has scored 5.5 points per matchup.

The team lost Shea Talbot and his four rebounds per game to a season-ending injury earlier in January. It started the slate without Todd Petersen for a few games and, against Brookfield, was without DiSibio and Jack Mulligan, who has been a key player off the bench, averaging 5.7 points and 6.7 boards. Tallcouch is hopeful to have those injured players back in the fold sooner than later, but even without being at full strength, this team has had no trouble winning.

Coach Tim Tallcouch said his bench is deeper than it has ever been. A baker’s dozen players have played in three or more games, nine of them playing in a half-dozen or more contests. Jack Kuligowski and Preston Bliss-Martinez have played in seven and six games, respectively.

“This year, the bench has been huge for us. Kids are stepping up, and they’re playing really well,” Tallcouch said of the contributions from players who sub into game action.

Newtown runs the fast-break well, utilizing its rebounding prowess and speed to move up the court and score in transition. Led by point guard Garrity’s ball distribution and threat to drive to the rim at any time, the half-court game is also dangerous. The Petersens and DiSibio are all tall threats (at or around 6-and-a-half feet tall) down low but are athletic and accurate from the outside, especially DiSibio and Jack Petersen, who have combined to drain two dozen shots from behind the arc. Bloomquist has made 11 shots from downtown, and Ward has nine. Newtown has made 60 of its 3-point attempts, good for a 33 percent mark from behind the arc, the equivalent of shooting a whopping 50 percent from 2-point field goal range. Newtown’s 3-point shooting might be contagious. NHS soccer player Karsen Pirone banked home a half-court shot during halftime entertainment at the Brookfield game.

In the preseason, Tallcouch said he knew the offense would be there, and it certainly has. He said a key would be to get better defensively after losing strong defenders to graduation a year ago. The defense has done well. The Hawks have surrendered under 51 points per game, giving them an average differential of about 20.

“Defensively, we are getting to a point where I feel like we’re as good as the end of last year, if not better at times,” Tallcouch said.

Newtown’s stingy D carried it to the Division II state playoff semifinals and kept the No. 21 seed’s upset bid of No. 9 Amity of Woodbridge in the semis alive until the buzzer of a 48-45 setback. Tallcouch reiterates that the experience of last winter's state playoff run has helped prepare the Hawks for success this season.

The defense did its thing against Notre Dame, and the offense went a bit beyond its standards in what Tallcouch said was his team’s best overall performance of the slate.

“These kids played 32 straight minutes of intense, focused, committed basketball,” said Tallcouch, whose lineup dropped the Lancers to 6-5 overall and 2-2 in conference play.

Garrity poured in 23 points, DiSibio had 17 before leaving with an injury, Ward 13, and Kuligowski 11 to lead the Nighthawks. Kuligowski made three of Newtown’s seven 3-pointers.

Jack Petersen had seven points, and Todd Petersen added three.

Todd Petersen had eight rebounds, and DiSibio and Garrity both had six. Ward had seven assists, Garrity six assists, and Todd Petersen and DiSibio five and four, respectively. The defense was stout as the Hawks combined for seven steals and six blocked shots.

In the win over Brookfield (8-3 overall and 2-3 in the conference), Todd Petersen led with 23 points, and Garrity and Ward scored 16 and 15, respectively. Bloomquist scored 11, and Kuligowski had seven.

Todd Petersen grabbed ten rebounds to go along with six assists and four steals. Ward dished out nine assists, had four rebounds, and came away with five steals. Garrity had five rebounds and six assists. Jack Petersen logged five rebounds, three assists, and a trio of steals. Isiah Williams had four rebounds.

"I felt this team came in and responded so well. This could have been a trap game," Tallcouch said of following up a rematch a Notre Dame team that eliminated Newtown from the SWC tournament quarterfinals a year ago with Brookfield.

Newtown got moved from D-II to D-III this year based on the team’s record during the last three years as well as boys’ enrollment, but the Hawks have plenty to focus on before the state playoffs.

Tallcouch and assistants Bob Gendreau, Jeff Bussey, and Issac Gyimah are working hard to not let the players look past the game at hand. With how things have gone, it has got to be hard not to wonder what could come of late February and March when it is tournament time.

Newtown has some potentially difficult tests ahead as the regular slate unfolds. Stratford went into Thursday’s game 7-5 overall and 4-1 in the conference; Stratford’s gym is a tough place to play, with the crowd right on top of the benches and court. Up next is a Monday, January 28 visit to Immaculate of Danbury (8-1, 5-0). Also on the schedule are Bunnell of Stratford (9-3, 5-0), and nonconference opponent Crosby of Waterbury (7-3 heading into the middle of the week). The games with Newtown's fellow unbeaten SWC foes stand to be a good barometer as the Nighthawks approach the late-February conference playoffs.

“Every game, we are focused on that team with an eye looking to the future,” Tallcouch said. “We just want to take it one game at a time and keep it going, keep it going.”