When Newtown Flips The Switch It’s Lights Out For Opponents

By Andy Hutchison

Newtown High School’s girls’ basketball team showed in its January 20 win over Kolbe Cathedral just how dangerous it can be — and how important it is for the Nighthawks to flip that proverbial switch to turn the lights out on opponents.

The Nighthawks, after a sluggish first half — arguably the team’s worst half of basketball this winter — turned a first-quarter deficit and slim intermission lead into a 25-point bulge en route to a 71-51 win over the Cougars. Newtown improved to 11-2 overall and the Cougars fell to 6-6 in a battle of South-West Conference foes.

Errant passes and missed layups proved costly for the Nighthawks in the early going as Kolbe took an early lead and took advantage of those mistakes as well as its overall height advantage with baskets down low.

The Nighthawks carried a 26-21 lead into halftime and the teams traded points in the early going of the second half before NHS turned it on midway through the third quarter. With Newtown leading just 37-33, Jess Lynch converted a three-point play with a layup and foul shot for a seven-point cushion with 4:21 to go in the third. Riley Wurtz deposited two points following a coast-to-coast run made possible by a steal. The Nighthawks finally took their first double-digit lead, 43-33, when Wurtz made a great individual effort to track down a loose ball, and draw a foul — ultimately sinking one of two free throws — after second- and third-chance putback attempts wouldn’t fall. NHS led 46-37 after three, and blew the game open in the fourth.

“I think, tonight, it just clicked sometime in the third quarter, and we realize when we play with that effort, that enthusiasm, at that level, we’re pretty good,” Newtown Coach Jeremy O’Connell said.

Sure, the Nighthawks led at the intermission, and ended up winning with ease, but they are accustomed to blowing teams out on a regular basis. O’Connell just wants to see the girls play to the best of their ability all the time.

“I think the girls have to hold each other accountable to play at that level every night because when we do we’re pretty difficult to beat. But when we come out sluggish and don’t play together, and finish, and mentally strong, we can be beaten,” the coach said.

The Hawks made sure they wouldn’t be upset with a stellar fourth-quarter performance, in which they outscored the Cougars 25-14.

Wurtz set up Lynch with a no-look pass, Bridget Power sank a 3-pointer then stole the ball and converted the turnover into two points for a 56-39 NHS lead, prompting a Kolbe timeout with 6:12 to play. Out of the timeout, Newtown’s full-court press forced another turnover and Maddy Good assisted Wurtz. A block on the defensive end led to Erin Kenning setting up a wide-open Lynch for two more. Wurtz drained a three-pointer, and Lynch scored again to cap a 19-3 run to start the fourth quarter, giving Newtown a 65-40 lead.

Wurtz had 23 points, and Lynch and Power both dropped in 15 to help offset a 26-point performance by Kolbe’s Jasmyne Fogle, one of three players at least 5-foot-10 in the Cougars’ lineup.

“We’re good enough to play the way we played in the second half all the time. We just have to stay focused and know we can do that,” Power said.

Newtown had no problems in building a lead and cruising to a 69-36 victory over Notre Dame-Fairfield on its next game, at home on January 24. It was the team’s second victory by that score (NHS knocked off Masuk in Monroe 69-36 on January 3).

Before the two wins, Newtown was coming off only its second defeat of the season, and first to a conference opponent, in a setback at Lauralton Hall of Milford on January 17. “It just seemed we couldn’t get the bucket when we needed to, to get over the hump,” said O’Connell, adding that his team had strong defense in that setback.

The Hawks visit Brookfield on Friday, January 27, and return home to face Oxford on Tuesday, January 31 – both at 7 pm.