By Andy Hutchison

The Newtown High School boys’ basketball team came away with a win and endured only its second loss of the season in a pair of conference games this past week. The Nighthawks are 12-2 (6-2 in the South-West Conference) as they gear up for Friday’s home game against Weston at 7 pm.

Coming off a tough overtime loss to Masuk on January 22, the Newtown boys’ basketball team went to Pomperaug last Friday and changed their overtime fortunes with a 65-62 win. Newtown won a nonleague game between these teams by five points earlier in the year and escaped with another close one in their league battle this time around. Newtown Coach John Quinn said it was a tough test for his team to go on the road after suffering a tough-to-swallow loss only a few days before.

“Pomperaug is a very good team. I was pleased with the victory,” said Quinn, adding that his team didn’t play its best basketball despite the win.

Kevin Troy led the way with a big game — a 30-point performance sparked by a trio of three-pointers and a 5-for-6 performance at the foul line.

In their next game, on Tuesday, the Nighthawks stumbled and fell 40-37 at Brookfield.

“We’re in first place, we’ve got a target on our back and it was obvious to me Brookfield was ready both mentally and to play with us on the court,” Quinn said.

The Nighthawks have six games left as they try to get back to their top-notch form heading into postseason. After the Weston game, they are home again Tuesday to face Stratford at 7 pm.