By Kim J. Harmon

The game that all but clinched them a berth in the South-West Conference tournament was on Monday night.

But the game that proved they have as good a chance as anyone else to win that tournament was on Tuesday night.

Senior guard Christie Iwanicki hit four three-pointers and dropped in a game-high 24 points as the Newtown High School girls’ basketball rallied back from a 10-point second-half deficit to stun Notre Dame, 57-54, on Tuesday in Fairfield.

“This is great,” said Iwanicki, whose 24-point effort gave her 340 for the season. “They are a very talented team, with three Division I players, and this proves that we can beat anyone in this league.”

The Lady Nighthawks improved to 14-6 overall, 9-5 in the SWC.

It was the 52-45 win over Lauralton Hall on Monday that secured an SWC tournament berth for the Lady Nighthawks, but it was the win over the Lady Lancers on Tuesday which gave them the belief that they have a chance to win it all.

“We came in thinking the pressure was on them,” said junior guard Katie Condon, “and we kept thinking how awesome it would be to win this game.”

Down as much as 10 points in the first half, the ‘Hawks pulled to within six at halftime, but the Lady Lancers scored two quick baskets to open the second period to take a 37-27 lead and prompting Newtown head coach Shawn O’Brien to take a timeout with the half less than a minute old.

It was a timeout well taken.

The locals went on an 11-2 run following that timeout to pull to within one point as Iwanicki canned a three-pointer and Darcy Fiscella dropped in a pair of buckets and though the Lancers scratched their way back to a four-point lead, the ‘Hawks closed out the period on a 5-0 run to take their first lead since late in the first.

It was a Nora Lynn Shimko drive on a beautiful Fiscella outlet which did the trick. It was Shimko’s only points of the game.

The Lancers went back on top with a three-pointer to open the final period, but moments later Iwanicki dropped in another three to tie the score. The lead sashayed back and forth until Iwanicki dropped in her fourth trey of the game at 1:21 to put the ‘Hawks on top for good.

“This was a game I knew I had to be on to win,” said Iwanicki, who averages 17 points a game and leads the team with 21 three-pointers. “We didn’t come in intimidated and my teammates really stepped it up.”

With 52.1 seconds left, Kristi Nowak – who teamed with Morgan Knees to hold Notre Dame’s big center, Candace Williams, somewhat in check – drew a key charging foul and with 33.2 seconds left Knees scrambled for a loose ball and called a smart timeout.

The final points came off free throws from Iwanicki and Katie Condon.

“They have three Division I players,” said Condon, “but we have five players with heart and that’s what mattered. It was a really physical game but Morgan and Kristi played great defense on Candace and we weren’t going to back down.”

Newtown 57, Notre Dame 54

NEWTOWN (57): Jordan Good 0 0-0 0, Christie Iwanicki 8 4-7 24, Nora Lynn Shimko 1 0-0 2, Darcy Fiscella 2 0-0 4, Kristi Nowak 3 2-2 8, Morgan Knees 7 1-4 15, Katie Condon 1 1-2 4. TOTALS: 22 8-17 57.

NOTRE DAME (54): Ryann Simmons 3 2-2 9, Rose Bajda 1 5-6 7, Taylor Simmons 7 1-1 16, Candace Williams 9 0-0 18, Jesika Holmes 2 0-2 4, Jessica Berard 0 0-0 0, Stephanie Wooten 0 0-0 0, Alicia Gilfort 0 0-0 0, Bridget Thayer 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 22 8-13 54.

Three-pointers: Iwanicki (N) 4, Condon (N), R. Simmons (ND), T. Simmons (ND).

 

Newtown 52, Lauralton Hall 45

LAURALTON HALL (45): Molly Yardley 4 1-4 10, Bridget O’Donnell 1 0-0 2, Kelly D’Ambrisi 1 1-3 3, Devon Leany 2 2-3 6, Morgan Dunne 1 0-0 2, Keylantra Langley 4 2-4 10, Kat Flaherty 3 2-5 8, Hailey Murray 2 0-0 4. TOTALS: 18 8-19 45.

NEWTOWN (52): Jordan Good 2 2-4 6, Christie Iwanicki 4 7-10 16, Nora Lynn Shimko 0 0-0 0, Darcy Fiscella 0 0-0 0, Kristi Nowak 4 2-3 10, Katie Power 1 3-4 6, Morgan Knees 3 0-0 6, Katie Condon 2 2-3 8. TOTALS: 16 16-24 52.

Three-pointers: Condon (N) 2, Iwanicki (N), Power (N), Yardley (LH).

 

Newtown 56, Immaculate 21

NEWTOWN (56): Jen Brewer 0 0-0 0, Christie Iwanicki 5 7-9 17, Nora Lynn Shimko 2 0-0 5, Darcy Fiscella 2 0-4 4, Kristi Nowak 2 5-7 9, Morgan Knees 4 1-3 9, Katie Condon 0 1-6 1, Emily Leidlein 1 1-4 3, Katie Power 1 0-0 3, Brittany Papaj 1 1-2 3, Jordan Good 0 2-2 2. TOTALS: 18 18-37 56.

IMMACULATE (21): Jennie DiCarlo 1 0-0 3, Megan Wax 1 0-0 2, Maura Kilcullen 0 0-1 0, Kelly Romaine 0 1-2 1, Ashley Ward 0 0-0 0, Dayna Foley 0 1-4 1, Erica Evuen 0 0-2 0, Rachel Heisler 3 5-8 11, Jen Daily 0 1-2 1, Liz Hartman 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 6 8-19 21.

Three-pointers: Shimko (N), Power (N), DiCarlo (I).

WRESTLING

6th at SWCs

John Gouveia and Marc Halper had tangled on the mat before – as recently as January 31 – and had a chance to re-hash that match last Saturday in the championship of the 119-pound division at the South-West Conference tournament.

Gouveia was unable to stop Halper on January 31 and was unable to do so last weekend, falling in a tough 6-3 decision. Still, it was the best performance by a Newtown wrestler on a day that saw the Nighthawks finish sixth overall with 86.50 points.

New Milford (203), Bethel (147) and New Fairfield (110.50) took the top three spots.

Mark Bonamici (130 pounds) and Joel Minalgo (215 pounds) won their consolation finals, with Bonamici earning a 4-3 decision over Dillon Ivan of Bethel and Minalgo pinning Cody Hoskins of Masuk in 3:26.

Jagi Gyamcho also reached the consolation finals in the 152-pound division, but he was pinned by Joe Wabshinak of New Fairfield at 3:07.

Gouveia is ranked third in the upcoming CIAC Class LL tournament with a 28-5 record. Other top 10 seeds include Gyamcho (152) in seventh at 23-7 and Minalgo (215) in eighth at 24-7. Meanwhile, Bryant Aliaga (189) is seeded 10th at 24-8, Dana Van Buskirk (125) is seeded 15th at 20-11 and Bonamici (130) is seeded 16th at 15-14.

At the SWCs –

TEAMS: 1. New Milford 203.00, 2. Bethel 147.00, 3. New Fairfield 110.50, 4. Masuk 103.00, 5. Stratford 91.50, 6. Newtown 86.50, 7. Brookfield 84.00, 8. Pomperaug 82.00, 9. Bunnell 76.00, 10. Immaculate 69.50, 11. Joel Barlow 37.00, 12. Weston 32.00.

INDIVIDUAL CLASSES

103: Championship – Joe Levine (Brookfield) dec. Kevin Workman (Bunnell) 17-1. Consolation – Dennis Christie (Immaculate) pinned Russel Parker (New Milford) 4:13.

112: Championship – Anthony Ricco (Stratford) dec. Jesse Broderick (New Fairfield) 4-0. Consolation – Anthony Amorando (New Milford) pinned Bryan Turkel (Weston) 2:50.

119: Championship – Marc Halper (Bunnell) dec. John Gouveia (Newtown) 6-3. Consolation – Mikhail Grant (New Fairfield) dec. Tyler Sadowski (New Milford) 9-3.

125: Championship – Jesse Inman (Stratford) pinned Dan Curtis (Immaculate) 3:23. Consolation – Edin Mesanovic (New Milford) dec. Nick Bacarella (Masuk) 10-8.

130: Championship – Spiros Stefanatos (New Milford) pinned Mike Frick (New Fairfield) 0:55. Consolation – Mark Bonamici (Newtown) dec. Dillon Ivan (Bethel) 4-3.

135: Championship – Julian Christie (Immaculate) dec. Micah Flashman (Masuk) 7-0. Consolation – D.J. McCarthy (New Fairfield) major dec. Dan Cahalane (New Milford) 11-2.

140: Championship – Steve Flathers (Stratford) dec. Albert Ortiz (Bunnell) 4-0. Consolation – Rob Fiore (Barlow) dec. Andrew Lischke (Bethel) 9-4.

145: Championship – Shane Yachulke (New Fairfield) dec. Michael Bellagamba (New Milford) 8-3. Consolation – Pat Porzillo (Pomperaug) dec. Jamison Blackwell (Bunnell) 4-2.

152: Championship – Andrew Ford (Bethel) major dec. Steele Verzello (Pomperaug) 13-1. Consolation – Joe Wabshinak (New Fairfield) pinned Jagi Gyamcho (Newtown) 3:07.

160: Championship – Cody Griswold (New Milford) major dec. Sean Gentile (Bethel) 19-7. Consolation – Eric Cieply (Pomperaug) dec. Kyle Ungar (Barlow) 9-6.

171: Championship – Mike Kaptein (Bethel) dec. Mike McKeever (Brookfield) 8-2. Consolation – Jay Bucciarelli (Pomperaug) dec. Thad Diamond (New Milford) 6-4.

189: Championship – John Wamser (Brookfield) dec. Scott Christy (Masuk) 4-1. Consolation – Tyler Gazetos (Bethel) dec. Chris Leier (New Milford) 9-2.

215: Championship – Steve Bendrick (New Milford) dec. Anthony Bonagura (Bethel) 8-6. Consolation – Joel Minalgo (Newtown) pinned Cody Hoskins (Masuk) 3:26.

275: Championship – Paul Fenaroli (Masuk) pinned Jordan Miro (Stratford) 1:35.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Immaculate 59, Newtown 57

All the Newtown High School boys’ basketball team needs now is a break.

After improving to 10-2 with a 62-59 overtime win over Masuk back on January 23, whatever luck or fortunate breaks may have gotten along the way have been non-existent as the Nighthawks dropped their fifth straight last Friday with a 59-57 loss to Immaculate.

The ‘Hawks squandered a six-point halftime lead as the Mustangs exploded for 25 third-quarter points. Down two, the ‘Hawks still had a chance to win but a controversial call on Kevin Troy’s three-point attempt at the buzzer doomed that chance.

Joe DeVellis scored 16 points and Mike Kennedy added 15 more and together the two combined to shoot 17-of-23 from the free throw line. Trouble was, the rest of the team shot a combined 3-of-13 from the stripe.

Dan DiBuono of Immaculate led all scorers with 18 points and Ryan Soares added 11, the two combining for seven three-point buckets.

With three games left on the slate, the ‘Hawks hoped to snap their losing streak on Friday against Notre Dame before closing out the regular season next week against Kolbe Cathedral (Monday) and Bunnell (Wednesday).

Immaculate 59, Newtown 57

IMMACULATE (59): Nick DeSilva 2 2-2 6, Dan DiBuono 6 2-3 18, Ryan Soares 3 2-2 11, Drew Raymond 0 0-0 0, Mark Laporte 0 1-4 1, Ryan Nolan 1 4-6 7, James Nevin 0 0-0 0, Morgan Diamont 2 1-2 5, Chris Cerminara 4 1-3 10. TOTALS: 24 12-22 59.

NEWTOWN (57): Mike Kennedy 3 10-13 15, Tucker Kass 2 2-2 7, Dan Smith 0 0-2 0, Jack Quinn 0 0-0 0, Kevin Troy 4 1-6 11, Jason Smith 0 0-0 0, Mike Maher 0 0-0 0, Jake DeVellis 3 0-3 6, Shaun Coakley 0 0-0 0, Joe DeVellis 4 7-10 16, PJ Cochrane 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 17 20-36 57.

Three-pointers: DiBuono (I) 4, Soares (I) 3, Nolan (I), Cerminara (I), Kass (N), Troy (N), Joe DeVellis (N).

HOCKEY

Sheehan 3, Newtown 1

Newtown 1, Housatonic 1

It was unfortunate that sophomore goaltender Mitch Bloomberg had to turn in one of his finest performances of the season last Wednesday … unfortunate only in the sense that it wasn’t quite enough to lift the Newtown High School hockey team past Sheehan.

Bloomberg faced 52 shots and stopped 50 of them, but Sheehan still came out with a 3-1 win at the Danbury Ice Arena.

Things were looking mighty good for the Nighthawks when junior Francis Oggeri scored just 45 seconds into the first period, but Tyler Timek of Sheehan answered back in the first to tie the game and then notched two more goals in the third – one on an empty net – to lift the Titans to the win.

Senior assistant captain Pat Daly stepped in for his first start on defense and played well.

That loss, coupled with a 1-1 tie against Housatonic Valley Regional on Friday at the Salisbury School, dropped the ‘Hawks to 10-5-1 … still good enough to be ranked third in Division III behind Sheehan (12-3-1) and Manchester (13-4-0).

The ‘Hawks are also 7-3-0 in the South-West Conference, sitting in second behind undefeated New Milford.

Against Housatonic, Oggeri scored the lone Newtown goal off an assist from Matt Wright. Housy out-shot Newtown, 31-24, in the game with Bloomberg making 30 saves to give him 404 stops on the year and a strong 91.2 save percentage.

There are just four games left on the schedule and Friday will be the final home match as Fitch/East Lyme come to Danbury. The ‘Hawks will be hosting Senior Night activities with a video slide show of the four seniors (Pat Daly, Taylor Casey, Peter Horozsko and Chris Kraft) which will include interviews conducted by Jake Burg.

There will also be a Chuck-a-Puck event and student volunteers will be providing refreshments after the game. The puck drops at 7:45 pm.

INDOOR TRACK

Boys – 15th in Class LL

Girls – Did not place in Class LL

They scored only a half dozen points between ‘em, but the Newtown High School indoor track and field teams came home last weekend proud of a strong performance.

Senior Charlie Baldour had the best finish of any Newtown competitor, coming in third in the 1,000 meters and qualifying for the State Opens this weekend. His mark of 2:36.89 broke his own school record (by seven seconds) and was just one of several school records set on the day.

Baldour also teamed with Scott Nichols, Steven Ashbolt and Cody Cullens to slash nine seconds off the school record in the sprint medley relay, finishing 3:52.67 and coming in eighth. The 4x400 team of Nichols, Jon Toll, Eric Thornberg and Matt Saxonmeyer then set the school record with a 3:46.11, ninth-place … the third straight year a new record has been set in the event.

In other events, Eric Macknight took 10th in the 1,000 meters at 2:44.03 (less than a second off the old record) while Nichols was 11th in the 600 in 1:29.30 (the second-best Newtown performance ever). Thornberg was 14th in the 300 at 39.17 (best-ever freshman performance) while Kevin Hoyt and Zack Schwartz finished 13th and 14th in the 3,200 meters. Ashbolt also finished 24th in the 55 meter dash at 7.05 as the 4x800 team of Kevin Donahue, Kevin Hoyt, Greg Hill and Saxonmeyer finished 10th at 8:57.42.

“On a senior-laden team, there were a lot of strong performances on the boys side,” said head coach Dave Foss, “particularly in the distance events.”

Meanwhile, despite some strong finishes, the girls failed to score a point. Lauren Sudbey took seventh overall in the long jump, one place out of the scoring, with a leap of 15-06.75 last weekend … more than two feet shy of the 17-10.00 turned in by Vlada Shelkova of Newington.

Alison McEmber’s ninth-place finish in the 600, at 1:44.30, narrowly missed breaking her own school record by .03 seconds. McEmber then teamed with Julie Landin, Kelley Sullivan and Sudbey for a 10th place finish in the 4x400 with a time of 4:25.83, the second-best indoor 4x400 time in school history.

The 4x800 team of Moira Collier, Erin Nemeth, Natalie Villa and Sara Pollock also finished 10th, with a season best 10:41.90. The 4x200 team of Annika Garrett, Emily Lockhart, Audra Oliger and Meghan Barbour finished 15th with a season best of 2:00.22 and the sprint medley relay team of Lockhart, Garrett, Sullivan and Villa finished in 12th with a time of 4:55.44 despite Villa being tripped up twice and fighting to the finish.

Other individual performances included Jaclyn VanWaalwijk’s 15th-place finish in the shot put and Landin’s 14th place in the 300 with a time of 45.07. Annika Garrett was 22nd in the 55 dash with a time of 8.01. 

“All in all,” said coach Foss, “it was a fine season by the girls with some strong young returners for next year.”

BOYS

 

300 meters – 14. Eric Thornberg 39.17; 600 meters – 11. Scott Nichols 1:29.30; 1,000 meters – 3. Charlie Baldour 2:36.89, 10. Eric MacKnight 2:44.03; 3,200 meters – 13. Kevin Hoyt 10:04.55, 14. Zack Schwartz 10:08.55; 4x200 relay – 18. Newtown (Brian Pennarola, Joshua Miles, Robert DeFillippe and Stephen Ashbolt) 1:52.76; 4x400 relay – 9. Newtown (Jonathan Toll, Eric Thornberg, Scott Nichols, Matthew Saxonmeyer) 3:46.11; 4x800 relay – 10. Newtown (Kevin Donahue, Greg Hill, Kevin Hoyt, Matthew Saxonmeyer) 8:57.42; Sprint Medley – 8. Newtown (Stephen Ashbolt, Charlie Baldour, Cody Cullens, Scott Nichols) 3:52.67.

GIRLS

300 meters – 14. Julie Landin 45.07; 600 meters – 9. Alison McEmber 1:44.30; 4x200 relay – 15. Newtown (Annika Garret, Emily Lockhart, Meghan Barbour, Audra Oliger) 2:00.22; 4x400 relay – 10. Newtown (Alison McEmber, Lauren Sudbey, Julie Landin, Kelley Sullivan) 4:25.83; 4x800 relay – 10. Newtown (Moira Collier, Erin Nemeth, Sara Pollock, Natalie Villa) 10:41.90; Sprint Medley – 12. Newtown (Kelly Sullivan, Natalie Villa, Emily Lockhart, Annika Garrett) 4:55.44; Long jump – 7. Lauren Sudbey 15-06.75; Shot put – 15. Jaclyn Van Waalwijk 28-06.