By Steve Bigham
By Steve Bigham
The Newtown High School boysâ basketball team begins play in the South-West Conference (SWC) tournament this weekend as it travels to Bunnell in Stratford for a first round matchup.
In all probability, Newtown will be the third seed and will face Bunnell, the host school at 1 pm on Saturday.
At press time, the Nighthawks (11-3 SWC and 13-6 overall) still had to play Foran at home in the regular season finale Wednesday night. If Newtown should lose to Foran, then it would become the fourth seed and in all likelihood face fifth-seeded Notre Dame. The Nighthawks defeated Notre Dame this year, but lost to Bunnell on January 30 in a game that saw Newtown come out flat.
Expect to see Newtown play Bunnell since a win over Foran at home was expected.
âI just want to play Bunnell again. I like our matchups. I hate playing in their building, but I think we can play with them. I have this intuition that weâre coming together nicely. Just at the right time,â Quinn said.
Kolbe Cathedral and Immaculate have locked up the first and second seeds and Masuk and Weston appear to have secured the seventh and eighth seeds. Stratford is expected to be the fourth seed.
A year ago, Newtown lost to top-seeded Notre Dame in the first round at Masuk.
âIt was just a great environment. Itâs what you work for. Our mission now is just to play one at a time and just keep playing,â Quinn said.
Newtownâs boasts one of its most balanced teams in recent memory and has the potential to beat anyone in the league â even Kolbe and its seven-foot center, Fernando Bonfirm. To do so, however, it must bring its game to the court, not necessarily its best game, just its game. It is a game that features a variety of different weapons that are tough to stop. It is a game that wears opponents down and wins close contests. It is a game that can win a championship.
But Newtown must avoid the peaks and valleys that have occasionally caused it troubles. It must also find a way to regroup when the opponent brings its best game. That was the case last Friday night at home when Newtown fell victim to a fired up Weston squad, which appeared to have caught the Nighthawks by surprise.
The Trojans, battling for a playoff spot, routed Newtown, 76-57, before a stunned home crowd. The visitors employed a tenacious 1-3-1 defensive attack that took the locals out of their game. Down by just three after the first quarter, Newtown hit a wall in the second quarter, getting outscored 21-12. It never recovered.
Newtown was led by Ryan Walker, the only Newtown player to score in double figures, with 16.
Matt Clarke paced Weston with 23 points, while Mike Evans, the leagueâs top scorer, added 15.
On Monday, Newtown regrouped for a 74-56 win over Brookfield in a non-conference contest on the road. John Fiscella led the way with 19 points, while Josh Dittmar and John Wesley each scored scored 12, Andrew Smith had 11, Walker threw in nine, and Jeff Wolcott had eight.
