By Kim J. Harmon

I

s there anything better than a playoff situation – with the fundamental one-and-done finality of it all – to get the old blood boiling?

There were plenty of thrilling moments this past week as Newtown High School saw its ice hockey and girls’ basketball teams battle their way through their respective South-West Conference semi-finals. And while the results were different (with the hockey team falling to Bethel/Brookfield and the girls’ basketball team edging Kolbe Cathedral), there were thrills all the same.

All it took was for something to open their eyes.

After a dismal 48-34 loss to Masuk in the regular season finale last Wednesday – when just about everything went wrong – the Newtown High School girls’ basketball team became more focused than ever. And with wins over No. 5 Pomperaug last Saturday and No. 1 Kolbe Cathedral on Tuesday, the Lady Nighthawks are on their way to the South-West Conference championship game.

To face Masuk.

“We had a heart to heart talk (after the Masuk game),” said head coach Tim Salem, “and the theme was – ‘When is it going to matter?’ We realized if we didn’t pick it up, our season would be over.”

The Lady Nighthawks picked it up all right, putting the clamps on Erica Beverly and the Lady Cougars and coming away with a thrilling (but much more thrilling than it needed to be) 46-42 win at Bunnell High School in Stratford. In the preliminary, Masuk slipped past Notre Dame in double overtime to earn yet another trip to the conference finals.

“We thought it would be a battle – like it was,” said coach Salem, whose team split a pair with Kolbe during the regular season. “We thought if we came out and executed, we had a shot. And the girls did a real good job of limiting Beverly’s shots.”

Yes, the ‘Hawks did a real fine job on defense – but they had to, since they shot just 14-of-53 from the field (26.4%).

“And they were good shots,” said coach Salem, “but a lot of them went in and out on us. But the girls didn’t lose their composure on the defensive end.”

The ‘Hawks misfired on their first nine shots from the field, but with two buckets from Kelley Haines (one of those a three-pointer) and another from Katie O’Connor, they managed to leave the game tied, 8-8. But in the second, the girls drained four of their first five shots (one each by Jacky Curran, Ashley Larocque, Haines and Siobhan Cooper) and quickly went up 16-12. With a basket by O’Connor and four points from Stephanie Logan (on 4-of-4 shooting from the foul line), the ‘Hawks extended their lead to 24-14.

But Kolbe rallied a bit, going on a 7-0 run into the third period to trim the Newtown lead to 24-21. And after the ‘Hawks went back up by 10 as Larocque hit a couple of baskets, Logan hit a basket and a free throw, and O’Connor canned a pair of free throws, the Cougars rallied again with a three-pointer and two consecutive baskets by Beverly to trim the Newtown lead to 35-32 by the close of the third period.

And the seesaw was still in motion in the fourth period.

The ‘Hawks went up by nine, 41-32, on a basket by Larocque and another four points from Logan (another 4-of-4 effort from the foul line) only to see the Cougars go on a 10-2 run to trim the Newtown lead to 43-42 with just 54 seconds remaining.

But unlike in the season opener against Kolbe, when the ‘Hawks nearly blew a 12-point, fourth-quarter lead, their composure remained.

Larocque hit a free throw with 28 seconds left to put the ‘Hawks up by two and after Beverly missed the front end of a one-and-one with less than 20 seconds to go, the ‘Hawks put the game away on a fast-break layup by Curran with seven seconds left.

Setting up yet another engagement with Masuk.

Logan had a phenomenal game for the ‘Hawks, scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. A 47% shooter from the foul line entering the game, Logan canned 10-of-13 (76.9%) from the charity stripe to lead the way.

Now, the quarterfinal win over Pomperaug last Saturday was a far cry from the events that transpired back on January 17, when the ‘Hawks fell into a 12-0 hole in the first quarter and managed to struggle out of it with suffocating, second-half defense.

The ‘Hawks hit their shots early at the Cardinal Shehan Center in Bridgeport (there were a pair of threes by Haines in the first quarter alone) and that gave them the impetus to earn themselves to a 52-45 win. Coming just two days after a poor showing at Masuk, it was a relief.

“We had a long talk after the Masuk game,” co-captain Julie Iwanicki said. “We knew that was not the way we perform. We had a couple of practices (before Pomperaug) and we could tell we were more relaxed and realized this is what we worked for all year.”

The ‘Hawks never trailed in the game (although things did get tense from time to time). The ‘Hawks went up as much as five points, 7-2, in the first quarter before the Lady Panthers closed the gap to two and the ‘Hawks went up as much as six points in the second quarter before the Lady Panthers once again closed the gap to two.

Clinging to a 15-13 lead, though, the ‘Hawks finished the first half on an 11-2 run to take a 26-15 lead.

“Coming out hot definitely helped us,” said Iwanicki. “Sometimes we come out flat, but we realize this is a team effort and everyone has to contribute.”

The Lady Panthers nibbled away at the lead in the third period, but could not get closer than eight points. It wasn’t until early in the fourth period, when Lexi Allen drained back-to-back three-pointers, that the Lady Panthers injected new life into the game.

Still, Curran hit a pair of free throws and added a bucket in the low blocks to expand the lead back to nine. Then Logan hit a baseline basket (off a beautiful feed from Iwanicki) to put the ‘Hawks back on top by 11 with a little over a minute to go.

It could have ended quietly, but it did not. The Lady Panthers canned a pair of baskets and hit a pair of free throws with 44.4 seconds to go to trim the Newtown lead to just five points, 45-40.

It would get no closer. In the final 28.8 seconds of the game, Haines (21 points on the night) went 7-of-8 from the free throw line to put the game away.

Larocque canned 10 points while Cooper and Curran chipped in six apiece.

Newtown                       34

Masuk                             48

NEWTOWN (34): Julie Iwanicki 1 2-2 4, Jacky Curran 1 1-2 3, Carly Curran 0 0-0 0, Stephanie Logan 1 0-0 2, Ashley Larocque 9 0-0 18, Siobhan Cooper 0 0-0 0, Tori Filler 0 0-0 0, Kelley Haines 2 1-1 5, Katie O’Connor 1 0-0 2 (TOTALS: 15 4-5 34). MASUK (48): Brittany Tartaglia 1 0-0 3, Jess Kramer 2 0-1 4, Alexis Bates 1 0-0 2, Barb Bria 3 0-0 6, Kelly Caulfield 4 4-4 12, Michelle Martinik 6 5-6 17, Amy Corchard 2 0-2 4 (TOTALS: 19 9-13 48).

Three-pointers: Tartaglia (M).

Pomperaug                   45

Newtown                       52

POMPERAUG (45): Anna Balouskas 1 0-0 2, Annie Ackerman 0 0-0 0, Paige Moore 0 4-4 4, Andrea Northrup 1 0-0 2, Abby Maguire 4 1-1 9, Jenna Koliani 0 4-4 4, Lauren Kulish 1 0-0 2, Jacqueline Johannes 0 2-2 2, Lexi Allen 7 0-0 17 (TOTALS: 14 12-12 45). NEWTOWN (52): Julie Iwanicki 0 0-0 0, Jacky Curran 2 2-2 6, Carly Curran 1 0-0 2, Stephanie Logan 1 2-2 4, Ashley Larocque 5 0-1 10, Siobhan Cooper 3 0-0 6, Tori Filler 0 0-0 0, Kelley Haines 5 8-10 21, Katie O’Connor 1 1-2 3 (TOTALS: 18 13-17 52).

Three-pointers: Haines (N) 3, Allen (P) 3.

Newtown                       46

Kolbe Cathedral         42

NEWTOWN (46): Julie Iwanicki 0 0-0 0, Jacky Curran 2 0-1 4, Stephanie Logan 3 10-13 16, Ashley Larocque 4 1-3 9, Siobhan Cooper 1 1-1 3, Tori Filler 0 0-0 0, Kelley Haines 3 2-2 9, Katie O’Connor 1 3-3 5 (TOTALS: 14 17-23 46). KOLBE (42): Alisha Bailey 1 0-0 2, D’Lea Cohen 0 0-0 0, Janay Prim 3 0-0 6, Erica Beverly 8 1-2 17, Antonnea Robinson 4 0-2 8, Tiana Laing 1 0-0 2, Curtia Humbert 2 0-0 5, Rakeeda King 1 0-0 2, Timiesha Rivera 0 0-0 0 (TOTALS: 20 1-4 42).

Three-pointers: Haines (N), Humbert (K).

Hartford Courant

Top 20

  1. Manchester                    19-0

  2. Guilford                          18-1

  3. Hillhouse                       18-1

  4. Windsor                          16-2

  5. Norwich Free                 17-2

  6. Glastonbury                  17-2

  7. Kolbe-Cathedral          17-2

  8. Brien McMahon            16-2

  9. East Catholic                17-1

10. Notre Dame                  17-2

11. Masuk                            17-2

12. Newtown                        16-3

13. Old Lyme                       18-1

14. Cromwell                       19-0

15. Trinity Catholic           16-3

16. Torrington                     16-2

17. Seymour                         17-2

19. Trumbull                       15-4

20. Middletown                   15-4

In four of the last six periods that the Newtown High School hockey team battled Bethel/Brookfield, things have been fairly even.

But it was those other two periods that really did the Nighthawks in … like on Monday night in the semi-finals of the South-West Conference Division II playoffs, where the ‘Hawks quickly and unceremoniously fell into a 4-0 hole before playing the Bobcats even for the final 30 minutes.

Playing even wasn’t good enough, though.

The ‘Hawks fell, 8-4.

The loss put an end to a rebuilding season which saw the ‘Hawks go 5-15-1 overall (4-7-1 in the SWC).

Bethel/Brookfield unleashed 23 shots on goal in the first period and took a 4-0 lead as Jayce Correia scored three times. The ‘Hawks, in contrast, managed just three shots on goal … the first coming with nearly seven minutes already gone.

Things picked up a little in the second period as the ‘Hawks managed five more shots on goal and finally – off the stick of Corey Regensburger (assisted by Travis Speer) – got the puck past Bethel/Brookfield goaltender Mike Glaberman with 8:05 remaining. But Correia and Chechosky scored goals as Bethel/Brookfield increased its lead to 6-1.

And things picked up even more in the third period. Magoulas scored on the power play (the ‘Hawks were 2-of-2 on the power play for the evening) with 12:05 left to get the ‘Hawks to within 6-2. Bethel/Brookfield scored at 10:46 and again at 7:14 to take an 8-2 lead, but the ‘Hawks continued to fight to the bitter end and Regensburger scored two more goals – the first with 6:42 remaining and the second with no time remaining.

For Regensburger, his hat trick gave him his fifth, sixth and seventh goals of the year. For Magoulas – a former netminder – his goal was his fourth of the year. Co-captains Blaise LaPorta and Sean LaPorta chipped in with assists.

In the final regular season game last Friday (in Ridgefield), the ‘Hawks dropped a 6-4 decision to a very physical Wilton squad. Much like what would transpire in the SWC semi-finals, the ‘Hawks were down early and rallied late to make it a close game.

Buzz LaPorta scored three goals (his team-leading 22nd, 23rd and 24th goals) while Magoulas had one. Harrison Kass and Regensburger assisted while goaltender Mike Jurasec faced 36 shots and turned away 30 of them.

Newtown                         4

Bethel                               8

GOALS: Newtown – Corey Regensburger 3, Nick Magoulas; Bethel – Jayce Correia 4, Chechosky 2, Matt Massimo, John O’Donovan. ASSISTS: Newtown – Travis Speer, Blaise LaPorta, Sean LaPorta; Bethel – CJ Hessenius 4, Chechosky 3, Dan Campbell 2, John O’Donovan 2, Correia. SHOTS: Newtown – 15; Bethel – 50. SAVES: Newtown – Mike Jurasec 42; Bethel – Mike Glaberman 12.

Marcus Tracy finally returned to the floor on Monday night after spending several weeks recuperating from a knee injury, but the boost wasn’t enough to help the Newtown High School boys’ basketball team overcome Stratford.

Tracy had appeared in only three games for the Nighthawks (missing the first part of the season recovering from a related knee injury) and when he returned he was sharp enough to can 11 points with one three-pointer on Monday. But the ‘Hawks lost their grip on a 12-point lead and fell 52-49 to the Red Devils to drop to 13-6 overall, 10-4 in the South-West Conference.

“It was a tough one,” said head coach John Quinn. “It was Senior Night, the place was going crazy – it was a very difficult environment for us to play in. Also they are a very good defensive team and they really stepped it up.”

Dave Anderson led all scorers with 19 points as Andrew Fiscella was limited to 10. Ronnie Shimko chipped in five points and Devon Manfredonia added four points.

It proved to be a rather ugly week for the Nighthawks, who struggled through a 59-45 win over Masuk last week that featured a lot of rough play (the teams combined to take 55 foul shots). Anderson scored 21 points (on 11-of-14 shooting from the foul line) and Fiscella added 19 (on 9-of-9 shooting from the foul line). Shimko chipped in with 11 points while Brian Smith and Manfredonia tossed in four points apiece.

“We’re a physical team,” said coach Quinn, “and that’s been one of our trademarks. But it also tires us out.”

The ‘Hawks have been without the inside presence of junior newcomer Josh Rouse, who has missed several games recovering from a severely sprained ankle. But coach Quinn hopes to have him on the bench for the SWC quarterfinals on Saturday.

If Rouse is cleared to play, it will be the first time all season the ‘Hawks would have their entire team in uniform.

And with just one regular season game remaining on the schedule (against Brookfield), the ‘Hawks appear headed for a fourth, fifth or sixth seed in the upcoming SWC tournament.

“We could get a Weston or a Bunnell,” said coach Quinn, “and we’re confident against those teams. With the seeding, we could even miss Kolbe in the second round. Our goal is to make it to the finals and win this thing.”

Masuk                             45

Newtown                       59

MASUK (45): Kyle Simmons 1 5-6 7, Kyle Mason 4 2-2 11, Justin Neaton 3 2-2 10, Dan Kokkoros 1 3-5 5, Ray Norell 3 1-2 7, Brain Smith 0 0-0 0, Paul Thibodeau 1 0-0 2, Ryan Carter 1 0-0 2, Tim Fico 0 0-0 0 (TOTALS: 14 14-18 45). NEWTOWN (59): Dave Anderson 5 11-14 21, Andrew Fiscella 5 9-9 19, Brian Smith 2 0-0 4, Ronnie Shimko 4 2-4 11, Devon Manfredonia 0 4-8 4, Kevin Quinn 0 0-0 0, Anthony Santella 0 0-0 0 (TOTALS: 16 26-37 59).

Three-pointers: Shimko (N), Mason (M), Neaton (M) 2.

Newtown                       49

Stratford                       52

NEWTOWN (49): Dave Anderson 7 4-6 19, Andrew Fiscella 3 4-8 10, Devon Manfredonia 1 2-2 4, Ron Shimko 1 2-2 5, Kevin Quinn 0 0-0 0, Brian Smith 0 0-0 0, Marcus Tracy 5 0-1 11 (TOTALS: 17 12-17 49). STRATFORD (52): Chuck Hatchett 0 0-0 0, Corey Jacobs 2 1-1 5, Kenny Small 2 4-7 8, David Cruz 2 2-2 7, Rick Aldridge 0 1-1 1, Shawn Young 2 1-2 6, Matt Cottrell 0 0-0 0, Sam Singletary 5 2-4 12, Chad Newton 2 2-4 6, Charlie Gill 0 3-4 3, Jean-Baptiste 1 0-0 2, Terrance Drish 0 2-2 2 (TOTALS 16 18-27 52).

Three-pointers: Anderson (N), Shimko (N), Tracy (N); Cruz (S), Young (S).

Dan McIlrath and Edmund Breitling did not have pie-in-the-sky hopes heading into the CIAC Class LL wrestling tournament last weekend … as McIlrath put it, in fact, “however it comes out it comes out.”

And it came out THIRD for McIlrath and FOURTH for Breitling as the Newtown High School wrestling team finished 17th overall with 56 points. Danbury finished first with 239 points, followed by Glastonbury at 175, Amity Regional at 144.5, and New Milford at 141.

McIlrath finished third in the 103-pound division behind Mike Silvestri of Danbury and Doug Rohner of Manchester. Breitling, meanwhile, finished fourth in the 189-pound division behind Ferdi Cortinhas of Trumbull, Nick Rankin of Norwich Free Academy and Chris Oghayore of Bridgeport Central.

Both McIlrath and Breitling qualified for the CIAC State Opens this weekend at the New Haven Athletic Center.

Class LL

Team Scores

 

1. Danbury 239; 2. Glastonbury 175; 3. Amity 144.5; 4. New Milford 141; 5. Fairfield 128.5; 6. Xavier 118.5; 7. East Hartford 107.5; 8. Southington 100; 9. Greenwich 95.5; 10. Simsbury 93; 11. Bridgeport Central 91; 12. Trumbull 85.5; 13. South Windsor 79; 14. NFA 72; 15. New Britain 66.5; 16. Manchester 59; 17. Newtown 56; 18. Bulkeley 49; 19. Stamford and Westhill 35.5; 21. Weston/Barlow 32; 22. Shelton 31; 23. Norwalk 28.5; 24. Platt Tech/West Haven 27; 25. Cheshire 24.5; 26. Fairfield Prep 23; 27. Hamden 4.

Individual results

103 – Mike Silverstri (Danbury) dec. Doug Rohner (Manchester) 17-6; 3. Dan McIlrath (Newtown); 4. Greg Fontaine (Southington); 5. Mike Cunningham (South Windsor); 6. John Morelli (Glastonbury).

112 – Joseph Martin (Stamford) won by injury default over Hector Garcia (New Britain); 3. Tim Holmes (East Hartford); 4. Will Sherman (New Milford) 5. Willy Squarciafico (Xavier); 6. John Ritucci (Amity).

119 – Alfredo Fontana (Trumbull) dec. Matt Bloom (Xavier) 5-4 (OT); 3. Joe Hall (New Milford); 4. Sam Wade (Bridgeport Central); 5. Steve Cessario (East Hartford); 6. Kevin Hovey (Simsbury).

125 – Dylan Tuz (New Milford) dec. Max Meisel (Weston/Barlow) 7-3; 3. Frank Cammisa (Danbury); 4. Donald Torrenti (Amity); 5. Mark Roberts (New Britain); 6. Tyler LeBlanc (Norwalk).

130 – Nick Weyer (Danbury) dec. Andrew Durand (East Hartford) 5-4; 3. Pete Stefanatos (New Milford); 4. Lou Cofrancesco (Amity); 5. Chad Brookes (Glastonbury); 6. Marc Green (Simsbury)

135 – Brandon Stavola (Amity) pinned Jeff Paragone (Glastonbury) 3:17; 3. Spencer Hennis (Platt Tech/West Haven); 4. Chevon Schand (Manchester); 5. Kyle Rodgers (Danbury); 6. Mike Damiano (Greenwich).

140 – Gordon Holden (Glastonbury) won by injury default over Chris Lee (Southington); 4. Charlie Price (Shelton); 5. Jake Spencer (Amity); 6. Omar Graudiel (Fairfield).

145 – Jeff Marra (Danbury) pinned Doug Paragone (Glastonbury) 5:15; 3. Justin Toland (NFA); 4. Ismael Nieves (Bulkeley); 5. Dave Spears (Bridgeport Central); 6. Ryan Notti (Cheshire).

152 – Will Esposito (Danbury) dec. John Holzinger (Xavier) 8-2; 3. Andrew Holden (Glastonbury); 4. Zach Wagner (Fairfield); 5. Jim Jachym (South Windsor); 6. Dan Bensch (Greenwich).

160 – Andy Liseo (Southington) dec. Anthony Parrish (Fairfield) 3-2; 3. Bryant Reed (South Windsor); 4. Pat Knight (New Milford); 5. O’Brien Hunter (Manchester); 6. Ben Bolt (Glastonbury).

171 – Matt Tricarico (Danbury) dec. Charles Cycon (Westhill) 11-3; 3. Ryan Lavelle (Fairfield); 4. Joel Jaques (South Windsor); 5. Nick Murphy (NFA); 6. Matt Vernik (Amity).

189 – Ferdi Cortinhas (Trumbull) dec. Nick Rankin (NFA) 10-5; 3. Chris Oghayore (Bridgeport Central); 4. Edmund Breitling (Newtown); 5. Tyler Metz (Danbury); 6. Yovanny Heneo (Greenwich).

215 – Ross Massey (Glastonbury) dec. Brendan Herlihy (Fairfield) 3-2; 3. Chris Bepko (Xavier); 4. Chris Brown (East Hartford); 5. Taurean Roundtree (Bridgeport Central); 6. Justin Pawlik (Simsbury).

275 – Tim Ferreria (Danbury) dec. Juan Carrion (Bulkeley) 9-6; 3. Lou Bruni (Amity); 4. Anell Montanez (Bridgeport Central); 5. Mike Schacter (Greenwich); 6. Ben Clifford (Fairfield).

The Newtown High School swim team put the finishing touches on a 6-4 dual meet season with a convincing 93-78 win over Foran on Tuesday. The Nighthawks were up 93-43 after the 200 freestyle relay and swam the rest of the way unofficially.

The South-West Conference meet – the next stop for the ‘Hawks – will start next week.

Against Foran, the ‘Hawks were in control right from the opening horn and registered seven first-place finishes in the nine events in which they competed officially. Chris Jacob was a double winner, taking the 50- and 100-yard freestyles.

The 200 medley relay team of Zack Moliver, Jake Maher, Andrew Heller and Jacob grabbed a first-place finish as did the 200 freestyle relay team of Dave LaMarche, Maher, Steve Truitt and CJ Maurer.

 

Individually, LaMarche was first in the 200 freestyle, Maurer was first in diving, and PJ O’Dell was first in the 500 freestyle. Heller added in a couple of second-place finishes in the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly while Scott Whalley (200 freestyle), Truitt (diving), Sean Reilly (100 freestyle) and Jim Morlath (500 freestyle) also added second-place finishes.