By Kim J. Harmon

REDDING – Without their All-Conference center (ACL injury), without their backup and now starting center (illness), and without their outside sharpshooter (injury and illness) the Lady Nighthawks were up against IT and, in fact, couldn’t be any farther up against IT.

The prospects of taking a depleted lineup into a South-West Conference game with Joel Barlow on Tuesday night had head coach Gregg Simon wondering before the game what he had done to deserve this.

But about eight minutes into the game, it became apparent that he had nothing to worry about.

It is still early, but the ‘Hawks are discovering new depths to their talents and their abilities to persevere as evidenced by a very convincing 59-25 victory over the Lady Falcons, a victory which raised the Lady Nighthawks’ record to 3-0 overall, 1-0 in the SWC.

“I think we’re gaining a lot of confidence,” said co-captain Kate Ryan. “Coming in with a young team, we didn’t know if we would be that strong, so we wanted to capitalize on our strengths and work past our weaknesses.”

So far – with a blow-out win over St. Joseph’s of Trumbull, a win over Danbury that had had blow-out written all over it before a late rally, and now a blow-out win over Joel Barlow – it isn’t so easy to detect where those weaknesses are, but the strengths stand out like a beacon of high intensity light.

Speed.

Quickness.

An unbelievably voracious defense.

And nine players who can all shoot.

“We knew coming in we had the horses to do this,” said Jayme Beckham, who scored 20 points in the win over Joel Barlow and now leads the team in scoring with 15.3 points a game. “We took a blow when Amanda went down, but we knew we would have to work past it as a team. And we are working really well together right now.”

Second-Half Stampede

No one could blame the Lady Nighthawks for being a little shaky at the beginning of the SWC contest with Joel Barlow (which has not lost a home game in more than two seasons). After all, center Lisa Masella had to be dropped off at home because she was too sick to make the trip and Jessica Oswald was also suffering from a bug – not to mention the back injury she suffered during soccer season.

A little shaky? Heck, the ‘Hawks should have been a LOT shaky.

But after a somewhat disjointed first period, in which Newtown dropped into an early 4-0 hole before cutting the Barlow lead to just 8-7 at the end of the initial eight minutes, everything was smooth sailing after that. In fact, the ‘Hawks outscored Barlow 12-6 in the second period to take a modest 19-14 lead before simply exploding for 33 second-half points in a 33-11 surge that earned the ‘Hawks the 59-25 victory.

Beckham led the way with 20 points, most of that garnered from the tough, brutal work inside. Ryan added 12 points and Lauren Adamek – the starting center in this game who displayed a surprisingly deft touch from outside – chipped in with eight points.

Like coach Simon remarked after the game, most of the offense was a direct result of the defensive pressure. After easing into the game in the first quarter, the ‘Hawks slammed the press down on the Lady Falcons and virtually suffocated them.

For instance – right after Ryan canned a 10-foot jumper, giving the ‘Hawks a 15-14 lead late in the second quarter, Lori Iwanicki (six points, eight rebounds) made a quick steal and fed Beckham in the low post. Then, with eight seconds to go, Ryan pulls down a defensive rebounds, speeds up court and fires a pass to Mary Bell in the low blocks for two more points at the buzzer and a 19-14 halftime lead.

And that wasn’t even the worst of the pressure.

Ahead 30-19 in the third quarter, the ‘Hawks went on a tear – all fed by the press, the defense, and the team speed – that must have had the Lady Falcons shaking their heads to figure out what the heck happened. It started with a nice baseline juke by Ally Gellert (plus the foul) and then followed with two baskets by Beckham . . . all in the final 50 seconds.

The fourth quarter turned into a parade to the foul line for Newtown, as the ‘Hawks went 10-for-12 from the line and out-scored the Lady Falcons 22-6 in the period. The ‘Hawks finished the game off with a 17-0 run with the final 12 points all coming off steals near mid-court. Point guard Morgan Haines, who scored three points, finished the night with five notches in the steal column next to her name . . . although it seemed like she had a lot more.

If the ‘Hawks were worried about the impact that the loss of Amanda Marsilio – of any possible damaging effect – would have on the team, they are becoming much less worried now.

“I think it was in the back of our minds,” said Ryan, “but I think everyone knew the strength we had on this team.”

Holding On Against DHS

With a 45-32 lead at the end of three periods, it appeared as if the ‘Hawks had a non-conference game with Danbury all sewn up.

Until Danbury made a run.

But the ‘Hawks held off the Lady Hatters for the 54-51 lead last Friday.

Lisa Masella scored nine points, grabbed nine rebounds, and blocked four shots. Iwanicki and Beckham tossed in 12 points apiece and Ryan added eight.

Romp Over St. Joe’s

It was, perhaps, shocking enough - considering the position they were in - that the Lady Nighthawks won their season opener against St. Joseph’s of Trumbull last week.

But a 31-point romp?

Masella had a tremendous night with 20 points, playing with a lot of poise and confidence. Iwanicki added a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds and Beckham chipped in with 14 points of her own.