After a frenetically-paced second quarter, Newtown High School’s girls’ basketball team was in the lead, 32-27, but looking to slow down visiting Kolbe Cathedral’s attack on offense while maintaining its fast-break scoring prowess. After all, Newtown’s bread and butter is its defense kick-starting its offense. Newtown tightened up defensively in the third and fourth quarters to pull ahead by as many as 19 points on the way to a 62-49 win on January 23.

“We fought through the little spots where we were not following our defensive game play,” Nighthawk Coach Jeremy O’Connell said. “We limited their transition baskets all second half.”

Another key to victory was getting contributions from various spots in the lineup. The team has been carried offensively by high-scorer Sam Diaspro, who did her share with 23 points, eight rebounds, three steals, and a pair of assists. The Hawks, however, had plenty of support from Ana Morris with 19 points, eight rebounds of her own, and two steals, plus key efforts from Madi Weston with six points, five rebounds, and a pair of steals, Leah Morris providing a spark off the bench with five points and strong overall play, and Macey Arcario with four points and five rebounds.

“We had a lot of kids step up,” O’Connell said. “Other kids hit shots when we needed them to.”

That included Addy Cordova connecting on a pair of foul shots that kept the Nighthawks from relinquishing the lead when things got super tight midway through the second quarter. NHS led 13-8 after one and then things opened up with back-and-forth scoring over the next eight minutes of game play before the half. With NHS clinging to a one-point edge, Cordova hit her foul shots. Kolbe answered to pull back to within 25-24, but never got any closer. Diaspro’s step back shot made it 27-24 with 3:26 to go before the half. Leading by two, the Hawks doubled their advantage when Weston cashed in off a baseline inbound pass, making it 29-25 with two minutes to go before the break. Leah Morris hit a timely right corner 3-pointer for a seven point lead before Kolbe got the final two points of the opening half.

Early in the third, the Cougars had a pair of possessions to try to get closer, but Newtown stood tall on D and Ana Morris connected on a left-corner 3 to open the second-half scoring. Diaspro’s 3-point shooting abilities drew some extra attention, and she was fouled attempting a long-range shot, hit two of three free throws, and put the Hawks up double digits at 39-29 less than three minutes out of the break. More NHS defense at one end and finishes at the hoop on the other end paved the way for the Nighthawks to gain control of this game. The Morris connection — Ana to Leah for a fast-break hoop — widened the lead to 13, and the Hawks pulled ahead 51-34 going to the fourth.

Newtown’s lead grew early in the fourth. Kolbe chipped away to get a 19-point deficit down to 12, but could not get any closer.

Diaspro and Ana Morris noted that defense is the key to everything for the Nighthawks, who used another strong effort to slow down host Immaculate of Danbury in a 55-37 win on January 27. The Nighthawks improved to 7-0 in South-West Conference play and are 10-3 overall.

“It gives us something to focus on,” Diaspro said of the emphasis on defense.

“For us, defense always comes first. It starts there,” Ana Morris added.

O’Connell said Weston had a phenomenal defensive performance in the win over Immaculate. Kendal Khazadian, Leah Morris, and Lyla Kopp also had strong games, the coach added. Diaspro led the way with 22 points. Anna Morris scored 13, and Arcario and Cordova each had eight points.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.