By Kim J. Harmon

After allowing 14 goals to ‘em in two regular season meetings, the idea that the Newtown High School hockey team would be able to overcome New Milford for the South-West Conference Division II title was almost too farfetched to entertain.

But after 45 minutes of brilliant goaltending by sophomore Mitch Bloomberg and superb defense by Braeden Conlan, that farfetched idea almost came to fruition. But a Marshall Gravely shot from the left circle with 19 seconds left in the second period made sure it wouldn’t. eventually lifting the Green Wave to a 1-0 win.

“We’re very pleased with the effort,” said Newtown head coach Dustin Zima. “New Milford is a really good team, but they took us seriously and worked hard. We really focused on defense in practice, covering the lanes and making sure a stick or a body was always on someone. It was our most physical game of the year.”

Though the Gravely shot was the only one that made it past Bloomberg, it was still enough to knock out the ‘Hawks, who managed just five shots in the entire game against a stout New Milford defense. With that loss, and a 4-1 loss to Trinity Catholic in the opening round of the CIAC Division III state tournament, the ‘Hawks closed out their best season ever at 14-8-1.

And that’s in large part due to the efforts of the sophomore netminder who spent 936 minutes between the pipes, faced 619 shots on the season, and allowed just 53 goals for a 91.4 save percentage and 2.55 goals-against average.

“(Mitch) has been a rock back there all season,” said coach Dustin Zima. “We wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for him. But (Gravely) is one of the best players in the state. We had Pat Daly shadowing him all game and the one second he gets open he makes a shot.”

Bloomberg set the tone in the first period, stopping a hard shot from the slot with 5:20 left and then covering up on the rebound. Then, right off the face off, he made two spectacular saves before scrambling across the creased to block a wraparound.

While the ‘Hawks were busy trying to stop the Wave offense, their own offense had trouble getting started. Francis Oggeri took the first official shot of the game for the ‘Hawks at the 14:14 mark of the second period.

Oggeri – selected to the All-Tournament team along with Bloomberg and Conlan – took two of the five shots the locals managed in the game. He also had potential three breakaway attempts, but the Wave stopped all three by trading off with two minute penalties for hooking and interference.

It wasn’t a win, but it was a solid effort for the ‘Hawks, who reached the finals with a somewhat sluggish 3-0 win over Joel Barlow in the semifinals. After a quiet first period, the locals opened the scoring with a goal by Matt Wright at the 14:21 mark – which was followed by third period goals from Max Beitel and Christian Beitel. Daly, Zach D’Agostino and Chris Kraft all registered assists.

In the Division III tournament on Monday, the ‘Hawks once again had trouble getting shots on goal, registering 15 on the night. Oggeri scored the lone Newtown goal 2:12 into the third period. Bloomberg faced 39 shots and stopped 36.

Newtown 3, Joel Barlow 0

GOALS: Newtown – Matt Wright, Max Beitel, Christian Beitel. ASSISTS: Newtown – Pat Daly, Zach D’Agostino, Chris Kraft. SHOTS: Newtown – 24; Joel Barlow – 19. SAVES: Newtown – Mitch Bloomberg 19; Joel Barlow – Drew Smithers  21.

New Milford 1, Newtown 0

GOALS: New Milford – Marshall Gravely. SHOTS: Newtown – 5; New Milford 35. SAVES: Newtown – Mitch Bloomberg 34; New Milford – Jonathan Henion 5.

Trinity Catholic 4, Newtown 1

GOALS: Newtown – Francis Oggeri. SHOTS: Newtown – 15; Trinity Catholic – 40. SAVES: Newtown – Mitch Bloomberg 36.

SWIMMING

3rd at SWCs

The Newtown High School swim team fell a few points shy of New Fairfield during the dual meet season back on January 30.

Last Saturday, the shoe (not that swimmers wear shoes) was on the other foot.

As Travis McNamara set or helped set four new pool records and Pomperaug romped to a South-West Conference championship with an incredible 581.5 points (202 more than its closest challenger), a second-place finish by Anthony Fiore in the 100 backstroke and a pair of third-place finishes by Stefan Toi in the 200 individual medley and 100 freestyle enabled the Nighthawks to slip into third place, just four points ahead of New Fairfield.

The Rebels were able to pull that close after finishing second in the 400 freestyle relay. The ‘Hawks finished fourth.

Few disputed the idea that the Panthers would easily win the SWC title, ending a streak of five consecutive championships by Brookfield, and the swimmers from Southbury did little to dispel the idea once they opened the meet last Saturday in Monroe by capturing the 200 medley relay with a new meet record of 1:40.12.

Newtown finished fifth, about five seconds off the pace.

And as Pomperaug slowly pulled away from the rest of the pack and defending champion Brookfield tried – in vain – to somehow keep pace, the Nighthawks continued to grab their points wherever they could.

Like Alex Kron taking eighth in the 200 freestyle at 1:53.91; Toi taking third, Anthony Fiore taking fifth and Luke Fiore taking ninth in the 200 individual medley; Jeff Bonnacorso grabbing 13th in the 50 freestyle at 24.31; Nick Maurer taking eighth in the 100 butterfly at 58.63; Toi taking third at 50.30 and Luke Fiore taking eighth in the 100 freestyle at 51.80.

The ‘Hawks added a fifth-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay before Anthony Fiore gave the locals their top finish of the night, second in the 100 back at 56.78 … about a second-and-a-half behind Tim Krompinger of New Fairfield.

The ‘Hawks closed out the dual meet season at 8-3 and after the third-place finish at the SWCs will take a large contingent into the CIAC Class L championships at Yale University in New Haven. Besides the relays, 13 different swimmers will be in at least one individual event.

TEAMS – 1. Pomperaug 581.5, 2. Brookfield 379, 3. Newtown 302.5, 4. New Fairfield 298, 5. Joel Barlow/Immaculate 291, 6. Weston 239, 7. Masuk 211, 8. Bethel 149, 9. Stratford/Bunnell 127, 10. New Milford 86.

INDIVIDUALS

200 medley relay – 1. Pomperaug (McNamara, Garrity, Douglas, Smith) 1:40.12 (meet record), 2. Joel Barlow 1:43.58, 3. Weston 1:44.18, 4. New Fairfield 1:44.88, 5. Newtown 1:45.25, 6. Brookfield 1:46.49.

200 freestyle – 1. Jones (Brookfield) 1:49.49, 2. Kovach (Masuk) 1:49.50, 3. Welsch (New Fairfield) 1:49.98, 4. Papiro (Pomperaug) 1:51.26, 5. Harder (Barlow/Immaculate) 1:51.58, 6. Bottger (Weston) 1:52.68.

200 individual medley – 1. McNamara (Pomperaug) 1:57.35 (meet record), 2. Sorena (Brookfield) 2:02.28, 3. Toi (Newtown) 2:05.10, 4. Fink (Barlow/Immaculate) 2:05.12, 5. Fiore (Newtown) 2:06.78, 6. Layton (Pomperaug) 2:08.92.

50 freestyle – 1. Altman (New Fairfield) 22.23, 2. McMillan (Masuk) 22.84, 3. Allen (New Fairfield) 23.14, 4. Heske (Bethel) 23.17, 5. Smith (Pomperaug) 23.18, 6. Ely (Brookfield) 23.63.

100 butterfly – 1. Sorena (Brookfield) 54.16, 2.  DePaoli (Barlow/Immaculate) 54.48, 3. Allen (New Fairfield) 55.82, 4. Kovach (Masuk) 56.68, 5. Welsch (New Fairfield) 57.36, 6. Banwell (Pomperaug) 57.68.

100 freestyle – 1. Altman (New Fairfield) 49.12, 2. Smith (Pomperaug) 50.47, 3. Toi (Newtown) 50.60, 4. McTaggart (Pomperaug) 50.74, 5. Heske (Bethel) 51.31, 6. Jim Widman (Pomperaug) 51.34.

500 freestyle – 1. McNamara (Pomperaug) 4:40.30 (meet record), 2. Scarth (Barlow/Immaculate) 4:56.98, 3. Harder (Barlow/Immaculate) 5:02.75, 4. Krompinger (New Fairfield) 5:03.40, 5. Jones (Brookfield) 5:03.64, 6. Deans (Barlow/Immaculate) 5:05.38.

200 freestyle relay – 1. Brookfield (Ely, Reiff, Jones, Sorena) 1:32.31,2. Pomperaug 1:32.38, 3. New Fairfield 1:33.46, 4. Weston 1:36.23, 5. Newtown 1:38.52, 6. Bethel 1:38.90.

100 backstroke – 1. Krompinger (New Fairfield) 55.31, 2. Fiore (Newtown) 56.78, 3. Scarth (Barlow/Immaculate) 57.59, 4. Ely (Brookfield) 57.79, 5. Layton (Pomperaug) 58.19, 6. Greenberg (Weston) 59.21.

100 breaststroke – 1. Fink (Barlow/Immaculate) 1:03.17, 2. Hyman (Weston) 1:04.13, 3. Thai (Bethel) 1:04.85, 4. Horn (Pomperaug) 1:05.38, 5. Garrity (Pomperaug) 1:06.89, 6. Horton (Masuk) 1:07.35.

400 freestyle relay – 1. Pomperaug 3:19.83 (McNamara, Papiro, Theleen, Strobel) 3:19.83, 2. New Fairfield 3:20.9, 3. Brookfield 3:27.66, 4. Newtown 3:27.68, 5. Joel Barlow 3:27.86, 6. Weston 3:31.49.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Hamden 55, Newtown 48

They played well enough to hang in, but not well enough to win.

The things that doomed the 12th-seeded Newtown High School girls’ basketball team in its CIAC Class LL second round matchup with 5th-seeded Hamden last week were simple – being unable to get that key stop or that key basket when it counted the most and being unable to steal the ball away from a frantic dribbler in the waning moments of the fourth quarter.

After a tougher-than-expected first round win over New Milford, the Lady Nighthawks traveled up to Hamden last week with the confidence that they could douse the fire in the Green Dragons. But except for brief leads at 2-0, 6-5 and 9-7 in the first quarter, the ‘Hawks could not quite grasp the handle on the game and fell, 55-48.

With the loss, the ‘Hawks concluded the season at 15-8.

The ‘Hawks held their last lead midway through the first period, after Christie Iwanicki (13 points on the night) canned her one and only three pointer, but the Dragons went on a run and were up as much as 14 points in the first half before the ‘Hawks closed out the session with baskets by Darcy Fiscella and Iwanicki (a putback at the buzzer).

In the third, the locals inched a little closer as Morgan Knees scored seven of her team-high 17 points with the aid of terrific assists from Katie Condon and Jen Brewer. The ‘Hawks got as close as seven, 42-35, by the close of the period.

The Dragons kept their distance with the ‘Hawks through the first couple minutes of the fourth period, but then the locals made a run. Down 47-37, they went on a 7-1 run that trimmed the Hamden lead to just four points. Knees had one basket, but Iwanicki – the senior guard – scored five of those seven points (two off a great steal by Brewer) to pull the ‘Hawks close with 1:19 remaining.

The Dragons went back up by eight with 51.3 seconds left, but a putback by Nora Lynn Shimko with 33.8 seconds remaining and a putback by Katie Power with 17.1 seconds left – after a three-point attempt by Shimko went in and out – brought the ‘Hawks back to within four, 52-48.

But that’s where the rally ran out of gas. The Dragons closed out the game by hitting 3-of-4 free throw attempts.

Iwanicki closed out a spectacular senior season with team highs in field goals (131), three-pointers (27), points (379), average (16.5), free throws (140) and free throws made (88). She finished her career with 705 points, tied with Micaela Hurley (Class of ’94) for 13th all time.

Fiscella and Nowak (a Virginia Tech soccer recruit) also closed out solid senior seasons, combining for 213 points and five three –pointers.

NOTE: With Christie Iwanicki closing out her NHS basketball career with 705 points, that gives the Iwanicki clan 1,979 points … led by Lori (853) and backed up by Julie (421). It surpasses the 1,733 points put up by Kelley Haines (1,274) and her sister, Morgan (459).

Hamden 55, Newtown 48

NEWTOWN (48): Jen Brewer 0 0-0 0, Christie Iwanicki 4 4-6 13, Nora Lynn Shimko 1 0-0 2, Darcy Fiscella 2 1-2 5, Kristi Nowak 2 0-1 4, Morgan Knees 7 3-4 17, Katie Condon 2 1-2 5, Katie Power 1 0-1 2. TOTALS: 19 5-10 48.

HAMDEN (55): Hannah May 1 0-0 3, Cara Deroy 3 3-4 10, Molly Deroy 1 0-0 2, Chelsea Blake 7 9-11 24, Justina Udenze 1 0-2 2, Melissa Teel 5 0-0 10, Paige Sparks 2 0-0 4. TOTALS: 20 12-17 55.

Three-pointers: Iwanicki (N), May (H), Cara Deroy (H), Blake (H).

BOYS BASKETBALL

Torrington 71, Newtown 52

In the end, it was a pretty good accounting.

The Newtown High School boys’ basketball team had no illusions heading into Torrington on Monday night to face the fourth-seeded Red Raiders in the CIAC Class LL state tournament. Even though the Naugatuck Valley League is pretty weak through the bottom half, an 18-2 record is nothing to sneeze at – especially when one of those wins came at the expense of the Crosby Bulldogs.

But the Nighthawks went in with nothing to lose and with a little gumption played a solid first half before being worn down by a bigger, stronger team. A 71-52 loss dropped the locals to 11-11 overall, a marked improvement over a 4-16 campaign from 2005-06.

In Torrington, the ‘Hawks jumped out to a 6-0 lead off a couple of baskets by senior center Mike Kennedy, who played well against sophomore phenom-in-waiting Jordan Williams. The Raiders, though, seemed to wake themselves up and then buried five three-point baskets in the first period, going up as much as seven points on the last one before Jake DeVellis scored the final four points of the opening session to trim the Torrington lead to 22-19.

The Raiders tried to break away from the ‘Hawks in the second period, but the locals were determined and after a bucket by Kennedy (off a Joe DeVellis steal) were down just one, 30-29. Apparently that was too close for the Raiders, who then went on a 10-2 run to take a 40-31 lead.

Dan Smith tossed in a three-pointer to stop the run and Joe DeVellis would add a free throw to pull the locals to within five, 40-35, but that was as close as they would get the rest of the way as the Raiders pulled away.

Kennedy finished with 23 points, second only to Williams’ 26-point effort. The Raiders also got double-digit efforts from Sal Mancini (12) and Gary Robinson (10) while Kevin Troy helped sparked the ‘Hawks with an eight-point game.

Kennedy, a senior, closed out the season with team highs in field goals (100), points (297), average (13.1), free throws (135) and free throws made (98). DeVellis, also a senior, finished with two points in the game and closed out the season with 201 points and a team-high 25 three-point baskets.

The game also marked the end of high school basketball for Tucker Kass, Shaun Coakley, Jack Quinn and JP McDade.

Torrington 71, Newtown 52

NEWTOWN (52): Mike Kennedy 9 5-7 23, Kevin Troy 3 2-2 8, Joe DeVellis 0 2-4 2, Jack Quinn 1 0-0 2, Tucker Kass 2 0-0 4, Dan Smith 2 0-0 5, Jake DeVellis 1 2-2 4, Shaun Coakley 2 0-0 4, JP McDade 0 0-0, Mike Maher 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 20 11-15 52.

TORRINGTON (71): Sal Mancini 4 1-2 12, Chris Pizacke 2 0-0 4, Gary Robinson 4 1-2 10, Ty Kittle 3 3-4 9, Dustin Waldron 1 0-0 3, Andre French  3 0-0 7, Kevin Poniatoski 0 0-0 0, Jordan Williams 11 4-5 26. TOTALS: 28 9-14 71.

Three-pointers: Mancini (T) 3, Smith (N), Robinson (T), Waldron (T), Poniatoski (T).