NHS Girls’ Basketball—

Hawks Lose Back-To-Back Heart-Breakers

By Andy Hutchison

When Abbey Doski hit a clutch go-ahead basket with only 11 seconds remaining in Monday’s game with visiting Notre Dame-Fairfield, it looked as if the Newtown High School’s girls’ basketball team was on its way to a nice bounce-back win following a tough-to-swallow two-point loss at Brookfield three days earlier.

But the Lancers had an answer as Nicole Negron hit a game-winning shot with under a second remaining, propelling the Lancers to a dramatic 43-42 win, and leaving the host Nighthawks stunned.

“To do something like that, back-to- back — that’s two brutal losses,” Newtown Coach Shawn O’Brien said.

Negron, standing just inside the 3-point arc, caught a midcourt inbounds pass and took an off-balanced shot that rattled around the rim before falling in.

“She made a great play,” O’Brien said.

The Nighthawks had to go the length of the court to score with nine-tenths of a second left and Sara Kelley couldn’t get off a quality shot from just past center court.

“It just kind of rips your heart out a little bit,” Doski said of the defeats.

Newtown fell to 10-9 overall and 6-8 in the SWC. The Nighthawks entered the week tied with New Fairfield and Masuk in a battle for the final SWC playoff spot and needed a win over Oxford in the regular season finale on Wednesday (after The Bee sports section went to press) to have a chance to qualify. Notre Dame got its eighth win of the campaign to earn a state playoff berth.

Against a tough Brookfield team, which improved to 15-3 overall, the Nighthawks overcame a 28-14 halftime deficit to tie the game heading into the final quarter. Newtown, though, fell 54-52, despite 20 points from Kelley and 15 from Riley Wurtz.

In the Notre Dame game, the Hawks jumped out to an early 7-2 lead before the visiting Lancers went on a late-first quarter run for a 14-9 lead after one period.

Newtown was within 23-21 at halftime and got the game tied at 35 apiece heading into the fourth. Newtown’s Bridget Power beat the third quarter buzzer with a 3-pointer to tie the game.

The game was a back-and-forth close affair throughout the second half. Newtown trailed 41-38 before Wurtz weaved through the defense and drove to the basket for two of her team-high 16 points to make it a one-point contest with 1:34 to play.

The game was delayed with 49 seconds remaining when Power went down with a knee injury. She hobbled off the court and watched the rest of the game from the bench.

Newtown’s Carly Iwaniki came up with a big offensive rebound to keep a possession alive and set up Doski’s big shot, a midrange jumper from straight on.

The Nighthawks used a stifling full-court press to make it impossible for the Lancers get across half court to set up a shot and force them into taking a timeout with only a few seconds remaining.

But Negron made that decisive shot to finish off her 25-point performance.