March Madness is on the way – yeah!

The Newtown Parks and Recreation Youth Basketball League is wrapping up its regular season and preparing for the 2003-04 playoffs, which will culminate next month with some exciting championships action.

Get ready for it.

Here are lots of results from this past week:

Boys 8th –

Newtown 77, Greenwich 49 – Suffocating team defense enabled Newtown to grab an early lead and never look back. Kevin Troy and Mike Maher scored 18 and 17 points, respectively. Jason Smith played a terrific overall game and combined with Greg Rodden for 20 points. PJ Cochrane returned from the injured list and played well defensively.

Fairfield 62, Newtown 52 – A tremendous team effort fell short against an opponent who had lost only one game this season. Kevin Troy scored 16 and Greg Rodden scored 14 points, playing fine overall games. Mike Maher and Jason Smith combined for 15 points. Dan Smith did a good job running the point. Dylan Clark and Greg Larnerd played strong in the middle.

Girls 7th –

Monroe 32, Newtown 24 – With only five players due to illness and winter break, Newtown lost to Monroe in a close game. Newtown was up at half time, but was outscored in the third quarter as they began to get tired. They played even with Monroe in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t make up the eight-point difference. Jenna Legros led the scoring with 17 points. Jordyn Good played a strong game with 10 rebounds, four steals, a blocked shot and three points. Kelsey Hopper also played well with seven rebounds, seven steals and two assists.

Darien 40, Newtown 15 –

Without leading scorer Nora Lynn Shimko (out sick), Newtown was beaten handily. Jenna Legros led the scoring with seven points while Kasey Schulz and Mary Bloshuk had four apiece. Elissa Robertson played well defensively with four steals and Lindsay Laub was strong underneath rebounding.

Boys 7th –

Newtown 57, Southbury 40 – Solid man-to-man defense and a balanced scoring attack carried Newtown to its 12th win. David Bray and Connor Collier combined for 40 points to lead all Newtown scorers. Kurt Nacewicz chipped in six points, Ian Cooper and John Grimaldi each added four points, and Cole Depuy, Keith McGrath, and Dan Quinn rounded out the scoring.

Newtown 64, Fairfield 42 – John Grimaldi, Ian Cooper, and Connor Collier combined for 32 points to lead Newtown. Cole Depuy, Kurt Nacewicz, and David Bray added eight points, Dan Quinn chipped in six points, and Keith McGrath played well.

Girls 6th –

Newtown 33, Danbury 31 – Carolyn Fagan led a fourth-quarter surge as she scored four of her six points and made two huge steals in the final minutes to lead Newtown to the win. Kate Bowen made some great passes on the inbound plays and led the scoring with 11 points. Sara Kelley scored seven points, Jen Dailey five and Ally Modzelewski four. Dailey and Modzelewski utilized the box-and-one to perfection, combining to hold Danbury’s top scorer to only one point. Susan Mason and Stephanie Suhoza were strong off the boards for Newtown.

Greenwich 27, Newtown 17 – Sara Kelley led Newtown with nine points while Kate Bowen chipped in four. Nicole Elias and Susan Mason were strong off the boards and each added a bucket to complete the scoring for Newtown.

Ridgefield 37, Newtown 34 – Sara Kelley canned 16 points while Jennifer Dailey added eight to lead the Lady Hawks. Kate Bowen chipped in with four while Kristen Tanner, Ally Modzelewski and Kaitlin Marsden each added a basket.

Girls 5th –

Newtown 10, Redding 8 – The girls used a 6-0 second-quarter spurt to avenge an earlier season loss to Redding. A great team defensive effort led by Mara Scallon made up for a cold shooting night. Every girl had at least one of the team’s 24 steals. Maggie Donohue, Cady Jackman, Ali Pliszka, Andrea Nazer and Caroline Lawrence all scored for the Nighthawks. Alex Grant had a key assist.

Boys 5th –

Fairfield 47, Newtown 30 – Sean Maher scored 10 points while Max Nacewicz and RJ Roman added six each to lead Newtown. Lewis Thompson had five rebounds and three steals in the losing cause.

Newtown 42, Southbury 34 – Andrew Oravecz scored 13 points (with three three-pointers) to lead Newtown to the win. Robert Carroll sparked the defense with nine steals. Dan White added eight rebounds and six steals and Robert Frangione also added six steals and had five points.

Newtown 32, Redding 24 – In a thriller, Newtown came out on top in overtime with Sean Maher (seven points) putting Newtown ahead with one minute left to play. Josh Engler scored seven points (four in OT), grabbed 10 rebounds and made seven steals. Ishaan Tatake also had seven points and handed out five assists.

Junior Girls –

Huskies 31, Bulldogs 24 – Jen Spanneda scored 10 points and Kelley Sullivan added nine for the Huskies . Bethany Morin had four assists, Jen Durelli grabbed seven rebounds, and Bryony Langdon was strong on defense. Joanna Barry led the Bulldogs with 18 points with Beenish Ansari chipping in with six. Colleen Murphy had a good game on defense and Laura Newberry had a solid floor game.

Rocket 27, Nightmare 26 – Emily Weber scored seven points and Rachel Fossum and Olivia Dillon both scored four to lead the Rockets over the Nightmare. Erin Nemeth had a great game on defense and Belle Hydock grabbed seven rebounds and had six steals. Jen Brill led the Nightmare with 10 points, Chynna Smith had four assists, Taylor Ansbro had five steals, and Betsy Vendel grabbed three rebounds and had four steals.

Lightning 41, Blue Devils 31 – Meghan Trosan scored 11 with Jen O’Connell and Beck Trosan adding six each to lead the Lightning over the Blue Devils. Marnie Thompson and Keegan Frobey combined to hand out eight assists. Lauren Clark scored 12 and Rachel Taback added five to lead the Blue Devils.

Pacers 39, Blue Devils 35 (OT) – Rachel Taback hit a 20-footer for the Blue Devils at the buzzer to send the game into overtime, but the Pacers came through in the extra period for the win. Renata Villarreal scored 14 and Carly Doherty added 10 to lead the Pacers. Marissa Bobkowski grabbed nine rebounds, Jen Brewer added seven assists, and Lauren Picerno had a strong game on defense. Lauren Clark led the Blue Devils with 11 points and Taback chipped in with eight. Zoe Rabinowitz, Makena Cunningham, and Caitlin Britton all had excellent defensive games.

Junior Boys –

Jazz 57, Rockets 39 – Colin Babbage scored 10 points while Sean Ryan and Conor McManus added nine apiece to lead the Rockets in a losing effort. Chris Murphy and Ronald Swift had solid performances.

Lakers 38, Yellow Submarines 37 – Ryan Boucher canned 12 points and dragged down 12 rebounds as the Lakers nipped the Subs. For the Subs, Steve Osmolik popped in 16 points as Josh Baron, Robert Brautigam and Joel Minalgo had solid floor games.

Bullets 38, Knicks 32 – Conor Martin and Joe Cappiello combined for 27 points to lift the Bullets to the win. Kyle McNamara ripped down 18 rebounds and Kris Kling made eight steals. For the Knicks, Alex Stevens and Matt Yakush combined for 13 points as Ben Spiegel and Matt Hill played well.

Huskies 43, Spurs 38 – Erik Dreher poured in 22 points and Jared Modzelewski added 15 more to lead the Huskies to the win. Mark Scheunemann dished off three assists and Julian Wahlberg made four steals. For the Spurs, Jason Kostecki popped in 14 points and Paul Andras added 12. Zach Gordon and Kurtis Liska played well.

Sonics 36, 76ers 33 – Harrison Gillis scored 12 points and Chris Page added seven to lead the Sonics to the win. Tyler Edwards made three steals. For the Sixers, Tom Jackman drained 20 points and Walter Murphy contributed nine more. AJ Ritchie and Joey Scarpelli played well.

Timberwolves 54, Kings 24 – Dan Giorno scored 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and Nick Rosa added 14 points with a trio of three-pointers to lead the T-Wolves to the win. Mike Whitley Rodriguez and Ryan Wilson combined to pull down 18 rebounds. For the Kings, David Manville and Brett Mauro popped in 10 points apiece as Tyler Rudolph, Adam Schankman and Brett Mauro played well.

Wildcats 61, Nitro 50 – Jake DeVellis and Ryan Drummond popped in 17 points apiece as the Wildcats roared to the win. Ryan Golankiewicz added 10 points and Marty Basso grabbed 15 rebounds. For the Nitro, Zach Varga scored 18 points, Matt Brede added 11, and Kyle DiNicola and Brian Reszoly combined for 11 more.

FINAL REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS: Huskies 10-0, Wildcats 10-0, Bullets 9-0-1, Lakers 7-3, Yellow Submarines 6-4, Timberwolves 6-4, Nitro 5-5, Kings 4-6, Jazz 3-6-1, Spurs 3-7, Sonics 2-8, Rockets 2-8, 76ers 1-9, Knicks 1-9.

 

Intermediate Boys –

 

Bullets 37, Huskies 15 – Sam Kerr canned 14 points and Matt Hamilton grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Bullets. Andrew Gordon and Brendan McNamara played well. For the Huskies, Bryan Kilmurray and Keith Reszoly canned four points apiece. Tyler Reszoly played well.

Nets 16, Screaming Eagles 14 – Kevin McCarthy popped in five points to pace the Nets. Mike Zaccaro, Bobby Mascher and Adam Stadalius played well. For the Eagles, Robbie Phillips canned six points while Ryan Murphy, Eric McCabe and Dan Aurelia had fine floor games.

Celtics 34, Grizzlies 31 – Dana Hansen, Evan Kennedy, Rich Andreotta and Jeff Keating combined for 30 points to lift the Celtics to the win. For the Grizzlies, Ryan Powers scored 18 points while Drew Seymour, Matt Hoffman and Josh Volpe played well.

Intermediate Girls –

Suns 22, Comets 18 – Hannah Basch-Gould scored 11 points to lift the Suns to the win. Tori Picerno dished off five assists and Katie Pessin was effective at both ends of the floor. Pam Rothenberg sank three important foul shots and played aggressive defense.