Newtown High School's girls' basketball team defeated host St Joseph 70-50 in the conclusion of the Sandy Hook Tip Off Tourney on December 12. The Nighthawks had beaten Danbury 54-41 in the opener, also in Trumbull, two days earlier.

The Nighthawks carry their 2-0 start into a Saturday, December 15, visit to always-tough Saddle River Day School in New Jersey.

Against St Joe's, Nicki DaPra scored 15 points, and Cyleigh Wilson and Carlie Smith each dropped in 11 to lead the Nighthawks.

Eleven Nighthawks logged points in the triumph. Rececca Alicea and Amy Sapenter each scored seven, Emma Magazu registered six, Cailin Wilson four, Shea Murphy three, and Juliette Cryder, Jackie Matthews, and Julia Gerace two apiece.

"That's one of the biggest perks we have this year is we can go deep," Newtown Coach Jeremy O'Connell said of this lineup getting contributions from throughout.

Cyleigh Wilson grabbed five rebounds and dished out six assists; Carlie Smith had four rebounds; Magazu had five rebounds to go along with four steals and three assists; Matthews recorded seven rebounds, three steals and a trio of assists; and DaPra had seven rebounds.

Newtown drained 11 shots from 3-point land, led by a trio each from DaPra and Cyleigh Wilson, the latter of whom made 3-pointers on consecutive Nighthawk possessions midway through the fourth quarter.

The Hawks led 17-12 after one quarter of play, 35-17 at the half, and 49-30 through three quarters of play. Newtown was sharp from the free throw line, making 17 of 25 freebees.

"We need to be more consistent with everything — offense and defense," said O'Connell, adding that it was an impressive victory nonetheless, given that St Joseph is well coached and a traditionally competitive team.

"For us to be able to come to their gym and get a win is always a positive," he said.

After Saddle River, which boasts Division I college recruits, the Hawks visit East Lyme (which won 13 regular season games and reached the Class L State Tournament quarterfinals a year ago); the game is set for Tuesday, December 18 at 6 pm.

"We schedule the hardest schedule we possibly can because we need to be at our best when the end of February and early March roll around," said O'Connell, referring to South-West Conference and state playoffs time.