Sandy Hook, CT — Newtown High School’s boys’ basketball team rebounded from a 63-49 loss at Notre Dame-Fairfield on February 3 with a dominating effort ending with a 63-44 triumph over visiting Pomperaug of Southbury on February 7. “Any time we’ve been faced with slight adversity this team’s responded,” said Newtown Coach Tim Tallcouch, whose team has yet to lose consecutive games as the regular season’s clock approaches midnight. The Nighthawks jumped out to a commanding early lead, were ahead 21-3 after one quarter of play, and never looked back. Newtown was up 38-19 at the half and 54-35 at the end of three. “Overall pleased with the effort. I think our offensive execution was better because the ball moved a little more freely and we got a lot of players involved,” Tallcouch said. Makai Coleman scored 14 points, Tyson Mobley had 13, and Liam O’Connell dropped in 12 in a balanced scoring attack. Joe McCray had nine, Eli Williams and Saahil Ray both scored five, Declan Regan added three, and Charlie Sepp tacked on two. Coleman and O’Connell both hit a pair of 3-pointers. Williams had five rebounds; O’Connell grabbed three rebounds and had four assists to go along with a trio of steals; Coleman had three rebounds; and McCray handed out a trio of assists. Following Wednesday’s nonconference clash with Torrington, the Hawks have four regular season tilts remaining — all against SWC counterparts. “We’re getting to that critical time of the year now where any win is for positioning in the SWC playoffs,” Tallcouch said. Newtown is looking to lock up one of the top spots in the South-West Conference tournament. The Hawks, following the win over Pomperaug, stood at 10-5 overall and 6-3 in conference play, in the top third of the pack in the conference standings as the regular season winds down. Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at [email protected]. https://www.newtownbee.com/02112022/boys-cagers-bounce-back-as-they-jockey-for-playoff-positioning/