Sandy Hook, CT — Newtown High School’s boys’ basketball team withstood a fast start by visiting Avon to come away with a hard-fought 50-38 victory in the opening round of the Division II State Tournament, on March 7. The No 13 Nighthawks will visit No. 4 Wilton in the second round on Wednesday, March 9, starting at 6:30 pm. No. 20 Avon jumped out to a 16-7 lead after one quarter of play but was held without a basket for the first 7:13 of the second quarter during which time the Nighthawks roared back for a 19-16 lead. Joe McCray had back-to-back steals and baskets to give the Hawks a 17-16 lead and add to it to cap the 13-0 run. Avon scored the last two hoops of the half to seize a 20-19 lead going into the intermission. The third quarter was back and forth with Avon’s Isaac Aguilar canning a long-range shot for three of his 21 points to knot the game at 30-30 with 4:30 left in the stanza. Newtown’s defense again buckled down and held Avon scoreless for the remainder of the period. Eli Williams scored the go-ahead hoop off a nice pass from Liam O’Connell with 4:05 left in the third, and Tyson Mobley hit a pair of foul shots with 2:39 left for a 34-30 lead the Hawks carried into the fourth. Avon started the final quarter on a 6-0 run. Makai Coleman answered with a 3-pointer for a 37-36 Nighthawk advantage with 4:58 left. O’Connell made two foul shots to make it a three-point lead 50 seconds later. Avon pulled to within a point with 3:05 left but was shut down the rest of the way. Mobley’s drive and rim-roller pushed the Hawk lead back to three at 41-38 with 2:43 to go. Williams drew a charge on the defensive end, and O’Connell set up Coleman to extend the lead to 43-38 with two minutes showing on the scoreboard clock. Mobley converted off a McCray steal with 1:29 remaining. Coleman made five of six foul shots in the waning moments of the game. Newtown was 13-for-15 from the charity stripe overall. Coleman scored 16 points, O’Connell had 12, Mobley scored ten, and McCray had eight. Williams and Declan Sullivan both added two points. McCray had six steals and Williams had seven rebounds. “I thought their guard play was the difference in the ballgame,” Avon Coach Chris Pedra said. “They didn’t have many turnovers. They took good care of the ball.” Newtown Coach Tim Tallcouch noted that Avon came out clicking and his Hawks were badly out-rebounded early on. “We improved as the game went on. Good teams have to be able to play from behind and find a way to win, especially at home. You don’t want the season to end on your home court,” Tallcouch said. The Hawks are also hoping it doesn’t end on the road and they know it will be a tall order at Wilton, a team that fended off the Hawks to win a close one in the season opener. The crowd will be into it from the get-go, said Tallcouch, a former Wilton coach. “If we don’t match it early we could find ourselves in a little bit of a hole,” he said. “We need to come out really focused, committed, and with a super amount of energy.” Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at [email protected]. https://www.newtownbee.com/03072022/boys-basketball-team-overcomes-tough-avon-and-will-head-to-wilton/