Newtown shoots way to division title

John Sarrantonio has seen his Newtown Pioneers win 32 of their last 34 league games the past two years, but even the third-year coach could not believe what he was seeing last Thursday.
Newtown trailed in the second quarter against a division opponent for the first time, falling behind 20-14 at one point. That was not the shocking aspect of the frigid afternoon, considering their opponent, Martin Van Buren, has resided near the top of the league all season. The amazing run thereafter - first a 16-5 spurt to end the half and another 19-3 burst thereafter - in their 63-38 demolition of the Vee Bees that clinched the Pioneers’ the Queens A-I division title, their second is as many years, is what caught his eye.
“If you would’ve asked me a million times, no way I thought that would be the score,” he said. “I was in shock. I couldn’t believe it. We were just on fire in the second half. We didn’t miss.”
Well, they missed - just not too often. Newtown (19-1, 16-0 Queens A-I) rained in ten 3-pointers overall, a season high. Natasha Pierre-Louis led four players in double figures with 18 points. But for once, the Pioneers star wing wasn’t the story. Sophomore Danyelle Foster dropped in four treys for 12 points, Angela Lam added a trio from beyond the arc for 11 and Talaya Melton had 13.
“Once one person hit, the next person hit,” Foster said. “There was a whole lot of energy on the court. It was nice.”
“They’re a first-place team and they showed it,” Martin Van Buren Coach Michael McClain said.
Although they virtually shot the Vee Bees (10-4, Queens A-I) out of their own gym, it was Melton’s quick hands that started the rapid reversal. On three successive possessions, the lightning quick guard picked Nickie Witherspoon’s pocket, igniting fast break layups. “Talaya was the key,” Sarrantonio said. “She’s the best defensive player in the league. Her instincts - you can’t teach that.”
“I was just hungry,” Melton added. “I didn’t want to lose. I thought about our [undefeated league] record.”
There was other motivation, too. In preparing for the game, Sarrantonio relayed to his players “trash talk, that they were better than us,” coming from the Vee Bees, according to a Newtown teacher who attended a recent game at Martin Van Buren. “That made it more challenging,” Foster said. “It made us push harder, to prove to them who we are.”
Melton said, “We showed we’re not here by accident.”