After jumping out to a 9-0 lead, Newtown High School's basketball team fended off a visiting no-quit East Hartford lineup to hang on for a 31-28 victory in the second round of the Class LL state tournament, on March 5.

With the win, the second-seeded Nighthawks will host No. 7 Norwalk in the quarterfinals, on Monday, March 9; opening tip is set for 7 pm (check back for updates as postseason game times often change). Newtown beat Norwalk, the defending LL champion, 40-25 back on December 18.

No. 15 East Hartford didn't score until nearly six minutes had elapsed but the Hornets were within 11-6 after one quarter. They whittled a 19-6 deficit in the second quarter — a seemingly commanding Newtown lead sparked by consecutive Cyleigh Wilson and Amy Sapenter 3-pointers — down to four points before Sapenter ended the first-half scoring with a late 3-pointer. It was 22-15 Nighthawks at the break.

In the third, Newtown saw a 26-19 advantage snipped to two. The Hawks led 28-25 heading to the fourth. Wilson's half-court shot at the end of the stanza was nothing but net but the shot was released just after the buzzer and did not count.

Sapenter's steal led to a Juliette Cryder hoop, set up by Shea Murphy, for the first points — and as it turned out Newtown's only field goal — of the fourth quarter, 1:19 into the final stanza.

After the Hornets got to within 30-28 with 4:42 left, Cryder hit a free throw with 4:29 to go. Neither team scored the rest of the way, in part due to Newtown taking advantage of no shot clock and its poise and ball control on offense. Missed free throws by the Nighthawks and missed opportunities by East Hartford, including two chances to knot the score on 3-pointers in the waning seconds, left Newtown victorious.

Sapenter finished with 16 points; she hit a pair of first-half 3-pointers. Cryder had seven points, Carlie Smith scored five, and Wilson had three.

Shailyn Pinkney did most of the damage for the Hornets, scoring 19 points. Newtown's defense held her to just one point in the fourth.