UPDATE: The Monday, March 13, semifinal has been moved to an earlier start time of 6 pm due to expected snow. The game between NHS and Fairfield Ludlowe will take place at neutral site Trumbull High as planned.

The way in which Newtown High School’s girls’ basketball team won its Class LL State Tournament opener should not have come as any surprise. For the 12th time this season, the Nighthawks held their opponent to 20-something points or even less. The No. 3 Nighthawks, following a first-round bye, used their always stingy defense to shut down visiting and No. 19 Norwich Free Academy (NFA) 36-19 in the second round on March 3.

With the win, the Hawks earned a date with No. 11 Fairfield Warde in the March 8 quarterfinals and the Nighthawks again did their defensive thing with a 34-28 victory to earn a spot in the state semis.

NHS will take on unbeaten and No, 2 seed Fairfield Ludlowe on Monday, March 13, for the right to play in the championship game. The semifinal game will take place at neutral site Trumbull High at 6 pm.

Against NFA, Newtown allowed only two points in all of the second quarter to build a commanding 27-10 halftime lead. The Nighthawk defense was so good in both halves that the Hawks could have won comfortably without scoring in the second half. As it turned out, the Hawks managed just two points of their own in the third quarter so the solid D proved essential in an effort to maintain a cushion going to the fourth.

“Offensively, we were great in the first half. We clicked,” said Coach Jeremy O’Connell, who was concerned about his team being flat after a quarterfinal-round exit in the South-West Conference Tournament (despite a strong defensive showing, a 26-25 overtime loss to New Fairfield) back on February 18 and the subsequent almost three-week hiatus from action.

The Hawks played a couple of scrimmages to try to maintain a competitive edge and stay in game form for the state playoffs. After a sparkling first half in the NFA game, Newtown appeared poised to easily surpass their point total from an early-season visit to NFA, one that ended with a 41-29 Newtown triumph. In the second half of the rematch, however, the offense was a bit tight, O’Connell said.

“Fortunately we were good enough defensively to hold them down,” the coach added.

Izzy Caron singlehandedly outscored NFA, pouring in 24 points to lead the Nighthawks; Caron hit four 3-pointers, all in the opening half. Allie Bradley scored nine points in the win. Bradley had a dozen rebounds, Bella Gerace and Ava Rochester each had six rebounds, and Macey Cuomo had five boards. Gerace blocked a shot and, along with Bradley and Rochester, came away with a steal.

After claiming a 13-8 lead through one quarter of play, the Hawks added to their lead and it was 18-10 late in the period. Newtown ended the half with a 9-0 run in the final 2:24 to seize control — actually, the Hawks put together this 9-0 stretch in a span of just 1:21. Caron connected on a 3-pointer and, following a Newtown defensive stop, knocked down a pair of free throws. Bradley scored off a Sofia Verdi inbound pass from under the hoop, and after Newtown’s pressuring defense forced one of a pair of five-second violations in the NFA backcourt, Caron’s baseline drive pushed the lead to 17 with 1:03 left in the half.

In the matchup with Warde, Newtown trailed 19-17 at the half but held the Mustangs to just one field goal and four total points in the third. Warde was held off the board for nearly six minutes to begin the third quarter and Newtown established a 27-24 lead heading to the fourth.

NHS limited the Mustangs to just eight points in the second half and, after Gerace opened the second-half scoring with a 3-pointer, did not surrender the lead the rest of the way. Gerace scored 15 to lead Newtown in the win.

The Nighthawk defense held Warde to its lowest point total of the campaign. The previous low was in a 44-29 setback to Ludlowe.

The Hawks utilize a two-three zone defensive setup and use a man-to-man D depending on the opposition. They like to play aggressively and let the defense spark the offense. It takes a lot of effort in practices, and great conditioning to put forth the intense effort O’Connell looks for.

“We work hard every day. We run hard. We compete against each other,” said Bradley, one of Newtown’s captains. “We push each other so we can get better.”

Among the ten games in which the Hawks did not hold teams to between 13 and 29 points, only three of them saw Newtown surrender more than 30-something, and in four of those tilts the opponents barely cracked 30, dropping in just 31 or 32 points. And while there not being a shot clock certainly factors into the low point totals, keep in mind the Hawks have produced 40-plus point performances in 16 of 22 games.

There is no defensive standout, no statistics specific to lockdown defense. Everybody does their job, and the most important stat of all is the one on the scoreboard that shows the opponent’s point total. O’Connell said players switching guarding assignments and doubling the ball when the time calls for it on the defensive end have been important in the defense doing so well.

“Every game is someone different and we do a good job of playing team defense — that’s how you win,” the coach said.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.