Seventh Grade Mavericks Outlasted In Final

The Newtown Mavericks seventh grade boys basketball team, despite a valiant effort, was beaten by the Fairfield PAL Hoyas 51-47 in the Fairfield County Basketball League tournament finals on Sunday.

The Mavericks staged another comeback, scoring 21 points in the fourth quarter, only to fall just a bit short. Down by as many as 13 in the fourth quarter, Newtown applied a full-court press and forced turnovers but the team’s shots rimmed out in the end. Connery Mayer led the Mavs’ scorers with a season-high 11 points, sinking a 3-pointer and going 3-for-4 from the foul line in the fourth while Sam Grossano (3 points, 2 assists, 3 rebounds) was sharp at point guard. Mike Liberante battled injury to earn 8 tough points, and Austin Engler was clutch with 9 points, 5 of them in the final period. Gavin Stubbs (6 points, 6 rebounds, 4 blocks), Andrew Lee (4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks) and Jason Hebner (3 points, four rebounds, 2 blocks) battled with Fairfield’s 6-foot-3 center in the paint and neutralized his impact, but time ran out on the Mavs’ rally.

The Mavericks finished strongly in “March Madness,” winning four of their last six games, and going 11-15 this season.