The bread and butter for Newtown High School girls’ basketball, throughout the years, has been tough defense not only denying opposing offenses, but also sparking the offense.

In the South-West Conference Tournament quarterfinals on February 18, the bread was there — the butter was not as No. 2 Newtown was locked in on defense but ultimately upset by No. 7 and visiting New Fairfield, 26-25 in overtime.

The grind-it-out, low-scoring affair — even by Newtown’s defensive-minded standards — was a product of three things: Solid defense by both teams, no shot clock — stay tuned as that will be fixed with the implementation of a clock next winter — and a virtual lid on the rim. Several field goal attempts by both teams rimmed out, but close only counts in horse shoes, and Newtown High School Coach Jeremy O’Connell was not having any of the silver lining stuff after his team was beaten at home in the first round of the tournament for the second straight year.

“There’s no way to sugarcoat it. We came out and we didn’t win. We did not play to win — we played not to lose. We got the ball into the hands of the people we wanted to but we could not make a shot,” O’Connell said. “I don’t care how many times we hit the rim.”

Newtown trailed just 7-6 after one quarter of play, limited the Rebels to only a free throw in the second quarter for a 13-8 halftime lead, and held the Rebels without a field goal for about 15 consecutive minutes of game time from the middle of the first quarter all the way into the mid-stages of the third. But on the flip side, the Nighthawks managed only five points in the third for an 18-13 advantage going to the fourth, and were held to a single basket in the fourth. The game went into the four-minute overtime tied 20-20.

After the Rebels tied things at 18 apiece, Ava Rochester scored despite a foul for a 20-18 NHS lead with 3:43 to play in regulation for Newtown’s lone fourth-quarter points. New Fairfield connected on two free throws to tie the game exactly a minute later. Neither team could score in the remaining 2:43 and 32 minutes of game play was not enough to decide things.

The Rebels scored the first two baskets of OT and suddenly, with the way this game was going, a 24-20 deficit with 2:14 remaining looked like it might be too much for the Hawks to overcome. But just ten seconds later, Izzy Caron converted a clutch 3-point play the old fashioned way and just like that the Rebels had a precarious 24-23 lead. Tight defense at both ends of the court left the score the same until the Hawks fouled with 47 seconds left. Reagan Cook hit a front end one and one and second free throw for a 26-23 New Fairfield advantage.

Bella Gerace found an open lane to the basket for two points, making it 26-25 with 21 seconds left. The Rebels missed a one and one foul shot with 15 seconds to go. The rebound caromed off of players out of bounds and it was Nighthawk’s ball with 12 seconds to go. The Hawks were defended well and called timeout with four seconds left. They inbounded from the sideline near center court and managed to set up a long range shot at the buzzer but, not unlike much of the game, the final attempt was off the mark.

“I’m just really disappointed. We fight so hard for the playoffs and the last two years we gave it away,” said O’Connell, whose team was a No. 3 seed and was eliminated by No. 6 Brookfield in the SWC quarterfinals last winter.

During the season, Newtown held opponents in the 20s on six occasions, not to mention limiting Darien to just 13 points, but regularly put up 30-, 40-, on occasion 50-something points. Their previous low point total came in a 44-26 opening-night loss to Cromwell, and the Rebels gave Newtown its lowest point total in conference play during the regular slate, a game the Nighthawks still won thanks to its stellar defense, 31-24, back in early January.

Free throw shooting hurt the Hawks in the rematch; Newtown was 5-for-14 from the line and New Fairfield went 9-of-13 during the playoff contest.

Caron led the Hawks with 11 points, Allie Bradley scored eight, and Gerace had four. Bradley grabbed 15 rebounds and Rochester had eight boards. Newtown, which typically compiles several steals, accumulated just five, with a handful of players each coming away with a single takeaway. The low turnover total was in part because the game featured many lengthy offensive possessions as the offenses waited it out for scoring opportunities against challenging defenses.

Newtown won 16 of its last 17 regular season games, falling only to No. 1 Pomperaug of Southbury by a point during that stretch; the Hawks went 17-3 overall and were looking forward to potentially having an opportunity to face Pomperaug again, with a title on the line.

Instead, Newtown will turn its attention to the State Tournament. O’Connell would have preferred his lineup stay in game mode at least a little longer.

“We have a bye for two weeks. It’s the worst possible thing that can happen to us,” the coach said of the result of this early playoff exit.

Newtown earned the Class LL State Tournament's No. 3 seed and will have a first-round bye in the state bracket; the Hawks will host the winner of No. 14 Amity of Woodbridge and No. 19 Norwich Free Academy in the second round on Friday, March 3; tip is scheduled for 6:30 pm (subject to change).

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