If you attended some of Newtown High School’s boys’ basketball games this winter chances are pretty good you saw some down-to-the-wire battles. After all, 11 of 20 games were decided by six points or less, with most of those coming down to the final seconds, if not the buzzer.

It was status quo in the final week of the regular season with the Nighthawks falling 51-47 at Bethel on February 13 and 54-52 to visiting Greenwich in a nonconference clash on February 15. The Nighthawks went 3-8 in those closely-contested battles and, as a result, settled for an overall record of 8-12 and a 6-7 mark in South-West Conference play. The Nighthawks narrowly qualified for the SWC Tournament as the No. 8 seed and will visit one of those teams it lost a tight one against — top seed Notre Dame Prep of Fairfield — in the Wednesday, February 19 quarterfinals at 6:30 pm.

The Hawks might be the last team in the tourney but to show just how competitive they are, this lineup nearly pulled off an upset of Notre Dame (13-0) in a 61-56 loss on February 4.

In the Bethel game, the Hawks led just about the entire way. In fact, Newtown went up by 15 points late in the third quarter; the Wildcats clawed back and finally seized the lead on a 3-pointer with just 1:25 to go in regulation and sealed things at the free throw line.

“We know what we need to do. We just can’t seem to finish it,” Newtown Coach Matt Murphy said of these hard-fought battles going the wrong way in crunch time.

The Nighthawks may have had a bad break when it appeared Drew Bradley — after taking a perfectly-executed three-quarter court inbound pass from Marcus Gerace — was pushed resulting in him stepping out of bounds with one second to play.

Newtown certainly looked good out of the gate, establishing a commanding 20-7 lead after one quarter of play. Aidan Walker and Jack Glassman, banking in a buzzer-beater, hit consecutive 3-pointers to extend the advantage heading into the second.

It was all defense in the second stanza. Walker, Newtown’s go-to point guard, picked up his second foul and was on the bench for most of the quarter. Both teams managed just one field goal in the eight minutes. Free throws helped build up the point totals to a 25-14 Nighthawk advantage heading into halftime.

Newtown’s lead grew to 14 early in the third with Walker hitting a three and a baseline jumper. The teams traded 3-pointers and the Wildcats were within ten with the ball and a chance to get things to single digits but the Hawks came up with a stop on defense. Walker then hit a fadeaway shot in the paint making it 36-24 with 2:28 left in the period. After another defensive stand Walker canned a right elbow 3-pointer to give the Hawks their biggest advantage of the night at 39-24 with 1:57 to play in the third.

Bethel, aided by a couple of missed NHS scoring opportunities — one on a layup — and a turnover chipped away and got to within six. Glassman took a pass from Luke Stewart and beat the buzzer for a 41-33 Nighthawk edge heading to the fourth.

Newtown led by as many as nine points in the final period and led by eight with just over four minutes left. Then Newtown’s shots stopped falling and the Wildcats went on a 13-1 run over the final 4:08. A 3-pointer got Bethel within 46-43. After an NHS free throw made it a four-point game with 2:18 left Bethel quickly cut the lead in half again. The go-ahead 3-pointer, making it 48-47, was followed by a Nighthawk turnover.

Time ticked down and the Hawks, with only two fouls, found themselves needing to either get a steal or commit three fouls in less than six seconds to get Bethel to the free throw line, and extend the game. Newtown managed to get the Wildcats to the line with 2.6 seconds left. After a make and a miss the Hawks had their chance but turned the ball over, then fouled with three tenths of a second to go. Bethel hit both shots to end Newtown’s slim hopes at the end.

Walker finished the night with 21 points, Glassman and Emmet Regan each had seven, Bradley six, and Stewart four. Bradley had seven rebounds and Williams compiled six boards.

With a chance to improve on its overall record and standing in the state the Hawks challenged Greenwich until the end. It was a back-and-forth game with the Cardinals sinking some free throws to hold on. Walker had 21 points and Bradley scored 16 and had 13 rebounds. Teddt Moxham had seven rebounds.

These games have been exciting to say the least.

“It’s a great experience regardless of outcome. Obviously we want to win every single one of these,” said Murphy, adding that one of the positive takeaways is the great atmosphere in the gym when a high school game is decided in the waning seconds. “It’s not for lack of effort. It’s not for lack of preparation.”

The pressure situations stand to help prepare the Hawks in more ways than one — on and off the court — and the experiences this winter could pay dividends going forward.

“You learn to face adversity and learn to overcome adversity,” Murphy said.

To make things even tougher heading into the postseason on the road, the Hawks d soo without Regan who sustained an injury in the Bethel game.

Win or lose in SWC play, Newtown will compete in the Division II State Tournament, which begins with qualifying round action on February 27 and first round play on March 3.

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