Winning close, down-to-the-wire nail-biters has become customary for Newtown High School’s girls’ basketball team. The latest installment of the late-game magic came in the form of a 40-37 win over visiting New Milford on January 30. The Nighthawks made this one particularly memorable, after things appeared to be on their way to forgettable. The Hawks fell behind 14-0 before chipping away, taking their first lead in the third quarter, and finally escaping to remain perfect in the South-West Conference at 8-0. Newtown improved to 12-3 overall, and half of the team’s wins have come by seven points or fewer.

The Nighthawks now have a trio of three-point victories thanks, in part, to a third quarter buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Sarah Lynch and a decisive fourth-quarter shot from downtown by Mali Klorczyk.

With the score deadlocked at 27, Newtown’s defense forced a turnover near midcourt with only 1.9 seconds remaining in the third. Lynch took an inbound pass and sank a running 3-pointer.

Newtown couldn’t hold the lead; there were four ties in the final quarter, and the Green Wave had a pair of final-period advantages. Klorczyk took a kick-out pass from Kelly Merrick and hit what turned out to be the difference-making 3-pointer. It gave the Nighthawks a 39-37 lead with 2:10 remaining. The Wave missed chances to knot the score on two possessions, and Olyvia Shaw’s defensive rebound led to Klorczyk being fouled and hitting a clutch front-end one-and-one free throw with 30 seconds left. She missed the second, but Newtown’s defense stood its ground.

Klorczyk led the way with 18 points, Lynch had eight, Shaw five, Merrick four, and Haley Ryan three.

The night before, Newtown had a less suspenseful outcome, toppling visiting Bunnell of Stratford 66-42 behind 15 points from Lauren Wilcox and 13 from Merrick. Newtown led 36-15 and had 11 players on the score sheet by the end of the night.

Read more about the Nighthawks in the February 6 print edition of The Bee.