Months of practice-makes-perfect efforts to nail sometimes complex routines — made up of tumbles, flips, basket tosses, pyramids, dance, and more — will come down to just two and a half minutes of performance time to show off how well they’ve mastered their moves when the South-West Conference championships take place late this winter.

All it takes is one stumble or a single move to be only slightly mistimed for a team’s fate — champion or second, third, fourth place — to be determined.

That is what it boils down to for high school cheerleaders, including Newtown High School’s talented group.

“It’s just laser focus that day. They have the skill to do anything they want. They have to put it together that day,” Coach Susan Bridges said of what it will take for her team to come out on top in the championship.

Last year, Joel Barlow of Redding had a near flawless routine and edged Newtown by a mere 4.5 points. The Nighthawks placed third in the Class LL state championships.

For the next five months, these girls will work toward making runs at conference and state titles, but they know it all comes down to how they do during a brief, single-chance display of skills at each championship event.

There will be some in-season competitions to help test their skills, concentration, and nerves. In the meantime, there will be a lot of practice and some performing along the way as the cheer squad does its thing on the sidelines and during halftime of games through the football and basketball seasons.

Judges will have a new score sheet for competition season, and teams can incorporate elite skills into their routines, thus making their efforts a bit more risky, but with the chance to be rewarded more for their efforts with potential for higher scores.

“They eat it up — whatever we throw at them, they can do,” Bridges said.

Tough SWC competition stands to come from Barlow and Masuk of Monroe, along with New Fairfield and Bunnell of Stratford, Bridges said.

At the state level, defending Class LL champ Shelton and Danbury are two of the tougher squads, the coach added.

Senior captains are Brianna Giglio, Julia Sullivan, Isabella Morganti, and Heidi Alvarez.

The team’s lone junior is Nicole Shairer. Sophomores are Caroline Tousignant, Emi Rosenthal, Tori Duarte, Gina Lewis, Danielle Vigneau, Allie Luby, Emily Hammond, and Julia Pellicone. Freshmen are Julia Calabrese, Bridget Lovely, Annie Phelps, Vicky Chop, and Lauren Milligan.