Things had fallen into place for Newtown High School's girls' basketball team. Winners of nine straight regular-season games, culminating with a win over Notre Dame-Fairfield (previously unbeaten in conference play) to claim the top seed in the South-West Conference tournament, the Nighthawks survived a less-than-stellar performance to fend off No. 8 Immaculate of Danbury 28-21 in the tourney quarterfinals, on February 16.

Then came a clash with fourth-seeded Kolbe Cathedral of Bridgeport in the tourney semifinals, on February 19. Newtown's shot didn't fall, Kolbe's did, and the Cougars played strong defense for a 43-37 upset win.

"We didn't make a shot all night. When we needed a basket we didn't get it," said Newtown Coach Jeremy O'Connell, whose team had beaten Kolbe by ten points during the regular season en route to a 12-1 mark in conference play and the distinction as on-paper favorites to capture the title, albeit with little margin for error.

Kolbe, among five teams with double-digit win totals in conference play, went 10-3 in SWC action.

"They outplayed us. They outworked us," O'Connell said of the Cougars.

Newtown trailed just 26-23 at halftime. Kolbe's lead increased to as much as eight points in the third quarter and the visitors were ahead 39-33 heading to the fourth. Newtown got a ten-point deficit down to six and Kolbe missed a trio of front-end one-and-one foul shot attempts in the final minute and a half, opening the door for a dramatic Nighthawk comeback.

The Hawks tried to close the gap but missed the mark each time. Both teams managed just four points in the fourth.

"We had every look we wanted and couldn't make a shot," said O'Connell, whose team was 8-for-14 from the foul line and made just a dozen field goals in the contest.

Rylee Mulligan led Newtown with 12 points, including six on a pair of her team's five 3-pointers.

Against Immaculate, the host Nighthawks led 19-5 at halftime and never really had their lead in jeopardy despite being held to just eight second-half points by the Mustangs.

Nicki DaPra scored a dozen points to lead the Hawks. Amy Sapenter dropped in seven, Mulligan had six, and Cyleigh Wilson and Kira Smith tacked on two and one, respectively.

Newtown led 6-1 after one quarter of play. After claiming the 14-point halftime advantage, Newtown held a 25-16 lead through three quarters of play.

Mulligan pulled down eight rebounds, had five assists, and came away with three steals. Jackie Matthews and DaPra both had four rebounds.

"They beat us to loose balls, they rebounded, they did everything right," O'Connell said of the Mustangs.

Neither team shot the ball particularly well but the defenses contributed to the low-scoring contest.

"I'm relieved that we can play another day," O'Connell said.

Unfortunately for the Hawks, there was no relief in the Kolbe game. They will look to bounce back in the upcoming state tournament.