Sandy Hook, CT — There are no consolation prizes for regular-season losses, but there can be silver linings and reason for optimism following certain defeats. Newtown High School’s boys’ basketball team certainly had a lot to be pleased with, all things considered, following a regular season-ending 58-50 setback to visiting Kolbe Cathedral of Bridgeport on February 17. The Nighthawks got back to their stingy defensive-play ways in three of the four quarters and pushed the South-West Conference’s No. 2 seed just about to the wire; Kolbe’s only two setbacks this winter were to the conference’s No. 1 team, Notre Dame-Fairfield. And now the No. 3 Hawks will look to build off the positives that came out of a loss as they strive to work their way through the conference tournament for a potential rematch with No. 2 Kolbe in the semifinals and a possible clash with Notre Dame in the pinnacle round. “If they can take tonight and believe there are good things in our future,” said Newtown Coach Tim Tallcouch, whose team opens the SWC Tournament with a quarterfinal-round home game on Friday, February 24 when No. 6 Bunnell of Stratford visits for a 6:30 pm opening tip. Newtown will have to avenge a 49-36 setback at Bunnell on February 9, a game in which the Hawks shot poorly and turnovers proved costly. The Hawks climbed back into the win column in their next game, but did not have their best performance, escaping with a 58-56 overtime victory at non tourney qualifier New Milford on Valentine’s Day. The Kolbe game, despite being on the losing end, served as somewhat of a bounce-back when you factor in Newtown’s opponent and the performance by the Hawks. Newtown, traditionally a bit of a slow starter in games this campaign, came out looking sharp against Kolbe. They held the Cougars to just four points until Kolbe cashed in off a turnover late in the first quarter. Even so, Newtown held a 13-6 lead going into the second. Kolbe racked up 25 points in the second and led 31-24 at halftime. A perfectly-executed alley-oop by the Cougars opened the second-quarter scoring and the Cougars went on a run to claim a 22-19 lead. Saahi Ray’s straightaway 3-pointer knotted the score at 22 apiece with 2:20 left before halftime. Kolbe finished the stanza strong and continued the momentum to start the third, building a 35-24 lead. With the Cougars maintaining the lead and time beginning to tick closer to the fourth, Tallcouch called for a timeout. “I questioned our energy and effort at that point. I knew they had it in them,” Newtown’s coach said. Tallcouch said he asked his underdog Nighthawks to get to the fourth quarter within four points or less, and they did, trimming what was once a double-digit deficit down to 47-43 going to the final stanza. Ben Barber took a nice bounce pass under the hoop from Declan Regan, made a spin move along the baseline and scored to get Newtown within six at 39-33. Koble led by nine when Eli Williams scored, was fouled, and converted a 3-point play with 3:07 left in the third. Kolbe went back up nine points on a 3-pointer, but Newtown scored seven straight points to pull to within a basket. Regan set up Williams for a drive to the basket, Makai Coleman scored, and Ray rattled home a 3-pointer to bring the score to 45-43. Kolbe got the final two points of the period but Newtown put itself in the position it wanted to be in with eight minutes to play. “It’s anybody’s game in the fourth quarter — four points or less,” Tallcouch noted. The Cougars went up 50-45. Newtown fought back and tied the score at 50-50 as Williams canned a pair of free throws and Coleman drilled a left-elbow 3-pointer with 5:27 to go. Kolbe’s defense, however, locked down and the Cougars got the last eight points to take the win led by a balanced nine-player scoring attack in which nobody had more than 11. “We had a few opportunities,” said Tallcouch, adding that a couple of baskets and stops in those final five minutes could have made the difference. Coleman led the Hawks with 20, Ray scored 11, Regan had six, Williams five, Barber four, and Andrew Grenier tacked on two. Ray hit a trio of 3-pointers and Coleman hit a pair from behind the arc. Williams had nine rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a pair of blocks; Ray grabbed six rebounds and had two assists and two steals; and Coleman and Regan each had an assist and a steal. Newtown limited its miscues, recording just 13 turnovers. Newtown was 5-for-9 from the foul line and Kolbe went 7-for-13 from the stripe. Newtown’s coach is pleased with the progress of his group and how far it has come following the graduation of 48 of the team’s average of 64 points per game a year ago. Newtown began the campaign with an 83-58 loss at Wilton but went on to post a record of 13-7 overall and 9-4 in SWC play. “We really, really came together this year — the kids gelled,” Tallcouch said. The winner of Newtown-Bunnell will take on either Kolbe or No. 7 Weston in the semifinals on Monday, February 27 for the right to play in the championship game — at a neutral site to be determined — two days later. Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at [email protected]. https://www.newtownbee.com/02242023/playoff-primer-boys-cagers-battle-tough-kolbe-to-finish-in-final-postseason-tuneup/