Sandy Hook, CT — Down nine in the second half, the Newtown High School boys' basketball team clawed back, forced overtime, and prevailed 55-53 over visiting Bunnell of Stratford in the South-West Conference Tournament quarterfinals, on February 24. Makai Coleman cut to the basket and took a return pass from Declan Regan under the hoop and put home a go-ahead layup with just one second left on the four-minute overtime to send the Nighthawks in the semifinals. No. 3 Newtown avenged a regular-season loss at Bunnell and will visit No. 2 Kolbe Cathedral of Bridgeport, at the Cardinal Sheehan Center in Bridgeport, in the semis on Monday, February 27 at 6 pm. Newtown trailed 34-25 late in the third quarter and 34-28 going to the fourth. The Bulldogs led by as many as eight, twice, in the final stanza before the Nighthawks rallied. Andrew Greiner's 3-pointer got the Hawks within a point at 41-40 with 2:34 left. Saahil Ray's mid-range pull-up jumper tied things at 42 with 51 seconds to go and that's how things stayed going to extra time. Regan scored nine of his 14 points in OT. Grenier had a key layup off a nice pass from Coleman to make it 53-50 with 1:01 to go. The Bulldogs tied things on a free throw and rim-roller in close after a rebound off the second foul shot miss went out of bounds off Newtown with a half-minute to play. Coleman had 18 points, Grenier seven, and Ray six. Connor Hintze had a 3-pointer, and Eli Williams added two points and some key rebounds, The game was tied 8-8 after the first quarter. It was a game of runs in the first half. The Hawks established a 15-8 lead on a 9-0 run and went up 19-10. NHS had a rare four-point trip down the court with Ray hitting one of two foul shots, Regan rebounding the miss and setting up Ray for a basket and foul for a 3-point play. Bunnell fought back for a 23-21 lead at the half and seemingly seized control in the third. The Bulldogs made eight 3-pointers, including seven by Jordan Ricketts, who led all scorers with 21. "This is another huge win. It's the kids. They never, never stopped believing," Newtown Coach Tim Tallcouch said. https://www.newtownbee.com/02242023/ot-thriller-boys-bounce-bunnell-in-swc-quarterfinals/