By Kim J. Harmon

Wow.

Okay, it is a rather simplistic way to describe New Fairfield’s 51-50 win over Newtown on Tuesday night in a rematch of the 1999-2000 South-West Conference championship but is the only way to describe it without using a whole bunch of words like amazing, incredible, unbelievable, astounding shocking, thrilling, astonishing and spine-tingling.

Just – wow.

The 250 or so people assembled in the Newtown High School gymnasium on Tuesday couldn’t have asked for (and probably couldn’t have fathomed) a better finish between two of the best teams in the SWC because two minutes into the third period – after three-pointers from the Rebels’ Alison Pardalis and Catherine Makarewich – the Nighthawks were way down in a 21-point hole, 35-14.

Yes, 35-14.

What came next was an incredible (there’s thatword) 36-14 rally that started with a simple basket by Ally Gellert and a three-pointer (the first of three) by Lori Iwanicki and ended when Lisa Masella dropped in a soft basket with 26 seconds left to play in the fourth quarter.

Masella’s basket, off a feed from Amanda Marsilio (who had wisely decided not to try and go up to the basket against a double team) put the Nighthawks on top of the mountain and ahead for the first time all night, 50-49.

“We were just down in the first half,” said Iwanicki, who finished the night with 14 points, “but we’ve been working on our teamwork and we knew we could some back. And when we started to come back, we knew we could win this.”

But with 15 seconds left to play, Stefanie Weiss buried a pair of foul shots to put the Rebels up for good, 51-50. The ‘Hawks brought the ball back down the floor and Iwanicki had an open look from about 15 feet away and Morgan Haines (on an offensive rebound) had a shot from underneath the hoop (amidst a mass of bodies) and neither found the net.

One can hardly fault Iwanicki for missing that last shot (which bounced off the back rim) because she scored all 14 of her points (including three three-pointers) in the furious rally. Haines scored her three points in the rally and Gellert also scored all seven of her points in the rally.

“I was just thinking,” said Iwanicki, who leads the ‘Hawks with a 12.2 scoring average, “that this has to go in.”

It didn’t and New Fairfield survived.

And although it was an amazing (there’s another one of those words) rally and an exciting finish, the fact that the ‘Hawks had to rally from a 21-point deficit is something that will bug the coaching staff for a while. The ‘Hawks sank into that deep hole because of a rather lackadaisical effort in the first half – mishandling the ball, throwing passes away, and being a little slow on the defensive end would be a few of their transgressions.

However, it would be nearly criminal not to give New Fairfield a lot of credit for building up that lead and putting Newtown into that 21-point hole. With Makarewich (17 points), Weiss (11 points) and Pardalis (seven points) leading the way, the Rebels simply could not miss in the first half – not from anywhere on the floor.

Makarewich finished with three three-pointers. Pardalis had two.

Midway through the fourth period, still early in the Newtown rally, the Rebels canned their sixth three-pointer of the night to go ahead, 40-20. But Iwanicki hit her second three of the night and soon the ‘Hawks were really on their way.

Masella had a put back, Gellert had a coast-to-coast layup, Iwanicki had a steal and a layup, and Beckham had a three-pointer to trim the New Fairfield lead to just 13 points, 46-33, by the close of the third period.

Gellert opened the fourth with a three-pointer in the corner and Iwanicki soon followed with a foul shot and a basket in the low blocks to cut the lead to just seven, 46-39. With 2:47 left to play, Masella (who finished with 13 points, eight of those coming in the rally) hit a shot in the low post to cut the lead to just five, 46-41.

The Rebels earned a little breathing room with a pair of foul shots, but Masella tossed in a put back and Haines had a quick 12-footer from the wing with 1:13 left to put the ‘Hawks within three points, 48-45.

The Rebels inched the lead up one more, 49-45, with a foul shot with 1:05 left. But Iwanicki came back with her third three-pointer of the second half with 53 seconds left to trim that lead right to one point, 49-48.

New Fairfield aided the Newtown cause by missing two foul shots with 49 seconds left. That led to Masella’s dramatic basket with 26 seconds remaining that put Newtown ahead for the first time in the game.

But Weiss hit two clutch free throws to end the threat.

So, what do the ‘Hawks remember the most – the unbelievable (there’s another one of those words) rally or the many things that went on in the first half to make the rally necessary?

“We have to take it and learn,” said Iwanicki, “that it we don’t come out strong in the first half we’re going to be in trouble.”

Newtown dropped to 8-2 on the season, 4-2 in the SWC. The ‘Hawks suffered their first loss of the season last week, 49-41, to new and improved Pomperaug – which remained undefeated thanks to a three-point win over Bunnell on Tuesday.

In the loss to Pomperaug, the ‘Hawks out-rebounded the Panthers, 50-26, but were just 2-of-24 shooting from the floor in the second half. The ‘Hawks had a 29-25 lead at the half and a 34-33 lead at the end of three, but the shooting woes did them in.

Iwanicki finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds to lead Newtown. Marsilio had nine points while Haines and Masella had five each.

Sandwiched between the two losses, however, was an easy 65-28 win over Stratford on Friday. Iwanicki canned 16 points, Beckham had 12, and Haines finished with 11.