It had been a struggle, offensively speaking, for Newtown High School’s girls’ basketball team, which eight times scored in the 30s or 20s during the regular campaign. The Nighthawks, behind stellar defense, still posted a terrific 16-4 overall record and 11-2 mark in South-West Conference play.

Seeded third and facing a Brookfield team it had defeated 42-25 in the regular season, Newtown High’s girls’ basketball team again got a stingy defensive effort but had one of those tough offensive nights at the wrong time. Newtown was beaten by the sixth-seeded Bobcats 27-23 in the SWC Tournament quarterfinals at home on February 19.

“We haven’t been able to score all year and it finally came back to haunt us,” Newtown Coach Jeremy O’Connell said. “We missed four of five free throws in the final minute and a half, we gave up two offensive rebounds on free throws for them. They did all the little things at the end of the game to win.”

The Nighthawks led 20-16 going into the fourth quarter and were held without a point in that last period until the final 26 seconds of regulation. By that time, Brookfield had established a 23-20 lead. Allie Bradley made a free throw, missed the second attempt, but got her own rebound and scored to tie the game in the final half minute.

The Bobcats, however, got the last four points to move on. Newtown was not without chances. A foul led to a go-ahead Bobcat free throw with 17 seconds to go. A miss on the second opportunity was rebounded by Brookfield and a putback made it 26-23. Newtown’s chances were slipping away. The Hawks were fouled with eight seconds to go. An offensive rebound on a free throw attempt that was off the mark gave Newtown a chance, but it was as if the rim had a lid on top, especially in the final stanza, in this game. A Bobcat foul shot with three seconds left sealed things.

Brookfield matched Newtown’s usual intensity with turnover-causing pressure. Newtown led 16-14 at the half but managed only two field goals after the break. Brookfield was just 6-for-18 from the foul line, giving the Hawks hope until the bitter end, but Newtown made just 5-of-12 free throw attempts and were held to their lowest point total since putting up 20 in a loss to Newington back on December 27.

“We played not to lose instead of to win,” O’Connell said.

Bradley had 13 points for the Nighthawks. Bella Gerace scored six points on a pair of 3-pointers, and Kristen Reisert added four points.

The Hawks will look to bounce back in the Class LL State Tournament. The ninth seed, NHS will host No. 24 Manchester in the first round, Monday, February 28; tip is scheduled for 5:15 pm. (It was reported in the February 25 print edition that the game was to start at 6:30 pm. The time change was made the day after print deadline.)

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.