BRIDGEPORT — Whenever the postseason run ends for Newtown High School’s boys’ basketball team, so too, will Coach Tim Tallcouch’s tenure with the squad. The Nighthawks’ leader told Newtown Bee this week that he informed Newtown High School administrators about his decision and planned to make the announcement to players after practice on Wednesday, March 1, as his Nighthawks gear up for the Division II State Tournament.

“It’s just time,” said Tallcouch, also a chemistry instructor at Newtown High, who will focus on leading his team as far as they can go in states.

He certainly had a good one to remember in the South-West Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

Down nine in the second half, the Nighthawks clawed back, forced overtime, and prevailed 55-53 over visiting Bunnell of Stratford in the playoff opener 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 into the semifinals.

No. 3 Newtown avenged a regular-season loss at No. 6 Bunnell. 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 Grenier’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 19 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. Ray had 11 rebounds and Williams and Regan both had five rebounds. Williams had three steals and Coleman and Regan each had two. Williams also had five shot blocks.

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,” said Tallcouch, adding that he was proud of all of the players, from the starters to the players on the bench for bringing tremendous energy to the gym.

“This team has come a long way — they’ve jelled. They refused to lose tonight.”

The Hawks will look to build off this never-out-of-it mentality and also bounce back from their SWC semifinal outcome when they embark on the state playoffs.

Newtown was beaten 68-44 by host and No. 2 seed Kolbe Cathedral of Bridgeport at the Cardinal Shehan Center on Monday, February 27. The Nighthawks fell behind 26-15 at halftime. A quick two points on Regan’s putback got the second-half scoring started, but Kolbe answered with a 9-0 run and led 43-26 after three quarters.

Coleman scored 23 points to lead the Hawks, dropping in five 3-pointers along the way. Regan and Connor Hintze, who hit a pair from downtown, both scored six. Grenier added four points, Williams and Ben Barber each had two, and Ray tacked on a free throw.

“We came ready to play,” said Tallcouch, whose team had some rim-rollers that would not fall early on, leading to Kolbe building a lead.

“I think if we make a few of those it settles the nerves down,” said Newtown’s coach, noting that it could have turned into a different sort of game.

Kolbe used a full-court press to create turnovers and kept the foot on the gas by staying fresh with substitutions — a full five at a time in some instances — without missing a beat.

“They’re pretty good. They’re very good. They go ten deep. They wear you down,” said Tallcouch, whose team got off to a fast start en route to hanging in there before falling 58-50 to visiting Kolbe in the regular-season finale on February 17.

Tallcouch said his team would practice hard and prepare for its first opponent in the D-II state bracket. Newtown is the No. 14 seed and will host No. 19 Daniel Hand on Tuesday, March 7 at 6:30 pm. The winner advances to face either No. 3 Fairfield Warde or No. 30 New Britain in the second round, two nights later.

“They never quit. And guess what? We’ve got life left in the state tournament,” Tallcouch said.

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