Free throws can make or break things for basketball teams and that was certainly the case in the Class LL State Tournament opener for the No. 9 Newtown High and No. 24 Manchester girls’ teams when they met in Newtown on February 28. In a battle of Hawks from distant locations, the Manchester Red Hawks posted a 45-33 upset, ending an overall strong season for the Nighthawks.

This foul-filled first-round contest, which featured 39 personal fouls and a combined 58 free throw attempts for both teams, featured the visiting Red Hawks attempting more freebies (35) than points surrendered. Manchester was not stellar from the charity stripe but made enough (22) to overcome the Hawks; Newtown was just 9-for-23 from the line.

Although a big factor in the outcome, it was not just foul shots that decided this game.

“Free throws, layups, and rebounds,” said Newtown Coach Jeremy O’Connell, whose team had a tough night scoring overall with only 11 field goals; still that was more than the Red Hawks mustered — they had only nine but four were from 3-point land.

Newtown was also outrebounded by the Red Hawks. “It was the first time all year we got crushed on the boards,” O’Connell added.

Top scorer Bella Gerace was held without a point but did help keep the Nighthawks in the game with 11 rebounds and five steals.

The Nighthawks fell behind early but hung close. It was 12-8 Manchester after one quarter of play and 20-16 Red Hawks at the half. NHS trailed by seven but a Bridget McCleary 3-pointer with two seconds left in the half, followed by a near miss on a buzzer-beating half-court heave by the Red Hawks gave Newtown a little jolt going into the break.

Down 23-20 midway through the third, the Nighthawks created a little momentum. Jenna Lagan and Chloe O’Connell combined to create a turnover that led to a pair of Macey Cuomo free throws with 4:11 left in the stanza. After another defensive stand, the Nighthawks seized their first — and only — lead when Cuomo scored to make it 24-23 with 3:44 to go. Only ten seconds later, the Nighthawks were again staring at a deficit following a Manchester shot from downtown.

“We came down — grind, grind, grind, finally take the lead. And they come back and hit a 3,” Coach O’Connell said.

Newtown trailed 30-26 going to the fourth and hung around for a few minutes before seeing the Red Hawks pull away. Izzy Caron’s basket got NHS within striking distance at 34-31 with 5:40 left. Full-court pressure by the Nighthawks created a turnover, and baseline saves by Caron and Bella Gerace kept possessions alive for the hosts, but they could not capitalize. Manchester ended the game on an 11-2 run.

Coach O’Connell thought his team was too tentative out of the gate and could not recover. “When we needed a shot to fall we couldn’t get a shot to fall,” he said.

Cuomo finished with eight points, Caron and O’Connell each had seven, McCleary six, Allie Bradley four, and Lagan tacked on a point. Cuomo came up with three steals and Bradley had two. Lagan grabbed seven rebounds, O’Connell registered six, and Bradley came away with five boards to go along with a shot block.

Season-ending defeats are never fun, but this one had a little more meaning than in the past for Newtown’s coach given his daughter is among the last-year high schoolers and he has coached the group — including seniors Kendall Reed, Molly Connors, and Molly McCleary — since middle school.

“It’s disappointing and sad. I love these seniors. They have worked their butts off for us. It’s just a tough way to go out. We were not prepared to make end-of-year speeches,” he said. “This one’s hard on a personal level. You’re sad for your own kid and I coach her, too.”

All this said, it was a successful campaign on the whole. Coach O’Connell said if he were told before it started that the Nighthawks would end up 16-6 “I would take it in a heartbeat.”

Newtown posted its 16 wins in the regular season, highlighted by an upset of rival Notre Dame-Fairfield, but lost in the South-West Conference tourney’s quarterfinals to visiting Brookfield. Most of the team’s starters and regulars off the bench are underclassmen and the team was inexperienced at the varsity level at the start. That bodes well for the future.

“We had flashes of brilliance and we have a great nucleus coming back. If they put in the time and effort in the offseason we’ll be a force to be reckoned with for a while,” Newtown’s coach said.

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