By Kim J. Harmon

Oh sure, when Thomas Hutchison banked in that runner with 14 seconds left to play in the fourth quarter of the Intermediate Boys championship on Saturday at Newtown High School, it may have been the highlight of all four championship games.

That is, capital T, capital H, capital E – THE highlight.

But, actually, there were so many more.

So much more madness – this being March and all.

Like, in the Junior Boys division championship, the Knicks rallied from a nine-point, second-half deficit (taking a brief, one-point lead) only to see the Heat seal the win with 34 seconds left to play on a Dave McLaughlin steal.

In the Intermediate Boys division championship, Brennan Coakley scored six consecutive points (the last two with 37 seconds left in the fourth quarter) to help the Bucks erase a four-point deficit . . . only to see Hutchison not only make his dramatic shot with 14 seconds left to force overtime, but then score all seven of the Wildcat’s points in the extra session to lift his team to the win.

In the Junior Girls championship, even with the game well out of hand and the Yellow Submarines moments away from a championship, Maria Cinquegrana of the Nitro managed to fire up the crowd with two consecutive fourth-quarter three-pointers.

And in the Intermediate Girls championship (where there was a Monkey, a Chicken and a Bug running all over the court) the Jazz put together one of the great runs when they managed to keep the ball alive for 10 consecutive shots in one possession in their win over the Thunderbolts.

There were highlights.

Oh man, were there highlights.

It was a full day of championship fun for the Parks and Recreation Department’s youth basketball program on Saturday at Newtown High School and it all started right there at 9 am for the Junior Boys division . . .

Heat 36, Knicks 30

Neither the Heat nor the Knicks managed to get a leg up in the first quarter, which ended with the two teams deadlocked at 8-8. But in the second quarter – thanks to a couple of buckets from Alex Naldini and one from Kyle Ekstrom – the Heat started to put a little distance between themselves and the Knicks.

The Heat had built up a 17-12 lead before Jeff Levasseur of the Knicks dropped in a basket with just nine seconds left in the half to trim that lead to just three points. But in the third, Mike Miller dropped in a couple of baskets and Garrett Hahn added another and all of a sudden the Heat had a 23-14 lead.

That’s when the Heat cooled off and the Knicks went on a 14-4 run into the fourth quarter that gave them a 28-27 lead. Marc Doherty had six of the 14 points in the run (including the short jumper that gave the Knicks the lead). Dan Gindraux, Levasseur, Ryan Green and Scott Suhoza also had key buckets in the run.

But a baseline roller by Hahn gave the Heat the lead back – for good. Hahn then added a turnaround in the paint with 1:12 left to put the Heat ahead, 31-28. Levasseur managed a steal and a layup for the Knicks to trim that lead to just one, but the Heat scored the final five points of the game to seal the 36-30 win.

McLaughlin had a layup (after a steal) with 34 seconds left, a foul shot with 20 seconds left, and then a steal and a feed to Craig Walrath with nine seconds left to help the Heat finish off the Knicks.

Next on the court, at 10:30 am, were the Intermediate Boys . . .

Wildcats 44, Bucks 39

It was a see-saw battle . . . simple as that.

The Wildcats took a quick 6-0, first-quarter lead but Brian Cullinan canned a couple of baskets and helped the Bucks crawl back into the game. David Manville hit a short basket early in the second quarter to get the Bucks to within one point and Paul Andras kept the deficit at one-point a few moments later with one of his own jumpers.

But Erik Dreher and Timo Roehrs hit back-to-back shots to push the Wildcats up, 15-10. When Hutchison dropped in a runner in the lane near the end of the quarter, the ‘Cats held a 19-15 lead.

The Bucks rallied in the third quarter, however. Even though the Wildcats started the second half with a bucket to increase their lead to 21-15, the Bucks went on a 12-2 run to erase that deficit and take a 27-23 lead of their own. Chris Reid and Kyle Shevlin hit two baskets apiece to fuel that rally while Cullinan and Manville each added one of their own.

This is about the time, though, when Hutchison – who finished with 21 points – began to take over the game for the Wildcats. He scored the final five points of the third quarter to lift his team into a 28-27 lead.

The two teams traded the lead once, early in the fourth quarter, but the Wildcats began to build up a little cushion on foul shots by Wilkins, Adam Drummond and Roehrs. Two foul shots by Hutchison gave the Wildcats a 35-31 lead.

But the Bucks rallied. Brennan Coakley hit a basket, two foul shots, and then another basket (that one with 37 seconds left) to put the Bucks in the lead, 37-35.

Hutchison, though, canned his runner with 14 seconds left to tie the game at 37-37 and send it into overtime. He started things off in the extra session with a banker and a pull-up jumper and put the Wildcats ahead, 41-37. Shevlin then hit a baseline bucket for the Bucks to trim the lead, but Hutchison then hit three foul shots in the waning moments to put the game away for the ‘Cats.

Next on the court were the Junior Girls . . .

Yellow Submarines 27, Nitro 15

Oh, it was a close one early on with the Yellow Submarines clinging to an 8-6 lead after Rebecca Narel of the Nitro hit a short basket in the opening moments of the second quarter.

But the Nitro offense chose that moment to go stone cold.

The Yellow Subs, though, remained plenty warm.

Bridget Coughlin and Diana Grimaldi hit two baskets each to put the Subs ahead, 14-6, at halftime. Then Jenna Zigman, Christina Wolf and Grimaldi (twice) scored in succession – the only baskets in the third quarter – to give the Subs a seemingly insurmountable 22-6 lead.

That lead extended even further to 26-6 when Zigman scored a basket and Wolf dropped in a pair of foul shots, but the Nitro showed some spark in the final minutes of the fourth quarter when Stacy Shpunt canned a three-pointer from the top of the key and then Cinquegrana hit back-to-back three-pointers to arrive at the 27-15 final score.

Last on the court were the Intermediate Girls . . .

Jazz 23, Thunderbolts 11

A lot of balls did not find their way into the basket, but struggling offenses nevertheless made for a tight game on into the third quarter.

The Jazz clung to a 3-2 lead at the end of one period (thanks to a late foul shot by the girl they call Chicken – Jennifer Mariani) and then extended that lead to 9-2 on a pair of baskets by Kristen Gucciardo and one by Mariani.

But Valerie Nezvesky of the Thunderbolts hit back-to-back baskets to get her team back in the game, trimming the Jazz lead to just 9-6 at the close of the first half. Laura Konkos got the ‘Bolts even closer, to 9-7, with a foul shot early in the third quarter, but the Jazz took that as a cue to go on an 8-0 run into the fourth quarter to extend their lead to 17-7.

Gucciardo scored two baskets while Mariani and Jennifer O’Connell added one apiece in the run.

The run stopped when Konkos banked in a layup on the fly, but eight points was as close as the ‘Bolts would get. Mariani scored two more baskets (she finished with eight points on the afternoon) and Kelly Manuel added one of her own to help the Jazz finish up the game on a 6-2 run.

One of the most telling moments of the game came right before that final run when the Jazz were locked up in a possession where they just couldn’t get the ball in the basket. But because of strong rebounding abilities, the Jazz managed 10 straight shots on that one possession.

Oh yes, it was a day filled with highlights as the Parks and Recreation Department crowned the champions of its four in-town youth basketball divisions. This weekend, the All-Star games and awards ceremonies will be held at Newtown High School to put a final emphasis on another successful season.