By Kim J. Harmon

An undefeated team is vanquished.

A free throw with 9.6 seconds left sends a game into overtime.

And an 11-point lead nearly evaporates in a fourth-quarter surge.

It was a wild and woolly weekend as the Newtown Youth Basketball Association staged its own localized version of March Madness – the championship games of its four In-House Divisions – at Reed Intermediate School last Saturday.

The Knicks (Intermediate Boys), Deamon Deakins (Junior Boys), Huskies (Junior Girls) and Da Bears (Intermediate Girls) staked their claim to their respective division titles last Saturday and did so with no small measure of excitement.

Intermediate Boys

The festivities opened at 9 am with the Knicks battling the Bears for the Intermediate Boys division title and despite a 20-point effort by Kevin Phillips of the Bears, it was the Knicks capturing the title with a 53-45 decision.

Dave Cartisano canned 12 points for the Knicks while Dave Lucia added eight points and 10 blocks. Joe Davis dropped in eight points and dished off seven assists as Dom Fedak chipped in eight points and Joe Rahtelli tossed in six. For the Bears, Greg Frattaroli canned 10 points and Alex Roche contributed eight. Jim Mooney played well.

The Knicks reached the finals by virtue of a 29-25 win over the Bullets in which Fedak led the way with 12 points. Davis, Peter Kerns and Lucia all played well for the Knicks. Mike Lengel tossed in eight points for the Bullets, who got solid floor games from Christian Barrett, Patrick Zingaro and Rob Daigle.

Meanwhile, the Bears reached the finals with a 40-29 win over the Hurricanes. Phillips and Griffin Paynter dropped in 11 points apiece while Devin DiNicola, Tag Schmidt and Tom Bauer all played well. For the ‘Canes, Chris Tenney popped in 11 points as Matt McGoldrick, Mike LoBosco and Christian Sayegh had nice performances.

In the championship, the Knicks took a 24-20 lead at the half, but extended that lead to nine in the third period after Lucia popped in a couple of baskets and Davis went 3-for-4 from the free throw line. Cartisano scored six of his 12 points in the fourth quarter to help the Knicks put the win away.

Junior Boys

Coach Pat Deakin had to come up with a plan.

His squad, the Deamon Deakins, had started out the Junior Boys Division season slow – losing three of its first four – and after making some adjustments to the lineup won five of its last six games. But the Rockets stormed into the playoffs undefeated and remained that way heading into the divisional championship on Saturday.

“The Rockets have good talent and are a well-coached team,” said coach Deakin, “and I knew they scouted us for we came in here and changed things up. We tried something different and just flip-flopped our starting lineup.”

And it worked as the Deakins captured the title with a 47-43 win.

The Deakins took a narrow 15-13 lead at the end of the first period but expanded it to eight, 32-24, at the half. They maintained the lead, 39-32, by the close of the third and all but coasted home from there as the Rockets made a last ditch effort to pull close.

Nicky “Bones” Tarantino poured in 24 points – including a pair of three-pointers – and made some big shots in the final period. CJ Portolese tossed in 10 points while Tory Deakin added six and Sean Devaney contributed four. Ben Mahony led the Rockets with 18 markers while James Bowers added 10. Max Brazo, Derek Krewson and Josh Jowdy combined for 11 points.

The Deakins reached the championship game by virtue of a 51-49 win over the Bullets last week. Tarantino canned 18 points while Portolese and Deakin tossed in 10 points apiece. Brian Grimes dished off five assists while Austin Jones made four steals and Brian Kuruc grabbed eight rebounds. Sam Kerr powered the Bullets with a 20-point effort while Travis LeBlanc and Ryan Daly played well.

The Rockets reached the championship game after a 40-36 win over the Red Devils. Mahony scored 12 points and Shane Wurtz added 11 to lead the Rockets while Krewson canned nine points and grabbed eight rebounds. Ryan Powers had a good floor game. For the Devils, Jeff DiNicola poured in 18 points and Joe Fedak grabbed 12 rebounds as Herlof Sorenson (7 assists), Clarke Giles, Kyle Packer and Eric McCabe played well.

Junior Girls

An 11-point lead was not too big and not too little – it was just enough.

The Huskies had crafted an 11-point lead over the Pacers in the Junior Girls Division final but discovered they needed every bit of that cushion last Saturday as the Pacers made a shocking fourth-quarter run to nearly pull off the upset.

The Huskies held on, though, by a 28-26 count and the only basket of the period – by Breanne Lubinsky – made the difference.

The Huskies jumped out to an 8-3 lead at the end of one period as Scarlett O’Sullivan canned a pair of buckets. That lead expanded to 16-9 at the close of the half as O’Sullivan added another basket and Lubinsky and Lisa Vendel each added one of their own. Brittany Wiberg helped keep the Pacers close with a pair of baskets.

In the third, the Huskies led by as much as 12 points, 24-12, as Stephanie Suhoza (on a baseline rainbow), Cristina Naldini, Vendel and Shannon Zamary (on a rim rattler) all drained buckets. The Pacers made a little push at the end of the period as Ashley Kuligowski dropped in a bucket and hit 1-of-2 from the foul line.

Yet Tori Picerno hit a late basket to give the Huskies a seemingly overwhelming 26-15 lead heading into the fourth.

But in the fourth Samantha Dinnan of the Pacers took over the game. She opened with a pair of baskets before hitting a foul shot to trim the lead to six. Then – right before the four-minute break – Dinnan took a nifty pass from Katie Pessin in the post and dropped in a basket that trimmed the Huskies’ lead to just four.

Lubinsky, though, canned the only points of the period for the Huskies and they made the difference. Katie Hunt hit a bucket and a free throw for the Pacers and Emily Rowe followed up with a free throw with 50 seconds left, but that was as close as the Pacers would get.

The Huskies put up a tough defensive stand in the final 18 seconds of the game, limiting the Pacers to a desperation shot that went awry.

O’Sullivan and Vendel led the Huskies with six points apiece while Suhoza, Lubinsky and Kelly O’Connor had four points apiece. For the Pacers, Dinnan led the way with seven markers as Wiberg tossed in five and Hunt and Pessin added four points apiece.

Intermediate Girls

It came down to the top two teams – Da Bears (10-0) and the Suns (9-1) – and no one should be surprised that those two teams would need an overtime period to settle the matter of the Intermediate Girls division championship.

Jess Gibbons drained a long two-point bucket with 2:15 left in the extra session and then added free throws with 18.9 seconds and 5.7 seconds left to lead Da Bears to a 23-21 win over the Suns last Saturday afternoon.

It was a thrilling finish to a game that saw seven lead changes.

Da Bears opened with a pair of buckets by Meredith Bridges and crafted a 7-5 lead by the close of the first period. Kristy Papaj had a basket for Da Bears while Jackie Kissack and Olivia Phenix dropped in buckets for the Suns.

Early in the second, the Suns grabbed a 9-7 lead after Jessica Haitz got a couple of shots to kiss in off the backboard, but Da Bears grabbed the lead back, 10-9 at the close of the half, with a bucket by Suzanne Wright in the low post.

In the third period, it went back and fourth – Haitz put the Suns on top, Papaj answered back for Da Bears and Stephanie Clavette responded for the Suns. But the Suns put together a little rally and after Lauren Sarna added a basket and Grace Winans chipped in a free throw, they had a four-point lead, 16-12, heading into the final eight minutes.

In the fourth, though, Papaj hit back-to-back baskets to tie the game, 16-16. Gibbons put Da Bears back on top with 2:25 left and added a free throw with 36.6 seconds left to keep Da Bears on top by two, 19-17.

But Clavette hit a free throw with 12.9 seconds remaining and Sarna added one with 9.6 seconds remaining as the Suns tied the score, 19-19, and sent the game into overtime.

Gibbons took over in the extra session, though, scoring four of her seven points as Da Bears completed an undefeated season. Papaj had nine points while Bridges tossed in four and Wright contributed three. For the Suns, Haitz canned six points, Clavette added five, Kissack tossed in four and Sarna contributed three.

Da Bears reached the championship with a 21-5 win over the Blue Angels. Kaitlin Vos Winkel tossed in 12 points as Gibbons dished off eight assists and Rachel DiVanno grabbed seven rebounds. Colleen Cosgrove and Catherine Salaris played well on D. For the Blue Angels, Christina Caporale and Taylor Brady scored two points apiece as Nicole Davis made five steals. Mareena Mallory, Jillian Moller and Linda He sparked the defense.

The Suns reached the championship with a 36-24 win over the Orange Crush. Clavette poured in 22 points while Kissack grabbed nine rebounds. Sarah Stofko, Kelly O’Sullivan and Phenix provided aggressive defense. For the Crush, Ashley Cirone and Madeline Keane popped in nine points apiece while Katie McManus, Ellen Gordon and Katherine Lotrecchiano played well.

In other youth basketball action …

Bantam Boys

Knicks 40, Nighthawks 30 – Tommy Gleason and Virgil Procaccini scored 10 points apiece to lead the Knicks to the win. Nick Marcinek and Otto Kerler played well. For the ‘Hawks, Ty Runkle and Matt Wood dropped in eight points apiece while Matt Janco, Luca Imbimbo and Daniel Spillane had strong floor games.

Celtics 30, Runnin’ Raiders 30 – Mike Davis of the Celtics popped in 14 points and Drew Tarantino of the Raiders canned 15 points in this 30-30 deadlock. For the Celtics, Jonah Muniz, Alex Romeo and Adam Harrison all played well while Dom Scarangella, Tim Kelly and Logan Puleri powered the Raiders.

Blue Devils 32, Huskies 26 – Julian Dunn poured in 18 points as the Blue Devils slipped past the Huskies. Chris Carroll, Nick Klein and Nick Caganello played well. For the Huskies, James Parker scored 12 points and Matt Hoyt added 10 more while Brian Arnold, Nate Steinbrey and Steve Grasso had solid floor games.

Yellowjackets 35, Cavaliers 23 – Matt White and Troy Frangione dropped in 10 points apiece to power the ‘Jackets. Sam Boland, Dun Sun and Matt Rosa all had solid performances. For the Cavs, Mitch Stewart scored six points as Jack Lago, Jim Leidlein and Nick Strokis played well.

Celtics 35, Nighthawks 33 – Michael Davis scored 12 points and Justin Weiner added 10 to lead the Celtics to the win. Grandon Smith and Adam Harrison played well.

Running’ Raiders 32, Cavaliers 14 – Drew Tarantino scored 15 points to lead the Raiders past the Cavs. For the Cavs, Jack Lago popped in nine points as Matt Lindell and Austin Dreyer played well.

Knicks 40, Blue Devils 24 – Tommy Gleason canned 12 points to power the Knicks. Jordon Sock dished off three assists and Otto Kerler made three steals. For the Blue Devils, Colton Smith, Chris Carroll and Doug Miller had strong performances.

Huskies 37, Yellowjackets 28 – Jim Parker canned 16 points and Matt Hoyt added 14 to lead the Huskies. Dan Cummings and Stephen Grasso played well. For the ‘Jackets, Troy Frangione popped in 12 points while Robert Linden, Sam Boland and Matt Rosa played well.

Bantam Girls

Mighty Chicks 18, Huskies 10 – Mary Joe Ross scored eight points while Tyler Zingaro, Morgan Machiarulo and Ryan Duffy (two blocks) played well and led the Mighty Chicks as Rachel Maguire, Vanessa Feldman, Hayley Dunn and Amanda Crowell played well for the Huskies.

Liberty 14, Lady Vols 10 – Kerry Scallon scored 11 points and Hope McMorran added four as the Liberty slipped past the Lady Vols. Julian and Danielle Shine led the defense. Carly Ferris had four points while Megan Logan, Karlie Kuligowski and Catherine Neaves played well for the Lady Vols.

Wildcats 20, Huskies 13 – Jaclyn Daily (6 points), Cassie Ekstrom and Emily Davis powered the Wildcats. For the Huskies, Siena Cicarelli and Amanda Crowell popped in four points apiece and Vanessa Feldman played well.