A blocked shot, steal, go-ahead basket, and drawn charge in the waning seconds helped the host Newtown High School boys’ basketball team overcome a game-long deficit to shock Notre Dame-Fairfield 44-43 on January 20. The Nighthawks won their seventh game in a row.

Jeremy Doski gave the Nighthawks their first lead with just 39 seconds remaining, and it held up. Doski poked the ball, away from a Notre Dame player, to teammate Charlie Huegi near midcourt, and Huegi led Doski with a pass for a breakaway hoop and the seemingly elusive lead. The Lancers led by as many as eight points but the Nighthawks sent a message to the South-West Conference: If you let them hang around, they are capable of pulling through with the game on the line.

Doski came up with a key blocked shot that sailed out of bounds, then had the big steal and decisive basket off the ensuing Notre Dame inbound pass. Dylan Palumbo had a clutch defensive rebound with ten seconds remaining. Moments later, the Lancers came away with a steal in the backcourt and had a chance to reclaim the lead, but Huegi took the charge before Notre Dame could pull off a shot attempt, only three seconds from the final buzzer. The Nighthawks turned the ball over on the subsequent inbound attempt, but the Lancers missed a chance to win at the buzzer.

Will Dalton scored 13 points, Doski had ten, Huegi scored eight, Dylan Palumbo dropped in six, Jacob Burden added five, and Harry Depuy contributed two. Harrison Depuy had 16 rebounds and three assists, Doski collected eight rebounds and four assists, Palumbo recorded five rebounds, and Doski and Dalton both had five of Newtown’s 14 steals.

Read more about Newtown’s win in the January 23 print edition of The Bee.