By Kim J. Harmon

The euphemism March Madness would seem to indicate that things could get a little crazy on the basketball court this time of year, wouldn’t it?

Well, seeing what happened in the Junior and Intermediate Girls championship games in Newtown Parks and Recreation Youth Basketball League last weekend, it is apparent that the euphemism is perfectly apt.

In the Junior Girls final between the Blue Devils and the Rockets, the Blue Devils were seemingly in complete control with a 13-point lead early in the third quarter … except, they had to desperately hold on as the Rockets stormed back to within one point late in the fourth quarter.

In the Intermediate Girls final between the Gaels and the Huskies, nearly seven minutes went by before either team put a point up on the scoreboard … and then the points came fast and furious in the next three quarters.

The champions – Blue Devils and Huskies.

The madness isn’t over, either, as the Junior and Intermediate Boys championship games will follow this weekend.

Nothing is certain until the fat lady sings … or, in this case, the final horn sounds.

The Blue Devils took command of the Junior Girls championship game early and Marina Virgalla helped them do that by tossing in three unanswered first-quarter baskets to stake her team to an 8-2 lead over the Rockets.

Baskets by Claire Ober and Lauren Clark put the Devils ahead, 10-6, by the close of the period. The Rockets stayed close thanks to a pair of buckets by Belle Hydock and an early drive by Caitlin Thornberg.

The Blue Devils built on their lead – all the way up to 12 points (22-10) – in the second period as Megan Hansen canned three baskets, Rachel Taback popped in two baskets, and Ober dropped in a short jumper in the lane.

Hydock added her third basket of the game late in the first half to stem the tide and trim the Blue Devils’ lead to 10 points, 22-12. Emily Weber and Rachel Marlin contributed baskets for the Rockets in the second period.

And at the start of the third period, Clark scored again and Ober went 1-for-2 from the foul line to stake the Blue Devils to their largest lead of the game, 25-12. The Rockets were sinking … and sinking fast.

But Hydock came through again, popping in two baskets that – along with baskets by Ashley Rothaker and Thornberg – trimmed the Blue Devils’ to 25-20. Even though the Devils’ answered back with a basket by Taback (at the end of the third period) and Hansen (at the start of the third) and Chelsea Liker (off a nice steal), an 8-0 run by the Rockets trimmed the Devils’ lead to a mere 29-28.

Hydock had two baskets (one on a putback and the other off a nice pass from Diana Curcuruto) while Erin Nemeth and Thornberg added one apiece to fuel the run. But with 1:09 left to play, Clark tossed in a basket from the left post to put the Blue Devils back up by three. A putback by Taback with 41 seconds left to play sealed the win for the Devils.

Hansen and Taback powered the Blue Devils with eight points apiece while Clark and Virgalla had six apiece and Ober had five. For the Rockets, Hydock finished with a game-high 14 points in the losing effort. Thornberg had six points while Weber, Marlin, Rothaker and Nemeth had one basket each.

BLUE DEVILS: Claire Ober, Caitlin Britton, Makena Cunningham, Megan Hansen, Erin Clark, Zoe Rabinowitz, Marina Virgalla, Rachel Taback. Chelsea Liker and Haley Keane were unavailable for the championship game.

ROCKETS: Ashley Rothaker, Erin Nemeth, Emily Weber, Belle Hydock, Diana Curcuruto, Rachel Fossum, Rachel Marlin, Olivia Dillon, Colleen Thornberg, and Libby Feltch.

No one seemed willing to be the first.

The Gaels and the Huskies moved up and down the floor in the Intermediate Girls championship game, but it took some seven minutes before a basketball found its way through one of the hoops … and that on a free throw by Brittany Wiberg of the Huskies.

And that seemed to get things going.

Wiberg, in fact, scored her team’s first nine points as the Huskies took a 9-4 lead on the Gaels midway through the second period. The Gaels, meanwhile, scored on baskets by Meredith LaPerch and Michelle Rahtelli.

After Rahtelli added another basket to pull the Gaels even closer, Scarlet O’Sullivan tossed up a shot that circled the rim a half dozen times before finally falling through to give the Huskies an 11-6 lead. Then LaPerch helped the Gaels trim the lead to 11-8 with a shot that bounced high off the back of the rim before falling through the hoop to close the first half.

The Huskies held on to their three-point lead following the third period as the two teams traded baskets. Wiberg, Ellen Ritzinger and Samantha Whitley all popped in baskets for the Huskies while LaPerch hit a pair and Rahtelli hit one for the Gaels.

The Huskies pulled away in the fourth quarter for the 24-16 win as Wiberg canned three more baskets. The Gaels could only answer with a solo basket from Rebecca Castegner.

For the Huskies, Wiberg led all scorers with 17 points. Ritzinger, Whitley and O’Sullivan had buckets and Shannon Zamary had a foul shot. For the Gaels, LaPerch finished with eight points while Rahtelli had six.

The Huskies reached the championship with a 22-13 win over the Bulls. Wiberg had 12 points and O’Sullivan had five to lead the Huskies as Sarah Connor (three assists) and Jenny Gumbrecht (three steals) had fine floor games. For the Bulls, Kaley Krueger and Chelsea Gray combined for seven points as Jessica Fossum (three assists) and Michelle Davis (three steals) played well.

The Gaels reached the championship with a 30-26 win over the Liberty in which LaPerch popped in 12 points and Danielle Rubino added five. Ashley Peck and Jamie Keating played well. For the Liberty, Lindsey Burns canned 10 points while Brady Eggleston had six. Emma Fiore and Jessica Buyers played well.

In quarterfinal action, the Liberty defeated the Suns, 15-11, as Eggleston canned five points and Morgan Schick brought down nine rebounds. Jillian Thompson and Buyers played well.1 For the Suns, Pam Rothenberg and Hannah Basch-Gould combined for nine points. Marissa Cucco and Lauren Powers had fine performances.

The Bulls defeated the Comets, 15-12, as Brittany Bauch and Krueger combined for 11 points. Nicole Escoda and Chelsea Gray played well. For the Comets, Samantha Lockhart had four points as Kristen Pisacreta and Aria Brownell played well.

And the Gaels defeated the Shamrocks, 26-12, as Rahtelli popped in nine points. Keating (four assists) and Castegner (three steals) played well. For the ‘Rocks, Annie Fletcher and Lisa Vendel canned six points apiece. Megan Gibbons and Katie Lago also had a pair of fine floor games.

HUSKIES: Scarlett O’Sullivan, Ellen Ritzinger, Brittany Wiberg, Shannon Zamary, Sarah Connor, Nicole Gindraux, Jillian Jagoe, Marilyn LaCroce and Samantha Whitley.

GAELS: Jenn Callery, Meredith LaPerch, Michelle Rahtelli, Danielle Rubino, Rebecca Castegner, Jenna Bonaccorso, Katie Cummings, Jamie Keating and Ashley Peck.

Now, in Junior Boys semifinal action, the Huskies defeated the Lakers, 69-47, as Erik Dreher canned 37 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Jared Modzelewski added 12 points and five assists and Ryan Hydock made four steals. For the Lakers, Matt Mascolo popped in 25 points while Ryan Boucher pulled down 15 rebounds. Robbie Blanc (eight assists) and Nick Saviano (eight steals) had fine floor games.

And the Wildcats defeated the Timberwolves, 57-28, as Jake DeVellis canned 22 points and Ryan Drummond added 15 points. Ryan Golankiewicz tossed in eight points and David Hutchison made three steals. For the T-Wolves, Dan Giorno scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as Mike Iorfino, Nick Rosa and Ryan Wilson combined for 15 points and 15 rebounds.

76ers versus No Name - Ryan Crowell, Kevin Dennis, David Cartisano and Alec Woznik paced the Sixers as Don Morrissey, Colin Cooper, Harrison Buzzi and Dan Gustafson led the team with no name.

Cougars versus Nighthawks - Christian Mather, Stephen Conway, Kaleb Rowe, and Patrick Sullivan powered the Cougars while Mike Lord, Will Fletcher, Justin Spath and Mike Rentzel led the ‘Hawks.

Vipers versus Lakers - Chris Erikson, Jeffrey Grasso, Scott Runkle and Travis Szalay had fine floor games for the Vipers as Kyle Wilcox, Luke Shearing, Matt Shannon, and Patrick Zingano led the Lakers.