FAIRFIELD — The Wilton High Warriors had a devil of a time trying to put away Fairfield Warde.

The Warriors held leads of eight points in the final 1:49 of regulation and four points in the last 40 seconds of the first overtime, only to see the shorthanded Mustangs fight back each time to forge a tie and have play extended.

In the second overtime, however, Wilton took a lead and didn’t relinquish it behind the play of Matt Kronenberg, who scored seven of his career-high 39 points in the frame, to help lead the fifth-seeded Warriors to a dramatic and hard-fought 92-90 victory in two overtimes over No. 4 Warde in the quarterfinals of the FCIAC Tournament on Saturday at Fairfield Ludlowe.

“They pushed us to the limit,” Wilton head coach Joel Geriak said of the Mustangs. “We had a chance to put them away earlier and they didn’t let us. They fought back and it was an exciting game.”

With the win, the Warriors (14-7) advance to FCIAC semifinals for the second straight year, and third time in four years, where they’ll play No. 1 Danbury, which defeated No. 8 Ludlowe 49-48 in overtime in the quarterfinals, on Tuesday at Fairfield Warde.

“I can’t say enough (about these kids) because when you lose 98 percent of your scoring from last year and you go into the season with nobody giving you a chance… We were hoping as a group to make it here and these kids stepped up and filled the shoes of the eight seniors who graduated, which is hard to do,” Geriak said. “They just wanted it so that’s why we got back here.”

Things were looking good for the Warriors when Kronenberg nailed a 3-pointer to give them a 59-47 lead with 5:48 remaining in regulation and after two free throws by Kronenberg gave Wilton a 63-52 with 3:57 on the clock. Two more free throws by Kronenberg put the Warriors ahead 66-58.

The Mustangs made a charge from there and capitalized on several missed free throws by Wilton.

Warde cut the lead to 68-67 on a steal and subsequent by Sean Conway and Antonio Brancato’s drive to the basket and layup with seven ticks left tied the score at 69-69. Marcel Parsons had a steal in the waning seconds and his shot from close to midcourt hit the front rim at the buzzer.

Both teams traded the lead through the first overtime and Wilton went up 80-76 on a clutch 3-pointer from Nick Kronenberg but Brancato continued to be a thorn in the side of the Warriors with a three-point play to get the Mustangs to within one, 80-79. Matt Kronenberg hit one of two free throws to put Wilton up by one.

After a timeout, the Mustangs got the ball to Brancato and scored at the buzzer to tie the game at 81-81 and force a second overtime period.

“Just like his brother (Giacomo), he wants the ball in his hands,” said Warde head coach Ryan Swaller, who stressed how badly his team wanted to play in front of its home fans in the semifinals. “He’s fearless and that’s what we expect. He needed to step up and attack the basket and he did a great job of that in the second half and overtime.”

Swaller went on to say that Antonio Brancato was needed due to the fact three of his five starters fouled out, five overall.

“Every kid I put out there contributed,” the coach said. “It’s a tough feeling right now because you’re proud of the kids who stepped up but the loss hurts.”

Wilton regained the lead at 83-81 38 seconds into the second overtime on a basket by Mike Brown in transition off a rebound by Matt Kronenberg. The Warriors extended the lead to 87-83 on two free throws by Kronenberg and then he hit a layup to extend the lead to 89-83.

Both teams turned the ball over down the stretch but the Mustangs couldn’t capitalize and two more free throws by Kronenberg put the Warriors up by six, 91-85, and Warde couldn’t make up the difference.

“I lost my footing and was getting a little tired toward the end of the game,” said Kronenberg, who missed four free throws in the fourth quarter but regrouped to convert 9-of-11 in the overtime periods. “My teammates really picked me up, I was able to keep my head on straight and I knocked them down when they counted. They (Warde) had a lot of starters foul out and their bench really stepped with Brancato had two clutch shots but we were able to battle back.”

As it turned out, Wilton missed 14 free throws on the night but it didn’t come back to bite them in the end.

“If we make our foul shots, we’d go over 100 points,” Geriak said. “That being said, the kids didn’t stop.”

With these two fast-breaking teams, fans knew it was going to be a track meet and they proved it from the outset.

Warde grabbed a 14-12 first-quarter lead, with Giacomo Brancato scoring eight points, but Wilton rallied in the second with a 13-0 run to put the Warriors out in front 25-17, capped by a 3-pointer by Kronenberg, who had 12 of his team’s points with two treys.

Wilton maintained its lead in the third quarter, going ahead 43-36 on a layup by Drew Connolly (3:34). The Mustangs rallied and a 3-pointer by Giacomo Brancato (18 seconds), pulled Warde to within two, 48-46, going into the fourth.

An 11-1 run to start the quarter, off three 3-pointers and capped by a Kronenberg trey (5:48), made the score 59-47 in favor of the Warriors.

Kronenberg also had eight rebounds and a steal and Jack Williams chipped in with 14 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Connolly had 13 points and James Maloney added 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Giacomo Brancato scored 24 points to lead Warde and he pulled down 10 boards while his brother Antonio scored 20 points and JJ Conway had 16 points and six rebounds.

“From the one through 10 who played, it was a team win,” Geriak said.