Plainfield - The regular season ended with Stonington High School's fifth loss in six games and the Bears' 6-foot-1 all-state center, Margot Calmar, in the emergency room with a dislocated left pinky, not exactly the radiant foreshadowing coach Paulla Solar was looking for heading into the postseason.

But perhaps it was a win minus Calmar in the first round of the Eastern Connecticut Conference tournament last week which inspired confidence in some of the team's younger players, who could then say, "Look what we just did."

And Monday the sixth-seeded Bears won again, toppling No. 3 Bacon Academy in overtime in the ECC tournament quarterfinals 44-39, turning the ball over 27 times in all but executing down the stretch to earn a semifinal berth Wednesday against No. 2 New London (5:30 p.m., Norwich Free Academy).

In the second game of a quarterfinal doubleheader at Plainfield High School, No. 5 Plainfield hit 10 3-pointers to beat No. 4 Waterford 55-45. Plainfield will meet No. 1 NFA in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m.

"I'm really proud of the kids; I'm just really proud of them," Solar said. "Once they start to slip, it's hard to get them up and over and going. But I think they're starting to turn things around a little bit. That was a big win. (Going into overtime), you sit there and you hope they can step it up."

It didn't hurt that Calmar came back strong, finishing with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Freshman Kate Hall had nine points and junior point guard Taty LaFrance Boyce contributed eight rebounds and six steals to go with her seven points.

The Bears (15-7), who avenged a 48-45 loss at Bacon Academy on Jan. 3, led by six with 4 minutes, 58 seconds left in regulation on a layup by Calmar assisted by Boyce. Bacon (15-5), tied it with 1:02 to go, however, when Liz Kowalsky hit both ends of a one-and-one.

Bacon had the ball and a timeout with 28.4 seconds remaining for the potential win, but never got a shot off.

The four-minute overtime session belonged to Stonington.

Halle Anderson scored on an assist from Hall and, following two free throws by Bacon's Abby Willauer, LaFrance Boyce put the Bears ahead to stay, grabbing an offensive rebound and finding a way to convert it from directly under the basket for a 39-37 lead.

With Stonington in the double-bonus, Calmar and Breanna Jones each hit one of two free throws for a 41-37 lead and the Bears protected their lead from the foul line from there on out.

With Stonington up four, Calmar blocked a Bobcats shot with 35 seconds to play and sent the outlet to LaFrance Boyce, who was fouled.

"Obviously coach says stay conservative," Calmar said of the block. "But I didn't want it to get closer. (The referees) let us play a lot and that's what I appreciate.

"… I haven't been playing, so it's a little different going in and not being in sync. With ECCs, knowing that it's one and done (if you lose), if I don't push now I know it's over."

Calmar noted with a smile that Stonington's last game in the Plainfield gym resulted in a 61-58 overtime loss to Plainfield.

"I thought, 'Let's make a better memory for the bus ride home,'" Calmar said. "… These games are getting us back in our groove. Things started to fall apart (at the end of the regular season). The important part is the postseason."

"She's just an amazing athlete," Solar said of Calmar, who reached both the 1,000-point and 1,000-rebound plateaus this season. "She's a phenomenal rebounder and always at the right time. Margot came to me the last game and said, 'If you need me, I'll go in for you.' But the team put it together so we could beat Fitch."

In the second game, Madeline Lorange scored 23 points (four 3-pointers) for Plainfield (14-8) and Julie Jordan 13 (13 3-pointers). Waterford hit seven 3-pointers of its own, but couldn't keep up with the Panthers' range or their pace, sometimes pulling up for a 3 off a fast break.

Mia Brennan scored 12 points and Vanessa Kobyluck 11 for Waterford (15-7).

"The kids were saying it's like a high school 3, an NBA 3 and then a Plainfield 3," Waterford coach Ed Kolnaski said. "We're guarding them and we're moving. We worked on it. If they're shooting well, they're deadly. And I didn't see any rim in and rim out. They were just, 'shoo.'"

In the doubleheader at NFA:

• Charee Osborne scored 19 points and Deanna McCarvell added 13 as New London topped past No. 7 Ledyard 56-35. The Whalers (19-2) trailed by a point at halftime before going on a 16-0 run in the third quarter to take control. Osborne also had 10 rebounds for New London, while Michelle Klinikowski had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Ledyard (12-10).

• NFA made quick work of No. 8 Tourtellotte, opening a 42-5 halftime lead before cruising to 50-26 victory. Cebria Outlow had 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists for the Wildcats (20-1) while Olivia Lane had 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots.

v.fulkerson@theday.com

Twitter: @vickieattheday