Norwich - Perhaps it's because New London and Stonington are such frequent opponents, both members of the Eastern Connecticut Conference Medium Division during the regular season, that their games become breathless, with five lead changes in the fourth quarter Wednesday evening.

Second-seeded New London earned a return trip to the ECC tournament championship, where the Whalers will meet No. 1 Norwich Free Academy for the second straight season (7 p.m. Friday, NFA). The game will be broadcast live on theday.com.

But it took a frantic comeback and the equivalent of a goal line stand with 7.5 seconds remaining to get out of the gym with a 48-43 victory over No. 6 Stonington in the first game of a semifinal doubleheader at NFA.

Stonington led 33-26 at the end of three quarters and got an electrifying 22-point performance from junior Taty LaFrance Boyce.

NFA, the three-time defending tournament champion, won the second semifinal 64-32 over No. 5 Plainfield.

"I just think they come to win and we know they're not going to roll over," New London's Charee Osborne said of the matchup with Stonington. "But our goal is for the ECC (championship). We had some soul-searching to do. We started saying it in the huddle, 'Heart, on 3.' I had to search for my heart."

"We just had to work," New London senior Deanna McCarvell said. "We had to do it against all odds."

Stonington (15-8), which upended No. 3 Bacon Academy in overtime in Monday's quarterfinal round, got a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by freshman Kate Hall to end the third quarter, giving the Bears a seven-point lead.

But New London's recovery was quick and complete in the fourth quarter. Osborne converted a three-point play just 54 seconds in and, following a basket by Stonington's Halle Anderson, McCarvell hit a crucial 3-point field goal from the left baseline to pull the Whalers within 35-32.

Osborne hit both ends of a one-and-one to make it 35-34 and sank two more free throws to put New London ahead 36-35. Osborne, who led the Whalers with 15 points, scored 10 of them in the fourth quarter.

Stonington rallied to take the lead twice more, on a putback by LaFrance Boyce and on a pair of free throws by LaFrance Boyce with 3:14 to go, making it 41-40 in the Bears' favor. Claire Schlink's basket pushed it to 43-40.

New London, the defending Class M state tournament champion, scored the final eight points, however, getting a basket by India Pagan, two points from Osborne assisted by McCarvell and a layup by McCarvell. The Whalers created one remaining dramatic moment by missing a pair of free throws with 8.7 seconds to go.

New London called a timeout with 7.5 seconds to play to set up its defense against a potential game-tying drive by Stonington and McCarvell then came through with a steal and a layup.

"It drains you a little bit," New London coach Holly Misto said of the game's intensity. "It's playoff time. This one (against Stonington) has a little bit more at stake. Our goal was to get to the ECC finals. They took it upon themselves. They usually say 'defense' in the huddle. Tonight they started saying 'heart.' They didn't get down on each other. It was such a team win."

Pagan finished with 13 points for New London (20-2), which benefitted from Stonington's Margot Calmar, a 6-foot-1 all-state center, going to the bench with four fouls for a good chunk of the fourth quarter. NFA topped New London in last year's ECC title game 53-45.

"We caught a couple of bad breaks and put them on the foul line," Stonington coach Paulla Solar said. "But we played with lots of intensity. We have some young players, so this is new for them. This is going to get us ready for the (state) tournament. I'm going to tell the girls, 'I can't imagine anyone we play being better than New London.'"

In the second game Wednesday, NFA's Hailey Conley had 20 points, including six 3-pointers. Cebria Outlow had 17 points and Mackenzie Burke 15 for NFA (21-1).

Plainfield (14-9), which finished with 10 3-pointers in Monday's quarterfinal win over Waterford, was limited to three long-range baskets by NFA, while the Wildcats knocked in eight of them.

"I've been hoping it for it all year, hoping for (Conley) and Mackenzie to hit shots on the same night," Scarlata said. "… I thought we played good defense. The offense comes and goes, but the defense can stay constant."

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