Trumbull — Once again, Norwich Free Academy inexplicably rallied from a double-digit deficit and built a late lead.

This time, the Wildcats' lead crumbled in a more stunning fashion.

Top-seeded Trumbull rallied to score 10 of the game's final 12 points to beat NFA on Thursday, 45-40, in the quarterfinals of the CIAC Class LL girls' basketball tournament.

The Wildcats trailed by 13 points (27-14) in the third quarter. They rallied and led, 38-33, with three minutes, 50 seconds remaining in the game.

NFA had the most un-NFA-like finish as it didn't make another field goal and had four turnovers and a technical foul.

"It was a weird experience," Wildcats senior Mackenzie Burke said, trying to add levity to what happened.

NFA head coach Bill Scarlata said, "Usually we're on the other side of (that ending)."

The Wildcats trailed Norwalk by 18 points in the third quarter of their second-round game on March 3. They rallied for a 52-50 win.

"I tried to tell them after the last game that you can't go to that well (a double-digit rally) that often," Scarlata said. "You waste a lot of energy falling behind and trying to come back.

"They played hard, and as a coach, that's all you can ask of them."

Senior Hailey Conley scored 21 of her 23 points in the second half for the eighth-seeded Wildcats (20-6) and Burke had eight points and seven rebounds.

Freshman Makayla Poirier-Vaughters, who missed NFA's previous two games with a concussion, returned and had seven rebounds and three blocks.

Senior Taylor Brown had 16 points and classmate Claudia Tucci scored 14 for the Eagles (25-1), the top-ranked team in the GameTimeCT/New Haven Register Top 10 poll.

"This is incredible," Trumbull head coach Steve Tobitsch said. "It's so exciting, man. These kids deserve it. They played so hard. This senior class has done so much for this program.

"It was a big test. I thought we had control of the game for a little bit, but you know NFA is going to make a comeback. Those kids are terrific. Coach Bill is phenomenal. They came storming back and we kind of weathered it."

The Eagles' win set up a semifinal between two conference champions. The Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference champions will play Southern Connecticut Conference champion Mercy in Monday's semifinals.

The fifth-seeded Tigers beat Middletown, 54-38.

The Wildcats struggled during the first half against Trumbull. They missed 13 layups and trailed 25-11 at halftime.

Conley shot NFA back into the game. She scored 14 points during a 17-3 run that cut the Wildcats' deficit to 30-27 after three quarters.

NFA scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to take its first lead since 6:13 of the first quarter.

Burke's layup pushed the Wildcats ahead, 38-33, with 3:50 remaining.

NFA got the ball back seconds later, but Trumbull's Julie Keckler forced a turnover. It led to Brown making two free throws with 3:24 left.

Keckler had another steal 24 seconds later that she converted into a layup to cut the Wildcats' lead to 38-37.

NFA was called for an offensive foul on its next possession.

Tucci's layup gave Trumbull a 39-38 lead with 2:12 remaining.

"Everyone was just kind of a in a panic," Burke said. "We could feel it slowly going through our fingers."

Scarlata said, "It's a learning experience. We'll all learn from it and come back. I've got a lot of freshman on this year's team. Hopefully they learn something from the experience and we'll go from there."

n.griffen@theday.com