Colchester — It was mid-fourth quarter Thursday night and Cara Shea, with the ball on the right side of the lane, was in the midst of tumbling to the floor when she saw teammate Marissa Nudd open on the left side.

Shea somehow had the wherewithal to shovel the ball to Nudd for the layup, capping a 10-0 run for the Bacon Academy girls’ basketball team at what was only the most pivotal time of the game against fellow unbeaten RHAM.

Following the cues of Shea, stumbling but showing its resilience, Bacon came from behind for a 46-43 victory over RHAM, outscoring the Raptors 16-7 in the fourth quarter.

Bacon (5-0) trailed 36-30 after three quarters.

“We knew it was getting close and we knew we had to come back and get aggressive,” Shea said. “(Coach Kevin Fennell) gave us a little talk and just said we’ve got to go out there, get the ball. We went out, we got aggressive, we got some steals and it worked out.

“We definitely had our momentum down. Once we got those first few steals, we were rolling. We just needed to get those initial first few steals. We had to get that initial start to it, then we felt like our old selves.”

Shea, a junior guard, finished with a career-high 17 points along with five rebounds, five assists and three steals. She was 11-for-14 from the free throw line, including four foul shots in the final 52.5 seconds to seal the game.

Shea, whose grandfather Dave Shea, for whom the Bobcats’ gym is named, and father John Shea were the previous two coaches of the Bacon Academy girls’ team prior to Fennell taking over this year, is the last in the long line of family members to represent the Bobcats. Dorothy Shea, Cara’s grandmother and the family’s matriarch, died on Dec. 20.

“She’s got good genes,” Fennell said of Shea. “That’s what she does for us. She makes things happen, whether it be driving to the basket or to come up with a loose ball (like she did), that’s what she does. They’re all timely, she makes some timely baskets for us.”

Katelyn Novak added 12 points and eight rebounds for Bacon and Liz Glover had nine rebounds, three blocks and three steals.

Bacon led 23-20 at halftime but missed a number of shots in the third quarter as RHAM continued to unload 3-point field goals, getting four in the third quarter, three from Grace Whitmore (11 points).

The fourth quarter was different from the instant it began, however, with Bacon bringing an unmatched sense of urgency. Shea scored off an inbounds play to start the 10-0 run and added two free throws.

Novak, Shea and Nudd hit four Bobcats free throws and Shea found Nudd with a layup with 2:29 to play, with Bacon leading 40-36.

RHAM (6-1) hit back-to-back 3-pointers by Maddie Graves and Sarah West to reclaim the lead at 42-40, but Novak scored on a jump shot to tie things at 42-42. Bacon called a timeout with 1:06 to play and the score tied.

After that Shea engineered a steal and made two free throws and Shea made 1 of 2 on her next trip to the line to make it 45-42. Graves hit one free throw with 26.9 seconds left to pull RHAM within 45-43.

RHAM had a timeout and the ball with 7.3 seconds left and a chance to tie the game or win it, but stepped out of bounds, giving the ball back to the Bobcats. Shea made one last foul shot with .8 seconds remaining.

Fennell, who was previously the head coach of the Bacon boys’ team and assistant with the girls, said this team made his transition to the head coaching role an easy one. The Bobcats were 23-4 last year with an Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II title and a trip to the Class M championship game.

“They’re fantastic, totally coachable,” Fennell said. “We were anticipating a learning curve but it’s been really small. They’re tremendously coachable.

“... We’ve got kids that can make plays, make shots. That’s what it came down to in that fourth quarter. We always know we’re a good run from getting back in the game. It’s just a matter of it came down to heart.”

West had 21 points for RHAM and also defended Nudd, Bacon’s 1,000-point scorer. RHAM was missing starting sophomore guard Maddy Evans, its second-leading scorer, who broke her finger in practice Wednesday.

v.fulkerson@theday.com