Colchester — Bacon Academy entered Tuesday’s Class MM quarterfinal game as the last Eastern Connecticut Conference girls’ basketball team standing.

And the Bobcats appeared like they just might stick around in the tournament for a while longer.

Coming out of halftime, sophomore Skyelyn Schoen-Rene hit a layup off a well-executed play to give No. 4 Bacon its biggest lead at 23-18.

Then No. 5 Sheehan shot the lights out.

Sheehan buried six 3-pointers in the third quarter.

After Schoen-Rene’s basket, Sheehan went on a game-changing 24-4 run to end the third quarter.

Bacon Academy fought to the finish before falling 51-41 and ending a strong tournament run for the young Bobcats.

“To be proud of their effort and their accomplishments this year,” said Bacon coach Kevin Fennell about his postgame message to his team. “They won the ECC Division II, beat some quality teams in Woodstock and Fitch this year and had some good games with New London. And even the New Fairfield team was a good team that we beat in the second round.

“So, I reminded them of their accomplishments and the growth that this team had throughout the season.”

Schoen-Rene, a sophomore, finished with a team-high 16 points and added eight rebounds while junior Katelyn Novak had 14 points and nine rebounds and senior Emily Ferrigno had eight points.

A stingy defense carried the Bobcats (18-7) to the quarterfinal. They allowed an average of 37.5 points in two wins.

Their defense contained Sheehan at first.

And Novak kept the Bobcats in the game.

Facing a 9-2 deficit, Novak went on a personal 11-0 run to push Bacon in front.

Play evened up in the second quarter as the teams traded leads. Schoen-Rene’s 3-pointer handed the Bobcats a 21-18 lead at halftime.

Then Sheehan got hot in the third quarter.

Liv Cassesse hit consecutive 3-pointers to put Sheehan ahead for good at 27-24.

Bacon had no answer for Sheehan’s perimeter attack.

“They hit every shot,” Fennell said.

In the second half, Sheehan made eight of 16 from 3-point range after sinking just 2 of 14 in the first two quarters. Megan Wresien had a team-best 14 points and Cassesse added 12.

The Bobcats created some havoc with their press in the fourth quarter but couldn’t capitalize enough to make a comeback.

Near the end of the game, seniors Cara Shea and Ferrigno received a nice ovation when they left the court for the final time in their high school careers.

“They’ve been exceptional captains,” Fennell said. “They’ve made it very easy for their other teammates to play hard and play together in that setting. I think Cara has a heart of gold and it comes out in her interactions with everyone. And Emily plays as hard as anyone out there in the league.”

g.keefe@theday.com