Bacon girls passed a test

Bacon Academy finally broke into the New Haven Register’s top 10 poll this week in girls basketball.
With a 14-1 record and 12-straight victories, including nice wins like Tuesday night’s 45-40 victory over Windham at home, it would only seem fitting that the Bobcats belong among the best in the state.
“We’re trying not to let it get into our heads, we don’t like talking like ‘we’re in the top 10,” Bacon junior guard Mary Corrado said. “We’re more like ‘Yes, we’re in the top 10, but it doesn’t mean anything because we haven’t played the top teams in the state. We played NFA at the beginning of the season, Windham now and Montville last week, so we’re starting to get some competition and we’re coming through. I think we deserve that title of top 10.”
Bacon coach Dave Shea looked at the respect the program has been gathering over the course of the season as both a good and a not-so-good thing.
“I would rather be in the top 10 at the end of the season when it really counts,” Shea said. “Sometimes, you have a good season and when the season is over, you’re in the top 10. That makes you feel really good. Now, it’s like a guy who drops out of the 20th floor of an apartment building and when he gets to the 10th floor, he thinks ‘everything is going great so far’. The thing is, is there going to be a net there or cement. At the end of the season, it’s important, it doesn’t mean anything now.”
Something that did mean something was Tuesday night’s win over the Whippets as it was a true test of Bacon’s mettle and the Bobcats passed to continue to be unbeaten in the Eastern Connecticut Conference’s Medium Division.
It was also one of those games that could help once the state tournament comes around as Bacon had very little room to breathe. The Whippets and Bobcats weren’t separated by more than four points until the final minute of the game.
“That’s what’s going to happen when you get into states- it happens in every sport,” Corrado said. “It’s good to have harder games towards the end of your season because it’s no easy ride to the state championship.”
Both the Whippets (11-3, 3-2 ECC Medium) and Bobcats struggled to find their shooting touch in the third quarter after Bacon held a slim, 25-23, advantage at the half. The Bobcats made only 4-of-13 from the floor in the third quarter, but Windham wasn’t any more effective as they made only four of nine and the Bobcats increased their lead to four, 36-32, going into the final quarter.
The shooting, believe it or not, actually got worse as the Bobcats made only 2-of-9 from the floor and the Whippets were just 2-of-5. While the shooting percentage went down, the number of turnovers climbed as Bacon turned over the ball six times in the final quarter and the Whippets gave it back on four occasions- the Whips givebacks were just a little more crucial.
Amie Toner, who finished with 13 points for Windham, drained a 3-pointer with 5:26 left in the game to cut the Bacon lead to one, 36-35. Brooke Bailey (10 points, nine boards) answered with a trey for Windham but the Whippets came right back with an Ali Risley 3-pointer to make it 39-38.
That’s when Windham couldn’t hit the big bucket.
Bacon committed two turnovers and missed a shot, but Windham gave it right back with three turnovers of their own, the crucial one coming just after Katie Mahoney dribbled through two Windham defenders to make it 41-38 with 55 seconds left.
Windham got the ball back, called time out at halfcourt, and got ready to inbound the ball from halfcourt when Corrado had an inkling.
“Right before the play happened - it was weird - I thought about it and I never had thought about it before, I was like, alright I’m just going to go and grab for the ball and maybe I will get it,” the guard said.
She didn’t want to foul, and she didn’t. Corrado jumped in front of the pass and moments later, was fouled herself. She hit both free throws and then capped things off by picking up a loose ball under the Bacon basket to preserve the win.
“Both teams played very hard, but both teams didn’t play as well as they could play,” Shea said.
“All the players made a lot of mistakes throughout the game, but then we made a couple of plays down the end when it counted,” he added. “We’ve got a lot of guts, we’re kind of tough and this is the kind of game we’re going to run into in the state tournament.”
McKenzie Hyde led Bacon with 12 points and 11 rebounds, all of the senior’s points came in the first half, Mahoney added 11. Bianca Gildea added 13 for Windham, all but two of those came in the first half.