BRISTOL — The Falcons have had several quality state tournament runs under Joe Mone’s tutelage.

In his previous 14 years at the helm, St. Paul has reached the Class S State Tournament semifinals five times, have been one of the final two teams standing on three occasions and won the program’s lone title.

When things come to a close in the coming weeks, this season has the potential to produce something to add to that list.

“We have a team that can make a run at it,” Mone said. “We’re experienced. This is our third year and three of the girls have been starting since they were freshmen. But the tournament is the tournament and you can get knocked down in the first round.”

As a result of an 18-2 regular season, when the girls basketball state tournament brackets were released on Wednesday St. Paul found itself with the No. 3 next to its name. It’s the program’s highest seed since it earned the No. 2 spot in its state title season of 2001.

The Falcons went 18-2 that year as well.

St. Paul, the Naugatuck Valley League Brass Division Champion, is one of four locals to qualify for the postseason. It’s joined in Class S by Terryville while Bristol Eastern takes part in the Class L tournament and Lewis Mills earned the No. 4 seed in the Class M field as a result of a 16-4 regular season.

The Class S and L tournaments open up on Monday night while Class M begins on Tuesday.

With the No. 3 seed St. Paul will host No. 30 East Hampton out of the Shoreline League in the first round. The Bellringers finished the regular season 8-12 and are the second to last seed in the field.

However, Mone added, it’s going to be a tough first-round matchup.

“I think we got the toughest first round game of the higher seeds,” he said. “But I guess if there was ever a year to have a tough first game, this it because I feel we’re a decent team. We just need to have things go our way.”

No. 2 Bolton (19-1) faces bottom-seeded Ellis Tech in its opening affair. Top-seeded Thomaston is the only Class S qualifier to receive a first-round bye. The Berkshire League Champions went a perfect 20-0 and are one of four BL teams situated in the Class S tournament.

Two of those four could stand in the Falcons trek back to the semifinals.

If nineteenth-seeded Terryville (11-9) can get past No. 14 Windham Tech (13-7), the Kangaroos would march into Bristol to take on the Falcons in the second round for the second consecutive season.

Terryville coach Angie Suffridge likes the chances of that happening.

“Drawing a technical school in the first round will provide us a great opportunity to advance.  Normally the technical league isn’t too strong but we can’t take them lightly,” she said. “We have to do those same things that got us to 11 wins this season.  If we win, then we will play our neighbor school, St. Paul.  They are a very talented ball club and I believe they bring everyone back from last year’s squad.”

The Falcons are indeed experienced.

During their high school careers, the St. Paul seniors have improved each year.

As freshmen, the group of Chelsea Mone, Claire Consonni, Adele Ruel, Ashley Sulewski, Sylvia Cavero and Missy Zommer missed out on the postseason with a 5-15 record.

A year later, the team was 10-10 in the regular season and advanced to the second round of the Class S tournament. As juniors, the group led the Falcons to a 13-7 regular season record and a spot in the quarterfinals.

Terryville has experience as well with four of its five starters in their senior year — Meaghan Skidmore, Shannon Skidmore, Shelby Bissonnette and Sam Hanlon.

In order to get past the Falcons and make its first significant tournament run, the ‘Roos skipper knows that her girls are going to need to be at the top of their game. She said that they’re going to have to get away from some of the things that have plagued the club over the second half of the season.

“We need to play smart, aggressive defense and we need consistent and balanced scoring by everyone on the court,” Suffridge said. “…If we commit to playing 32 minutes of intense defense, compete on the boards and all five players attack the basket, then we will be very competitive in this tournament.”

Terryville has never played in a Class S championship game.

St. Paul defeated the Kangaroos 41-36 last season before being knocked out by Capital Prep in the quarterfinals. This season, St. Paul and Capital Prep can only meet in state title game. The Trailblazers (18-2) are seeded fourth.

They’re one of nine teams joining the Falcons with 15 or more wins on their Class S tournament resume — Coginchaug, Wamogo, Crowell, Old Lyme, Portland and Wilcox Tech along with Thomaston and Bolton.

Thomaston’s No. 1 seed marks the third straight year a Berskshire League school has been garnished the top spot.

Either Wamogo of the Berkshire League or Canton would likely await the winner of the potential St. Paul-Terryville showdown in game that will decide a trip to the semifinals.

The St. Paul coach hopes his girls can get there and beyond.

“Coming in as the higher seed, we have to be prepared because everyone is going to look at us as their big game,” he said. “I’ve told the girls all year to turn that into our big game because the only big game is the one you’re playing in.”

The Falcons last appearances in the bracket’s final four came in 2003 and 2006. They were eliminated by Trinity Catholic on both occasions. Trinity no longer plays as a Class S school, having made the jump to Class L.

That aids in the Class S championship being up for the taking.

“I think that we can compete with anyone,” Mone said. “But I don’t think there’s really one team that you can point to as a favorite. People look at the top 4, but there’s some other teams out there. You just never know.”