East Lyme — Craig Parker is known for growls and scowls along the New London High School sideline. And then there are nights like this when ... who can blame him?

His Whalers scored 25 points in the first period Tuesday night.

They scored 11 over the next 18 minutes. (That's more than two quarters).

And they finished the game on a 26-7 run, completing a wild rally that secured a 62-56 win over East Lyme in Division I of the Eastern Connecticut Conference.

"I really don't remember how we came back," Parker said in a very happy locker room after the game.

When asked if he can explain his team's lulls and droughts, he said, "I really can't."

But then, all that matters is this: New London (6-3, 3-1) has won five straight.

"We have some decent pieces," Parker said. "This was a gutsy win tonight. Great effort."

The Whalers, once leading 25-14, trailed 49-36 with six minutes remaining. Dead? Hardly. Not with Edwardo Gonzalez scoring 11 of his 15 points in the final four minutes, including a pair of three-point field goals that highlighted a 17-0 run.

"He came through for us at a key time," Parker said.

Gonzalez and Jalen Benson, who finished with a team-high 20 points, combined to make all their free throws down the stretch for the Whalers.

Melquann Gomez added 10 for New London.

"We went on a three or four minute stretch where we got great looks and didn't hit them," East Lyme coach Jeff Bernardi said. "Then we made a couple of bad turnovers. A four-minute hiccup and that's your ballgame."

East Lyme sophomore Dev Ostrowski scored a game-high 31 points before fouling out with 15.4 seconds left. Ostrowski earned a nice ovation from the near full house.

"Dev is a gifted offensive player," Parker said. "He has a nice future ahead of him."

So, too, do the Vikings, whose two best players are sophomores: Ostrowski and feisty guard Luke Leonard, who made three 3-pointers in the second half, igniting the student section.

"We're learning how to compete with the upper echelon teams," Bernardi said. "We're showing stretches of great basketball, but not a complete 32 minutes. Today proved to us how valuable every possession is. Even our seniors are learning to value the basketball. Hopefully by March, we will have learned it."

And by March, the league may have learned the same lesson all over again: Don't sleep on the Whalers.

"It took us five or six minutes to wake up," Bernardi said. "It's one thing to say they're the most aggressive, athletic, physical team in the conference. But to try to emulate that in practice is one thing. It took us five or six minutes to realize this is how it's going to be."

m.dimauro@theday.com