Norwich — There was so, so much going against Ledyard on Monday night.

The Colonels were giving up size to Norwich Free Academy. They were at giving up length with the Wildcats making a myriad of blocks. NFA shot better from the perimeter. Heck, the Wildcats were celebrating Senior Night, too.

Ledyard does, however, have more guts than a butcher, and the Colonels showed off that toughness in the clutch.

Trevor Hutchins scored nine of his 20 points in the decisive fourth quarter and also had 19 rebounds as the Ledyard rallied to win, 65-59, to sweep the season series and clinch a share of the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I boys' basketball title.

Isiah McNair scored nine of his 20 points in the fourth quarter for Ledyard (15-2, 6-2), which will share the division title with the winner of next week’s NFA at New London game (Feb. 21).

The Colonels trailed NFA for over 22 minutes. And they won.

“I’ve been here six years, and this is our fifth ECC division title,” Ledyard head coach Dave Cornish said. “The kids know the expectations. I would say this is a tradition at Ledyard High School now, playing in big games. And it also goes back to our schedule earlier in the year. We played Xavier (out-of-conference) and were down nine in the fourth quarter and pulled that game out.

“The kids are resilient. They know how to win big games.”

There might not have been a more resilient player on the floor Monday than Hutchins. The Colonels are a guard-centric team, so the 6-foot-5 junior had to do the bulk of the grunt work inside, getting banged, jostled, and knocked to the floor.

Hutchins bedeviled the Wildcats. Eight of his rebounds were offensive, and he made 10 free throws.

“I’m tired,” Hutchins said with a smile, “but I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s fun that way. I wouldn’t want one-on-one every time down. Basketball is more than just that. It’s more fun when it’s more completive. (NFA) brought that to the table.”

Cornish said of Hutchins, “We’ve asked a lot from him to play inside and he does a great job in there. When he goes up with two hands, there’s not too many guys who are going to get the (rebound) from him.”

Steven Fletcher added 13 points for Ledyard, which routed NFA 77-53 on Jan. 24.

The Colonels struggled from the free throw line (21-of-33). The Wildcats struggled worse. They missed 15 of their 22 free throws.

“I’m so proud of how hard they played,” NFA head coach Chris Guisti said. “We just needed to make a few more shots, whether they be free throws or 3-point shots. We’ve been making our shots the last few games.

“Offensive rebounds killed us as well. We have to look at why they were able to get so many offensive rebounds. They must have taken at least 10-to-15 more field goals than we did, which gave them an advantage.”

Seth Thomas had 20 points and Jalen Graham scored 13 for the Wildcats (15-3, 5-2).

NFA jumped out to an early 12-5 lead and never trailed in the first half.

Ledyard trailed by as much as 49-44 with over five minutes left in the game when it clawed back. Fletcher made two free throws to tie the game at 52 with 3 minutes, 38 seconds left.

Austin Brandt stole an offensive rebound on the other end and was fouled. He made the first of two free throws to give the Colonels a 53-52 lead with 3:22 to go. They never trailed again.

n.griffen@theday.com