Ledyard - Ideally, good teams schedule tough competition whenever possible.

It better prepares them for the state tournament (as opposed to maiming dregs), and they'll learn a few things about themselves having faced opponents that can punch them back.

Ledyard High School had a few revelations Saturday afternoon after squaring off with boys' basketball powerhouse Hartford Public. The Colonels discovered they can play with the best, but they better play cleaner if they hope to beat them.

Shakeem James scored 21 points as Hartford Public used a late run to beat the Colonels, 78-73, for the third straight season.

Ledyard, ranked 10th in the New Haven Register media poll, led 67-66 with over four minutes left in the game, but the No. 8 Owls countered with a 7-2 run as they took advantage of Ledyard mistakes.

"We have to do a better job of trying to keep guys in front of us instead of trying to gamble and go for steals and things of those nature," Colonels coach Dave Cornish said. "We've been telling them (that). You get into bad habits when you play teams that can't go by you, (and) then when you do play teams of this caliber they hurt you.

"I don't think they're that much better than us. I just though we didn't play our 'A' game today."

DeAnte Bruton scored 31 for Ledyard (13-3), including his 1,000th point. Mario Graham added 19 points and Phyllip Thomas 17.

"All-and-all, I think we played hard," Bruton said. "We just needed a team effort from everybody. We missed a couple of rebounds. Every possession counts. We didn't cherish every possession, and that kind of hurt us in the end."

The Owls (15-1) looked to be pulling away as they took a 60-51 with over two minutes left in the third quarter.

Bruton jump-started the Colonels with a 3-pointer and Graham followed with a three-point play as Ledyard ended the quarter trailing 60-57.

Graham turned a Public turnover into a layup seconds into the fourth quarter and followed with an open 3-pointer to complete an 11-point run and give the Colonels a 62-60 lead with 7 minutes, 12 seconds left.

"I couldn't believe it," Cornish said. "I said, 'oh, man. Guys, we're down nine (60-51).' Next thing I know, we're up 62-60."

The Owls trailed by a point when Kirby Eugene sliced through the Ledyard defense for a layup. James followed with one of his own.

Bruton answered with a layup seconds later, but James got open on the right arc on Public's next possession and made a 3-pointer that gave the Owls a 73-69 edge with 3:14 remaining.

"We need to work on defense, help defense, (and) communication, which is very important on defense," Bruton said.

There's a good chance that both teams could meet in the Class LL tournament, annually the most perilous division in any CIAC-sanctioned sport.

"This is why coaches schedule these games - to help in states and make us a stronger team," Bruton said. "(It) will help us in big spots and be confident competing with these LL teams."

Cornish said, "We're going to see this in the state tournament, just like last year with Kennedy and Crosby and Norwalk, those type of teams, and (defending LL champion) Bridgeport Central. That's why we schedule these games.

"It's going to be tough in the state tournament, regardless if we won this game or lost it."

n.griffen@theday.com

Twitter: @MetalNED