Ledyard overwhelms East Lyme in ECC D-I boys' basketball semis
Waterford — Ledyard boys’ basketball coach Dave Cornish was paid a compliment by one of his peers this season that would make even the crustiest coach grin for a moment.
“He told me that (my team) would run through the wall for me,” Dave Cornish said, smiling.
“I said, ‘Well, I hope so.’”
Second-seeded Ledyard went full throttle Saturday and rarely let up on East Lyme. Senior Isiah McNair was among four Colonels who scored in double figures as they raced to a 75-55 win in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I semifinals at the Francis X. Sweeney Field House.
“That’s exactly what I like about this team — we have different scorers,” McNair said. “We have people on the bench that will gives us buckets. The people who are starting will give us buckets.”
The Colonels (18-3) now have their chance to (finally) catch their personal white whale — an ECC title. They’ve won or shared four division titles during Cornish’s six seasons, but never a league tournament championship.
Ledyard will play top-seeded Waterford in what should be a turbo-charged final Wednesday at the same site (7:30 p.m. streamed live on theday.com).
The Lancers (19-3) beat No. 4 New London, 71-56, in the second semifinal.
The Colonels have won 13 of their last 14, including an 88-74 victory over Waterford (Jan. 3). Their lone loss during that stretch was to defending CIAC Class LL champion Hillhouse (66-44, Feb. 13), the state’s kings of boys’ hoops.
Saturday was the third time that the ECC Division I rivals have played this season. East Lyme won the first game (71-52, Dec. 23). The Colonels won the second (79-42, Feb. 1).
Ledyard left no doubt in the third meeting. It trailed twice for a few seconds in the first quarter and led the rest of the way.
“We just wanted to show them who was the better team tonight,” McNair said.
The sixth-seeded Vikings (12-10) gave the Colonels trouble at times. Sophomore Dev Ostrowski was his usual terrific self as he had 26 points and 10 rebounds. Classmate Luke Leonard added 19 points, six assists and three steals.
The Colonels had McNair (26 points), however. And junior Trevor Hutchins (16 points, 16 rebounds, five blocks).
And junior Julio Nieves (16 points, six rebounds).
And senior Steven Fletcher (13 points).
Ledyard had the better starting five and showed it.
“They did a nice job of attacking us and trying to exploit out weaknesses,” Vikings coach Jeff Bernardi said, “and it’s tough to try to exploit theirs because there are not many.”
Cornish said, “We have five guys who can score in double figures on any given night. When we’re putting the ball in the basket, there’s not too many teams that can beat us.”
Hutchins turned an offensive rebound into a three-point play to give Ledyard a 12-10 lead with two minutes, 14 seconds left in the first quarter.
McNair followed with three straight baskets, including a 3-pointer, to push the Colonels’ lead to 19-10 to end the period.
Ledyard led by as much as 31-16 with over two minutes left in the first half.
East Lyme went on a 7-0 run midway through the third to cut its deficit to single digits. Ostrowski’s 3-pointer with 3:34 left in the period got the Vikings within nine points (42-33).
Cornish called timeout, and the Colonels responded with a 9-0 run. Fletcher concluded it with a 3-pointer as Ledyard surged ahead, 51-33.
“We made a lot of mistakes,” Bernardi said. “I’m proud of the effort of my kids, but Ledyard was the better team tonight.”
n.griffen@theday.com
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