Ledyard — Ledyard debuted as the No. 10 team in the GameTimeCT/New Haven Register Top 10 boys' basketball poll this week after winning the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I title.

The Colonels sure didn’t look the part in Tuesday’s CIAC Class L first round.

“We didn’t come out with the effort and the intensity that you need in a state tournament,” Ledyard head coach Dave Cornish lamented after his team trudged its way to a 51-48 win over No. 28 Stratford.

“You can preach (effort) so much. They have to actually experience it. Guys are going to come at them full force, and (Stratford) did tonight. Stratford came right at us. They weren’t backing down.”

The fifth-seeded Colonels were too passive all the way to the end. The Red Devils went on a 9-0 run in the final one minute, 15 seconds in a desperate attempt to keep their season alive.

The hungrier team didn’t win.

“I don’t think it was jitters,” Cornish said. “I don’t think we matched their intensity level. … I could see (our) energy level during warm-ups, and it was just night and day (compared to Stratford). And that, unfortunately, carried into the game.”

Ledyard, oddly enough, will host Stratford’s other high school in Thursday's second round — No. 12 Bunnell (17-7). The South-West Conference runnerup beat No 21 East Lyme 63-54.

Senior Isiah McNair had 24 points and three steals for the Colonels (20-3) and sophomore Ken Turner added 13 points and three steals.

Senior T.J. Green scored 12 for the Red Devils (8-14) and was an avatar for how hard they played. He’s generously listed at 5-foot-9, yet he had eight rebounds. Five of them were offensive due to hard work.

Ledyard led 16-8 with over two minutes left in the first quarter when it began to get bogged down. The Colonels missed 9 of 12 shots in the second quarter and led 26-21 at halftime.

Keep in mind that the Colonels averaged 73.6 points prior to Tuesday.

Ledyard tried to pull away in the third quarter. McNair concluded the period with a three-point play as the Colonels took a 42-32 lead into the fourth.

McNair scored with 1:48 remaining to give the Colonels a 51-39 lead.

Stratford senior Naje Mitchell made two 3-pointers in the final minute. His second cut Ledyard’s lead to 51-48 with 1.6 seconds remaining.

“The last time I saw that happen was the Bacon Academy game,” Cornish said when asked the last time his team looked sluggish during warm-ups. “We didn’t play well that night, either (a 70-69 win on Jan. 13).

“I have to catch that early next time for sure.”

n.griffen@theday.com