New London — Generally speaking, the ball finds the basket whenever it has left Rhodia Perry’s shooting hand this season. But this time, in the closing seconds of overtime and New London High School trailing by two Tuesday night?

Not so much.

The ball clanged off the iron … just before the irony. Not only did teammate Coby Smith manage a putback with two-tenths of a second remaining to tie the game, but Smith got fouled to give the Whalers a chance to win. Go figure: The free throw line, which had been New London’s unhappy place all night, would be responsible for victory.

Smith converted the free throw and the celebration was on at Conway Gym, following a 74-73 win over Stonington, a team that will be heard from in the Eastern Connecticut Conference this season.

The Whalers (6-1), who won their sixth straight, missed a combined nine free throws in the final five minutes of regulation and in overtime. And won anyway.

“It was just trying to box out and get the job done for coach,” Smith said, alluding to New London coach Craig Parker. “He was on me about it all game.”

Smith finished with nine points, also spending much of the evening trying to guard Stonington’s Dorian White, who finished with 25.

The Bears (3-2), who trailed 62-50 with five minutes remaining, used New London’s free throw issues and some clutch shooting from Cam Hinchey to force overtime.

Hinchey scored all 20 of his points in the second half and overtime. His fourth 3-pointer of the game gave Stonington a 69-67 lead in overtime. White scored to make it 71-67, giving every indication Stonington was about to win one of its biggest games in years.

“Great game, great comeback by Stonington,” Parker said. “That’s a good ballclub. But we hung tough. A positive night for us.”

Perry led the Whalers with 25. Freshman Da'Shaun Phillips had 19 and freshman Savahn Warren had 15 points and 12 rebounds.

“We’ve got some young guys with some fight,” Perry said.

Sam Montalto scored 11 before fouling out for the Bears while Nate Cyr added eight before fouling out.

The Whalers hit the road on Friday night against ECC Division I-leading and seventh-ranked Norwich Free Academy.

m.dimauro@theday.com