Stonington — Rhodia Perry launched a long 3-pointer in front of the Stonington student section on Thursday night, nailing the shot with seconds left in a dominant third quarter and causing the New London High School boys’ basketball team and its fans to go bonkers.

It was that kind of night for the Whalers.

No. 11 New London was hyped from the jump and ravaged sixth-seeded Stonington 81-57 in a CIAC Division III second-round game.

It was the second time this season that the Whalers beat the Bears, edging them in overtime 74-73 on Jan. 11.

“The last time we were in a close game,” said Perry, a senior. “Today, knowing that we’re coming into a hostile environment, we wanted to come out and punch them in the mouth off the tip and that’s what we did. And once we got that lead to 10 (points), 11, 12, we just kept going and going.”

The Whalers (15-8) advanced to Monday’s quarterfinals and will play at third-seeded Hand at 7 p.m.

The Tigers took down East Lyme, the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I tournament champion, 54-40 in their second-round game.

New London scored the game’s first points 1 minute, 19 seconds in and led the rest of the way. It had six steals and a Coby Smith putback with seconds left in the first quarter gave it a 17-8 lead.

Perry opened the second quarter with a 3.

“It was a familiar opponent,” Whalers head coach Craig Parker said. “We have respect for Stonington. They’re a good team in our area this year. We knew coming in that they had really good shooters so we were ready to play. They played with a lot of energy tonight.”

Freshman Savahn Warren had a team-high 22 points and 14 rebounds for New London and Perry had 15 points and five steals.

Freshman Da'Shaun Phillips had 18 points, senior Anthony Martinez scored 15 points and Smith added five rebounds and four steals for the Whalers.

It was a sour end to a terrific season for Stonington (19-4) as so many things went wrong for it. It made just one field goal in the first quarter while turning it over seven times. It was called for three technicals. Senior Cam Hinchey had to be helped off the court with over three minutes left in the game after landing hard and was on crutches after the game.

“It took us a while to settle in and then it was just too late,” Bears head coach Jay Wosencroft said about his team’s start. “They’re scrappy; that’s a tough New London team. But we didn’t match their intensity. We didn’t do the things we needed to do to win, rebounds and not turn the ball over.

“It was just a bad pot of gumbo.”

Senior Dorian White (27 points, 5 rebounds) was the only Bear to score in double figures. Senior Nate Cyr added seven points and 10 rebounds and Sam Montalto had seven points and nine rebounds.

Stonington won both the ECC Division III regular-season title and the Division II tournament championship.

“We had one of the best seasons in Stonington history,” Wosencroft said. “We had a 16-game winning streak. … I love every single one of those kids that’s in the locker room.

“This (loss) is bad. It feels terrible but that’s a special group of boys.”

The Whalers led 30-21 at the half and began pouring it on in the third. Warren scored four during a 9-0 run that gave them a 41-23 lead with 5:22 left in the quarter.

Perry started another 9-0 run with a 3. Warren finished it with a putback to push New London’s lead to 50-26 with 2:24 remaining in the third.

“My guy right here (Martinez) he hasn’t been getting a lot of minutes all year but when he came in in the state tournament he’s making his clutch free throws,” Perry said, his arms around the shoulders of Martinez, Phillips and Warren. “My guy Savahn is getting the boards and Boo-Boo (Phillips) there, we're doing it as a team.”

n.griffen@theday.com