Middletown — There was no way that Ledyard could rally against Middletown on Monday night.

Not down 28 points late in the third quarter.

Not with Middletown making 3-pointers like Golden State shooting from point-blank through hula-hoops.

The Colonels were done. Finished. Forget it.

Except it wasn't over. Ledyard wouldn't let it.

The Colonels went on an obscene fourth-quarter run and cut the deficit to five late in the game. The hole they had to crawl out of was too big, however, and Middletown won, 81-69, in a CIAC Class L boys' basketball tournament quarterfinal before a standing room only crowd.

"We knew we were down big, but we never quit," Ledyard senior Steven Fletcher said. "I don't think we ever thought, 'Okay, it's over,' until it was actually over."

The fifth-seeded Colonels trailed 57-29 with two minutes, 22 seconds left in the third quarter.

Ledyard blitzed the Blue Dragons in the fourth quarter with Fletcher's 3-pointer cutting its deficit to 70-65 with 2:08 remaining.

"I'm proud of them since they fought back," Colonels head coach Dave Cornish said. "They didn't just lay down and die and go out with a whimper. They came out and as a collective said, 'You know what, we're going to fight to the end.' That's all I can ask for my team. Fighting until the end.

"They gave it all they had. I wish we had done it earlier, but you know what, at least they did it. And I'm proud of them."

Ledyard finished 21-4 and won the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I tournament championship.

Senior Isiah McNair scored 21 for the Colonels and Fletcher added 20 points.

The fourth-seeded Blue Dragons (22-4) finished with 11 3-pointers. They made all of them in the first three quarters, including six in the third.

"Everybody was shooting threes," Fletcher chuckled. "I don't know what was going on. Against New London (on Saturday), I heard they put up a lot but didn't make a lot. So we were like, 'We have to guard (DeAaron) Lawrence and (Ahmod) Privott. If we shut them down, we felt like everybody else would have to beat us.'"

Lawrence (three 3-pointers, 19 points) and Privott (15 points) got their points for Middletown. So did Tyshuan James (20 points). And C.J. Sprowl, who made four 3-pointers for 12 points. And Dayquan Singletary (11 points).

"Everybody beat us, including those two (Lawrence and Privott)" Fletcher said.

The fourth-seeded Blue Dragons advance to play top-seeded Sacred Heart (26-0) in Wednesday's semifinals at Bulkeley (7 p.m.) The Hearts beat Windsor, 58-52. They've won three straight state titles (2014-15 Class S, 2016 Class M).

Ledyard outscored the Blue Dragons 31-21 in the fourth quarter. McNair scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, Fletcher 10.

It was too little, too late, though.

"We were so ready to move on (in the tournament) that I think we just came out a little flat," Fletcher said. "We just didn't play as hard (early) as we usually do."

n.griffen@theday.com