Norwich - Norwich Free Academy started out with a defense that coach Bill Scarlata called "something stupid," blaming himself for the specially designed set.

By the end, though, NFA, ranked sixth in the New Haven Register Top 10 Poll, held No. 8 New London without a field goal in the fourth quarter to close out a 53-42 victory Wednesday night in a rematch of last year's Eastern Connecticut Conference tournament championship game, also won by NFA.

New London (11-2), the defending Class M state champion, led by as many as seven points in the second quarter and held a 37-35 lead entering the fourth period before turning the ball over seven times down the stretch. The Whalers sank just five free throws in the fourth quarter.

"Defense wins games. I definitely understand that saying. I respect it," NFA junior Cebria Outlow said. "... It came natural for us. We weren't playing to our full potential (on defense) the whole entire game. We took it upon ourselves."

Hailey Conley finished with 17 points to lead NFA (12-1), which took the lead for the final time just over a minute into the fourth quarter on a 3-point field goal by Conley which made it 40-37. Three straight New London turnovers then led to a pair of fast break layups for the Wildcats, one by Conley (three 3-pointers) and one by Outlow (16 points) and suddenly it was NFA which held a seven-point advantage.

NFA, up five points at the time, began holding the ball with 5 minutes, 11 seconds remaining, looking for what Scarlata called a good matchup for his team (as opposed to stalling). That forced New London to foul.

"Some costly turnovers," New London coach Holly Misto said. "But NFA picked up its defense in that quarter. They prevented the pick-and-roll. It's a tough matchup because they have two good athletes that are post players, as well.

"... I thought my kids played really, really hard. You can't get too high off a win and you can't get too low after a loss."

Outlow said competing against New London, which has several players who play for the same AAU program as NFA, is like a game between "teammates." And an evenly matched one, at that.

"I love playing New London. I know everyone on their team," Outlow said. "We connect. We talk. It's a great match. Both coaches are really intense. Both teams, everybody was scoring. It was a team win."

Scarlata agreed the series between the teams is a highly anticipated one.

"It's almost the perfect matchup. We both have two big kids and three guards," Scarlata said. "I don't think there's anyone in the league that can match up with either one of us because of the two big kids."

Jada Lucas led New London with 11 points and Jasonia Ramseur and Charee Osborne each scored seven.

The Whalers started out with a 7-1 lead, getting all seven of Ramseur's points to open the game, as she was left unguarded in Scarlata's defense which was designed to double-team the low-post tandem of Osborne and India Pagan.

NFA scored nine straight to take a 10-7 edge and the lead flip-flopped, with New London leading 14-12 after a quarter on a 3-pointer by Lucas.

NFA limited New London's opportunities to stretch the lead, though, with 16 offensive rebounds in the first half, and Conley scored 14 of her points in the second half to help ignite NFA's offense.

Olivia Lane also finished with 12 points for NFA, which was 18-for-30 from the free throw line.

v.fulkerson@theday.com

Twitter: @vickieattheday