Waterford — Waterford coach Mark Capasso has an explanation as to why his team scored 69 and 71 points in a pair of games against Stonington this season and struggled at other times offensively.

"We play well against them because we know they're good," Capasso said of Waterford's Eastern Connecticut Conference Medium Division opponent. "We have a lot of respect for them. The girls are always playing them in soccer and softball and basketball. They're mostly going against each other in big games.

"The other day we went all the way to Guilford and we don't know their personnel. Not that it's not important. It is. ... But these kids really bring out the best in each other."

Waterford's girls' basketball team beat Stonington 71-46 Tuesday night, putting five players in double figures and keeping its chance at a division title alive going into Friday night's game against league-leading New London. Waterford is 12-3 overall, 5-1 in the divison. New London, ranked third in the state, is unbeaten in the division, including a 48-38 victory over Waterford on Jan. 5.

Kazi Walker had 18 points and Mia Brennan 17, including four 3-pointers, the first time Waterford met Stonington.

On Tuesday, each had 16 points, with Brennan adding eight assists and five steals. Vanessa Kobyluck had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Kayla Jean-Pierre and Shea Spellman had 10 points each. Taty LaFrance Boyce had 22 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots for Stonington (11-3, 4-3).

Waterford led 21-11 after one quarter, with Brennan hitting two 3-pointers, Walker one and Kobyluck converting an offensive rebound with 0.5 seconds remaining.

"Maybe just our history with Stonington," Walker said. "It kind of pumps everybody up. They're really good. We want to compete. We come together as a team."

"It was a point of emphasis for the kids to look for their offense (coming off Saturday's 56-52 loss to Guilford)," Capasso said. "They were depending too much on Vanessa. They were looking to attack the seams and everybody be a part of the offense."

Waterford led 33-20 at halftime and Stonington never got closer than nine in the second half. Walker, fouled attempting a 3-point field goal, knocked in all three free throws following a Stonington timeout and Kobyluck followed with a 3-pointer.

Walker then continued to put distance between the Lancers and the Bears, driving for a layup with 19.3 seconds remaining in the quarter and hitting a shot from the left baseline at the buzzer to push Waterford's lead to 53-32.

"They're a well-balanced team. They played with confidence and experience," Stonington coach Paulla Solar said of Waterford. "We made some mistakes that you can't afford to make against such an experienced team and their outside shooting was a high percentage. That's a credit to them."

LaFrance Boyce, meanwhile, a senior guard, continued her leadership of a young Stonington team, which starts a junior in Cameron Dreher (10 points, 10 rebounds), two sophomores in Kate Hall and Halle Anderson and a freshman in Kate Johnson (8 points).

LaFrance Boyce engineered a steal on the Bears' own end of the floor, then took it in one-on-two for a layup in the third quarter and scored seven points in the fourth quarter despite the Bears' growing deficit. Closing in on 1,500 career points, LaFrance Boyce has scored 20 or more points in four straight games and 30 or more in two of them.

"Taty plays 110 percent every game," Solar said. "She's an extremely determined young lady."

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