Norwich — Newtown was trying to bring the ball up the floor midway through the third quarter of Monday’s game against Norwich Free Academy — emphasis on try.

NFA defensive pest Shante Talley dogged a Newtown guard in the backcourt and trapped her by the Nighthawks’ bench, forcing a five-second call.

The Wildcats harassed, hassled and hounded Newtown all night. They held the second-ranked team in the GameTimeCT/New Haven Register Top 10 girls' basketball poll to a season-low in points and won, 43-29, at Alumni Hall.

“We had to get physical with them,” NFA’s Makayla Poirier-Vaughters said. “We knew they were good. We just had to outwork them pretty much. Our defensive pressure has been really good. We stepped it up. They (have) good 3-point shooters, so we had to shut that off.”

The fourth-ranked Wildcats join top-ranked Notre Dame of Fairfield as the only Connecticut teams to beat the Nighthawks (9-3). ND edged Newtown last Thursday, 56-53.

It was also the eighth-straight win for the Wildcats (11-2). They have, in their last six games, also beaten No. 8 New London (52-38, Jan. 21), Glastonbury (58-52, Jan. 14) and gave Bacon Academy its first loss last Friday (46-28), the latter two teams which also received votes in the poll.

Poirier-Vaughters had a game-high 13 points and 11 rebounds, five of which were offensive.

“Their post players did a really good job in the beginning at scoring and setting the tone that it was going to be physical and that they were going to go at us down low,” Newtown head coach Jeremy O'Connell said.

Jenissa Varella had seven points, five assists, five rebounds and three steals for NFA and held up well against Newtown’s defense.

“She’s not only my point guard, but she’s always got the hardest defensive matchup because she’s that good of a defender and I trust her,” NFA head coach Courtney Gomez said. “I lot of times when people think about your point guard, they think of them running the show offensively, but she’s means a lot to us in terms of how we set the tone defensively.”

And then there was Talley. The forward had two steals and added physicality to her defense.

“Shante is probably the most athletic girl on the team,” Poirier-Vaughters said. “She plays the post, but she can guard guards.”

Gomez said, “Defense is really all about heart when you think about it. Alex Ivansheck (a 2000 NFA graduate and current Coast Guard Academy head coach), she was one of the best defenders NFA ever had. ... She was a passionate defender and it made her really good. And Shante does the same thing because she wants to defend, she wants to pressure the ball, she wants to get a good steal.”

Senior Carlie Smith scored a team-high eight points for Newtown.

NFA scored the game’s first basket and never trailed. Varela’s 3-pointer gave the Wildcats an 11-1 lead with over 3 minutes left in the first quarter.

Poirier-Vaughters’ putback gave the Wildcats their largest lead, 34-16, with 3:55 left in the third.

“Newtown is an unbelievable program,” Gomez said. “They’re very disciplined and kind of like Bacon. I knew they could all shoot.

“We had to be committed to defending the 3-point line and get after it on the defensive and offensive boards. My kids have really bought into that.”

n.griffen@theday.com