PORTSMOUTH — While finishing consistently on the offensive end remains a work in progress, the Portsmouth High School girls basketball team is locked in defensively.

After nearly pitching a shutout in the first quarter of Monday night’s game against Kennett, the Clippers continued to force the issue on their way to a 49-27 victory inside Stone Gymnasium. Portsmouth (5-0) has allowed an average of 29 points a game in remaining the only undefeated team in Division II.

“We want to be able to hang our hat on that. It’s a matter of want, it’s a matter of effort and I thought in the first half defensively we were really good,” Portsmouth coach Tim Hopley said. “We had an idea of what they like, what they wanted to do and we closed out on their shooters real well and limited their second shot opportunities. We didn’t let them get to where they wanted to go.”

Portsmouth guards Arianna Hebert (six steals) and Sadie Shore suffocated Kennett (5-2) in the backcourt, while junior center Abbe Laurence dominated the paint. Laurence filled the stat sheet with 12 points, 13 rebounds, seven blocks and a pair of steals.

“That comes first for us,” Laurence said. “We know if we can make all the stops down there, it’s a lot easier for us and it also gets you excited and gets you hyped when you have good defense.”

Laurence prompted a Kennett timeout after converting a pass from Corinne Lamond that gave Portsmouth an 8-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

Kennett missed its first 10 shots of the game and didn’t score until Isabel Wrobleski’s hoop with 12 seconds left in the first quarter. Hebert countered with a driving layup at the buzzer to give Portsmouth a 10-2 lead.

“They’re tough to defend and tough to score on,” Kennett coach Larry Meader said. “Credit them. We didn’t play us well as we usually do because they took us out of our game right off. They’re the best team we’ve played so far, and they’re tough with their size across the middle.”

Kennett finished 4 of 20 from the floor and had 13 turnovers in the first half. Brittany Graham provided a spark off the bench for Portsmouth by scoring all seven of her points in the second quarter, capped off by a 3-pointer that gave the Clippers a 19-6 lead midway through the frame.

Portsmouth finished the first half with a converted steal by Hebert, and pass from Hebert to Laurence as the final seconds ticked away for a 25-8 Portsmouth cushion.

“When we run our plays, we get shots off and it’s just that we have to run them right,” Laurence said. “We need to finish more. In the first half, we could’ve had 10 or 20 more points, but we just weren’t making easy layups. We’re still getting in the flow of it, but what’s great is everyone knows the plays and everyone contributes.

“A lot of time we just need to slow down. It starts to come around more in the second half because we settle down.”

Kennett’s Liz Cote began the second half with a 3-pointer, but the Clippers responded with a 10-2 run and took a 37-18 lead into the fourth quarter following Reilly Velez’s bucket.

“We played really good defense and came out and did what we wanted to do and made a lot of stops in the first half,” Hebert said. “I think we could’ve had double the score, but we missed a lot of easy shots. Personally, I could’ve finished off better and I just think we’re thinking too much about the easy layups we have.”

Portsmouth aims to keep its hot start going at Merrimack Valley (4-4) on Wednesday.

“We’ve got to become more consistent on offense, but on defense it has been pretty good,” Hopley said. “Whatever it is, we’re not letting it flow on the offensive end. We can be better, but we’re getting looks we want to get.”

CLIPPERS 49, EAGLES 27

KENNETT (27)

Bush 1-0-2, Wrobleski 4-0-9, Chick 0-0-0, Kenny 1-0-2, Cote 6-0-13, Stewart 0-1-1. Totals: 12-1-27.

PORTSMOUTH (49)

Lamond 3-0-6, Taylor 0-0-0, Laurence 5-2-12, Hebert 3-0-6, Shore 2-3-7, Graham 3-0-7, Velez 1-1-3, O. Couture 1-0-2, J, Couture 1-0-2, Katona 1-0-2, Karlin 1-0-2. Totals: 21-6-49.

Kennett 2 6 10 9—27

Portsmouth 10 15 12 12—49

3-Point Goals—Kennett 2 (Wrobleski, Cote); Portsmouth 1 (Graham).