HAMDEN - The Norwich Free Academy girls basketball team squared off with Hamden Monday night at Hamden High School. And the Dragons proved to be too much for the Wildcats with a convincing 56-35 non-leage win.

Hamden improved to 8-3.  NFA fell to 5-8.

The Wildcats were led by sophomore center Makayla Poirier-Vaughters, who scored 26 of her team's 35 points.
Poirier-Vaughters was a key factor in NFA'a second quarter comeback attempt. Down 29-11 early in the second, NFA fed their center consistently. And Poirier-Vaughters delivered.  

NFA cut the deficit to just 29-25 with an impressive 14-0, sparked by Poirier-Vaughters’ dominance down low.

Hamden, however, responded with a 13-0 run in the third quarter and held NFA scoreless up until the final minute of the quarter.

In the fourth, the Hamden's lead was too much for the Wildcats too overcome.

The Achilles Heel for NFA was rebounding. Hamden dominated the glass, especially on the offensive side they conveted numerous second-chance baskets.

Wildcats head coach Bill Scarlata was frustrated at the lack of rebounding on the defensive side of the ball allowing Hamden way too many second-chance opportunities and points.

 “They (Hamden) are extremely athletic and they rebound the ball extremely well and we're not that big," Scarlata said. "We forced them into the shots we wanted them to take, but yet they get second-chance opportunities and they scored almost all of them.”

Having only one senior and an injured junior makes things a little tougher for the Wildcats.

“We're going to have to find someone that can make an outside shot consistently and then we got to find a way to get the ball into number 40 (Poirier-Vaughters), who, when we do, does pretty well,” Scarlata said.

NFA will travel to Colchester to take on Bacon Academy on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. 

“These kids are tough, they work hard, we just need to keep on working on getting better,” Scarlata added.