HIGHTSTOWN — When Penelope Swarn and the Hightstown High varsity girls’ basketball team play together the way they are capable, for an entire game, they can be as good as any team out there. Head coach Jenna Marcus’ club has size, length, a suffocating defense, a streaky offense, and the Colonial Valley Conference’s top young scorer in 5-foot-10 freshman guard Hayley DeKok. Plus they have Swarn, a 6-4 senior forward who is still coming into her own as a player, yet has shown enough potential to earn a Division I scholarship to play at Howard University. Pitted against Colonial Division rival Notre Dame High Tuesday, the Rams turned in their best performance yet, smothering the Irish in the second half for a 53-34 win. This was a game in which Hightstown led, 10-9, after one quarter and, 22-18, at intermission. Head coach Beth Fitzpatrick’s ND side tied the score at 22 2:20 into the third quarter before the Rams went on a 20-4 run that completely knocked the visitors off their game. “It’s definitely difficult to play against them,” said one of the Irish’s tallest players, 6-1 senior forward Izzy Diaz. “We needed to do a better job not giving up second chances.” That was hard considering that Swarn had 18 rebounds, 12 points and five blocked shots. Five-foot-11 senior guard/forward Caitlyn Nagle added 13 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and another block. Then there was DeKok, who led all scorers with 22 points, including 10 during that third-quarter burst. “Hayley’s really great. She’s stepped right in,” Swarn said. “It was difficult in the beginning of the season as we got used to not having the girls we had last year.” That led to a 5-4 start in which the Rams had their ups and downs. But none of those ups were as promising as what they showed yesterday. “Absolutely, I do,” Swarn said when asked if she thought Hightstown had turned a corner in the new year. “We’re all starting to come together.” Other than the first 2:05 of the game, in which 5-4 senior guard Meghan Connolly scored five of her nine points to give the Irish a 5-1 lead, the Rams took charge. A long 3-point field goal by DeKok spurred a 9-4 closing run that quarter. DeKok found that distance again after a drive by Notre Dame’s Alayna Ramirez (six points) tied the game at 22 in the third quarter. DeKok led Swarn for the go-ahead layup at the other end, then came back to hit three treys and a free throw to help the home side take a 42-26 edge into the final eight minutes. “In the second half, we tried to play our game and spread out the floor,” said Salisbury University-bound Diaz, who tied Connolly with a team-high nine points. “But then they went on that run.” “I love playing defense,” Swarn said. “Coach always tells me strong defense makes good offense.” It showed Tuesday as Hightstown rewarded its head coach with the complete-game effort she had been seeking, while handing the Irish their third straight setback. NOTRE DAME (34) Diaz 4-1-9, Ramirez 3-0-6, Connolly 4-1-9, Borrero 0-0-0, Foley 2-0-4, Parker 0-1-1, Hempsell 2-1-5, Bucchere 0-0-0, Hughes 0-0-0, Kniffin 0-0-0, Wood 0-0-0. Totals — 15-4-34. HIGHTSTOWN (53) Nagle 6-1-13, Swarn 6-0-12, Weissenberger 1-0-2, ORoberts 1-0-2, YMoore 0-2-2, Frascella 0-0-0, Wersching 0-0-0, Mascoll 0-0-0, Gulli 0-0-0, DeKok 7-4-22. Totals — 21-7-53. Notre Dame (4-3)                     9      9      8      8    —    34 Hightstown (6-4)                     10    12    20    11    —    53 3-point goals — DeKok 4 (H).