I’m hyped, I’m hyped. I’m so proud of my boys. They really stepped up. It was a back and forth fight the whole time. We just stayed mentally tough.”

Senior Owen Boudria

The Westport boys basketball team upset a stacked 6th seeded John J. Duggan Academy 72-69 in the D-5 Sweet 16 at the Springfield Science and Technology High School on Tuesday night. The 11th seeded Wildcats move on to play 19th seeded Rockport in the Elite 8 at home on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Wildcats won on the same court that they fell to fourth seeded Paulo Freire 62-50 in the 2022 Sweet 16, when Owen Boudria was a freshman.

This time the senior and his teammates wouldn’t be denied.

“I’m hyped, I’m hyped,” Owen said after the game. “I’m so proud of my boys. They really stepped up. It was a back and forth fight the whole time. We just stayed mentally tough.”

“Owen’s a true leader,” said head coach Scot Boudria. “They double and triple teamed him tonight. And it's funny, I thought the more they doubled him, the better we got, because others stepped up.”

“Our defensive pressure really hurt them,” he said, “That and having the best player in Division 5.”

That would be his son, Owen, who led the team in scoring with 34 points, rebounding with 12 and blocked shots with 8.

It was Westport’s debilitating full court press that accumulated 18 steals as the Wildcats took the lead in the second quarter. Duggan double and tripled teamed Owen and this game, he needed his teammates and they responded, big time.

Sophomore forward Dane Leary scored 11 points, Will Quinlan scored 10 points, senior guard Alex Krynicki scored 9 points, senior Max Gallant scored a big 3-pointer,  Willie DeJesus scored 2 and Cole Boudria added a free throw.

The game had many Westport heroes none bigger than Leary who played flawless defense, brought down rebounds, made steals, caused offensive fouls and scored big points. By games end, the sophomore’s right eye was starting to swell from getting hit in the aggressively played game. He looked like a prize fighter.

“It was one of the most intense games that I’ve ever played,” said Leary after the game. “We were up by a lot, but they started coming back.”

“Dane made multiple, multiple, phenomenal defensive plays,” said Coach Boudria. “He was pretty special tonight.”

Owen scores first, but Duggan takes the lead in the first quarter

Owen stole the ball off a Duggan guard and dribbled in for a layup to score the game’s first points. But it was Duggan guard Allen Miranda who dominated early, scoring 12 points for a 18-13 first quarter lead.

“With a team like Duggan, I was afraid they were going to pass through our zone and make easy baskets,” Coach Boudria said.

Heroes respond in the second quarter as Westport fights to take the lead

Westport scored the first basket of the second quarter on an Owen pop-up jumper from the top of the key. That was the last time Duggan gave him an open shot. From there out the Wildcats star had to overcome double and triple teams. He scored 13 hard fought points in the second quarter. A put back layup cut the Duggan lead to 20-19 with 6:11 to play in the second quarter.

He grabbed a defensive rebound and passed down court to a wide open Leary, who launched a 3-point bomb.

Swish.

Westport had their second lead of the night 22-20 with 5:55 to go in the second quarter, but it didn’t last long. 

Miranda answered with a 3-pointer giving Duggan a 23-22 lead.

Owen attempted to dribble through a Duggan double team at the top of the key. The ball squirted loose and it was picked up by Quinlan, who put in a layup and put Westport back on top, 24-23.

Owen picked off a Duggan pass, dribbled up court and was fouled hoisting up a 3-pointer. He made 2 of 3 to extend the lead to 26-23.

Then the Westport defense stiffened and the Wildcats started to roll.

DeJesus forced his way to the basket for a layup to make it 28-23.

Quinlan buried a 3-pointer from the right sideline to give Westport a 31-23 lead.

On defense, Leary was knocked to the floor by Nate Velasquez while attempting to take an offensive foul. The referee didn’t see it that way and Jayson Delude put back the rebound to cut Westport’s lead to 31-25.

Wildcats extend the lead

Kingston Cordeiro cut inside for a layup, but was denied by a Duggan double team.

Owen picked up the rebound and slammed his way inside drawing a foul. The star made them both to increase the lead to 34-27.

Gallant dribbled his way around Isaiah Rodriguez at mid court and dished a pass to Quinlan on the post. The soccer star drained an open 3-pointer to give Westport a ten-point lead.

Owen grabbed another defensive rebound, dribbled up court, deked inside and popped up for a jumper.

Swish. 39-27.

A DeJesus layup made it 41-29.

The gym went silent as the halftime buzzer sounded. Westport had shocked the large Duggan crowd. Only a small section of Wildcats’ fans cheered as the players walked off the court.

Westport starts hot in the third quarter

The Wildcats got off to a fast start in the third quarter. Krynicki stole the ball off Rodriguez, dribbled up court and passed to Owen, who deked Miranda and put in a right-handed layup and Gallant knocked down a 3-pointer to extended the Wildcats lead to 46-29.

But a Miranda 3-pointer cut the lead to 46-34 with 5:34 left in the third quarter and the favorites started to wake up.

Dane Leary induced offensive foul calls against Duggan and a Krynicki vs Rodriguez melee slowed their Duggan’s progress.

Owen netted a pair of free throws and a jumper to push the lead to 52-36.

Duggan came back near the end of the quarter.

Kyle Combs buried a pair of threes to cut the Westport lead to 58-49.

Rodriguez, who was a thorn in Westport’s side the entire game, scored 10 points in the fourth quarter. He sank a pair of 3-pointers and drained a free-throw that tied the game 58-58 with 4:31 to play.

Shortly after he drove in for a layup and gave Duggan a 60-58 lead.

The two teams fought to take control of the game. They traded scores, like boxers traded punches in the 15th round of a heavy weight fight.

Cole Boudria took an inbound pass, dribbled up court and sent a no-look pass to Krynicki in the corner.

Swish.

The senior buried a 3-point bomb that gave Westport a 61-60 lead with 3:09 to play.

An Owen layup extended the lead, 63-60, with 2:54 left.

Then, Miranda sank a bomb and knotted the game again, 63-63, with 2:32 remaining.

Quinlan took a pass in the paint. He was open, he took a jumper it bounded off the rim, the super quick guard grabbed his rebound and put back the layup to give Westport a 65-63 lead.

A Krynicki layup increased Westport’s lead to 67-64.

Rodriguez got to the line and made one of two free throws to slice the lead to 67-65 with a minute to go, setting the stage for a free throw battle.

Leary wins the game

Pressure mounted with seconds to play in the game. Duggan was at Westport’s heels ready to take the game of they faltered. Leary with the Elite 8 at stake, made a sturdy 4 of 6 free throws down the stretch and Owen made 1 of 2 to stave off Duggan 72-69 and head home to play in the Elite 8.

“It was a lot of practice,” Leary said of the draining the free throws. “You can’t let the pressure get to you.”

Last trip to the Elite 8

The last time Westport made it to the Elite 8 was 2014 according to Coach Boudria. Westport’s lineup consisted of Richie Hartnett, Chris Silvia, Tommy Yeargin, Jake Bailey Chad Willard coming off the bench with Alex and George Machairas.

“We beat old Rochester in the Sweet 16 and we lost to Cardinal Spellmen, who ended up winning the state championship at UMass Boston,” he said. “It was the first year that they had moved us to Division 3 because they thought our student population was 472 when in fact, we had 372.”