The Westport girls basketball team lost their neutral site playoff game to eventual state Division 4 South champ Cathedral 73-54, at Bridgewater-Raynham on Wednesday night. But there were no tears after the game. Players and coach alike agreed that they’ll be back. 

The Wildcats gained confidence during the game and said they now know they can play with anybody. 

“That’s one of the best teams in the state,” said Wildcats Head Coach Michael Ponte. “And I thought that we hung with them the whole game.” 

“No one backed down,” the coach said. “No one was scared. I think that we learned that we can play with that team.” 

“We’ve got the whole program coming back next year,” said coach Ponte. “I told them to stick together. Work on your game. And next year we aren’t walking out of here upset. We’re walking out of here getting ready to play for a sectional title.” 

Cathedral went on to defeat Carver 86 to 61 Saturday in the finals

Game stats

Cathedral jumped out to a 29-14 first quarter lead and never looked back. The Wildcats cut the lead to 21-11 with a minute to playin the quarter, but could get no closer as the Panthers went on an 8-3 run. 

Westport’s lack of scoring and rebounding in the first half fueled Cathedral’s quick transition game off the rebound and took away Westport’s press defense and trap game. Cathedral led 37-23 at halftime and 56-37 after the third quarter.

“We needed to come out fast and strong,” said team captain Jess Carney. “Going down by ten in the first quarter really held us back the whole game.”

The Wildcats most productive quarter was the fourth when they netted 17 points and played Cathedral to a draw. 

Freshman point guard Leah Sylvain scored the most points for the Wildcats in the loss with 24. Lily Pichette scored 10, Jess Carney scored 9, Peyton Mahjoory scored 9, and Sarah Perry scored 2. 

“Leah played really well,” said coach Ponte. “They all played hard. Jess is a great leader out there.”

“It was a tall task. We knew that we couldn’t get down early. Once we got down, we knew we’d have to be in a dog fight the rest of the time. But the girls never quit. They played hard until the very end,” coach Ponte said. 

Sylvain sunk 6 three pointers, two in the first half and four in the second. 

“We’re right with them,” Carney said. “ If we had hit a few more shots, if our rotations were quicker, we’re right with them. We need to understand that we’re a good team and we need to play like one.” 

Coach Ponte switched Mahjoory to the point to free up Slyvain along the arc. It also gave Mahjoory more opportunity to take the ball to the basket. 

Once Slyvain got it going, the Wildcats offense did the same, enough that Cathedral had to keep their starters in until deep into the fourth quarter. 

Carney and Pichette played tough underneath especially in the second half when Westport made a push to cut the lead to single digits. A Sylvain three cut the lead to 25-39 with 6 minutes to go in the third quarter, but that was as close as they’d get. 

“We came up short,” coach Ponte said. “Still it was a great season. We went 20-3. “Undefeated in our conference. We won 18 straight games. And we ended up losing in the playoffs to a team that will likely win the state championship.” 

“I’ll take it,” said coach Ponte, adding, “But I want to go a little further next year. And I know that the girls do too.”