We gave it all that we had. To make the final four is a hard thing. Especially as the 11th seed. Nobody was thinking that we would make it this far. But I knew it. I knew we were going to make a deep run. But I really didn’t expect it to end like this. We were one stop away from having a chance to win the state championship. I couldn’t be more proud of the guys. It was a great run.”

Senior Owen Boudria

Tears swelled in the eyes of the players as Westport’s wonderful tournament ride came to an end, one point shy, as they fell to 2nd seeded Hopedale 57-56 in the Division 5 Final Four at Taunton High School on Tuesday night.

“We needed one more stop and we didn’t get it,” said Wildcats head coach Scot Boudria after the loss. “The boys are disappointed. They’ve been working their whole lives for this. If you’re not upset by it, then you don’t have any passion for it. The team worked hard. Every single player during practice and during the game. ” 

“We gave it all that we had,” echoed Owen Boudria. “To make the final four is a hard thing. Especially as the 11th seed. Nobody was thinking that we would make it this far. But I knew it. I knew we were going to make a deep run. But I really didn’t expect it to end like this. We were one stop away from having a chance to win the state championship. I couldn’t be more proud of the guys. It was a great run.”

Ride to the Final Four

The11th seeded Wildcats earned a first round bye and outlasted Avon 74-72 in their third meeting of the season in the Round of 32. Westport then traveled to Springfield and upset a stacked 6th seeded John J. Duggan Academy 72-69 in the Sweet 16 on March 4. Four days later they pummeled 19th seeded Rockport 59-46 in the Elite 8 at home. Then traveled to Taunton to play 2nd seeded Blue Raiders. The loss ended the Wildcats’ season with a record of 16-7.

“It was a magical ride,” said Coach Boudria. The support by the fans today was awesome. Everything was great. Unfortunately there’s only one team that goes home happy at the end of the year.”

“You got to give that Hopedale kid credit. He made an amazing shot. It just sucks that it’s over. It was a great ride,” Owen Boudria said.

Owen Boudria leads all scorers with 27 points

Owen Boudria had another game for the Westport history books, scoring a game high 27 points. Max Gallant and Dane Leary each scored 8. Cole Boudria and Kingston Cordeiro each scored 6 and Alex Krynicki made a free throw.

“We don’t score half our points without Owen,” said Coach Boudria. “…This is the end of his high school career. He’s heartbroken. I told he and Cole before the game, that there’s not better times in your life than this. Not too many people can say that they played in a final four.”

The game was tied 12-12 after the first quarter. Hopedale led 31-30 at halftime and 50-43 after the third quarter, setting up a fourth quarter for the ages.

Fourth quarter: Teams battle for the opportunity to play in the championship

Defenses stiffened and every possession counted as the two teams battled for the opportunity to play in the championship in the fourth quarter.

Westport scored first and went on a 4-point run to cut the lead 50-46 with 5:19 to play.

An Owen Boudria pop-up jumper trimmed the lead to 50-44.

Boudria scored 8 of his 27 points in the fourth.

On Hopedale’s next possession Kingston Cordeiro swiped the ball off Blue Raiders junior guard Keigan Murphy, while he dribbled up court. The ball bounced to the floor and the sophomore jumped on it. Hopedale’s massive center Danny Carroll dove on him and tried to take it back, but Coach Boudria called a quick time out to stop play and keep possession.

After the inbound pass and a 3-point attempt, Dane Leary put back the rebound to cut the lead to 50-46.

Hopedale junior guard JJ Douglas responded with a big 3-pointer to extend the lead 53-46 with 5 minutes to play.

Westport made a stop on Hopedale’s next possession. Owen Boudria dribbled the ball up court, read the defense and picked his lane to drive to the basket.

The athletic star deked outside, cut back inside and leapt over Danny Carroll for a layup to trim the lead, 53-48 with 3:58 remaining.

Westport double teamed Blue Raiders guard Brayden Lewis and earned another stop.

Owen Boudria again dribbled up court and took on Danny Carroll, slicing inside, he leapt and made a one-handed jumper over the giant center and collected a foul.

He looked toward the big Westport crowd and screamed in celebration. He sank the free throw for the 3-point play as Westport trailed by just 2 points, 53-51 with 3:31 left in the game.

DeJesus steals the ball

A Hopedale jumper increased the lead to 55-51 with 2:47 left.

During Westport’s next possession, Owen hoisted a 3-pointer and the Blue Raiders came down with the ball.

Westport immediately sprung a trap on Blue Raiders guard Robbie Manning, who grabbed the rebound. Dane Leary was quick to guard him, waving his lengthy arms. Manning with his back to the court, attempted to make a blind pass. Wilfred DeJesus stepped in and stole the ball and he was immediately fouled.

Owen Boudria inbounded the ball to his brother, Cole, who passed it right back to him. Three Hopedale defenders surrounded the star dribbling by the left post. He made a move to the basket and they converged on him. He leapt up and made a pass, back to his brother, Cole, who was waiting at the top of the 3-point arc. The sophomore launched a bomb and cut the lead to 55-54 with 1:42 remaining in the game.

Wildcats’ star gives team the lead 56-55

The vaunted Westport defense came up with another stop.

“We guarded Patrick Madden pretty hard,” said Coach Boudria. “He’s easily their best ball player. He was playing pretty well against us, so we figured that we had to take him out.”

Cole grabbed the rebound under the Wildcats’ basket and got the ball into his brother’s hands. The star dribbled up court and passed inside to Dane Leary on the right post. He immediately was double teamed by Danny Carroll and Patrick Madden, who fouled him before he got off a shot.

Westport inbounded the ball to Owen Boudria at the top of the key as the Wildcats spread out on the perimeter. With only Danny Carroll standing in the paint, The Wildcats’ star saw his chance and quickly drove the lane, leapt and shot over the center. The ball went through the hoop and Westport had a slim 56-55 lead with 56 seconds left.

Boudria, who was again fouled on the play by Danny Carroll, missed the free throw and a chance to put Westport up by two points.

Wildcats dig deep, but come up short

Westport, who played their hearts out all game, found a way to dig deep and play even better. They covered the Blue Raiders like a wet blanket. Hopedale missed their first shot and Cole Boudria came down with the rebound. But, was immediately tied up by Blue Raiders guard Brayden Lewis and the Hopedale was awarded the jump ball.

With 10 seconds left to play, Hopedale inbounded the ball to senior guard Patrick Madden, who dribbled the ball under the basket to look for an opening to take a jumper. The Wildcats had three players stationed under the basket, but Madden found a small opening and took a jumper and it fell into the basket, sending the blue colored crowd into a frenzied celebration.

Hopedale had a 57-56 lead with just 3 seconds left in the game.

“We had three guys there,” said Coach Boudria. He just made the shot.”

Westport, after a brief time out, inbounded the ball to Owen Boudria. He made quick fake and launched a full court shot that fell short as the buzzer sounded. Westport had lost and they were going home.

“We practiced the 4 second play,” said Coach Boudria. It just didn’t work out too well. You got to tip your hat. That was one of the best coached games. He went through five defenses. I went through six. Tony’s a very good coach,” Coach Boudria said.

First quarter—Leary buries a 3-pointer as Westport takes an early lead

Sophomore Dane Leary buried a 3-pointer in front of the Hopedale bench, to give Westport a 3-0 lead one minute into the first quarter.

But Westport soon found out that it wasn’t going to be easy to penetrate Hopedale’s big, bad inside defense with an average height of what looked to be 6 foot 4 inches. The Blue Raiders also double and triple teamed Owen Boudria from the start in their zone defense.

Westport got outside looks early and made Hopedale pay. Cole Boudria gave Westport an 8-5 lead, sinking a 3-pointer with 3:48 left in the first quarter.

The Blue Raiders took the lead right back, 10-8, on a 3-pointer by Patrick Madden.

Alex Krynicki found Kingston Cordeiro under the basket. The sophomore made the easy layup to knot the game 10-10.

Hopedale stiffened their inside defense and clobbered Kingston Cordeiro on his second layup attempt.

Owen Boudria drained a 3-pointer to even the score 12-12 with 2 seconds left in the first quarter. The bucket seemed to signal to Hopedale that the smaller and quicker Wildcats would not be intimidated.

Blue Raiders take the lead in the second quarter

Hopedale jumped out to a 16-12 lead and kept their foot on the gas, scoring in streaks throughout the second quarter.

Owen Boudria also found his rhythm and kept the game close.

A pair of Owen pop-up jumpers knotted the score at 16-16.

The senior star deked his way around a pair of defenders and popped up for third jumper to cut the Hopedale lead, 23-22. 

Hopedale worked the ball inside to Nate Rutkowski, who put in a layup to give the Blue Raiders a six point lead with 1:34 to go in the second quarter.

Dane Leary buried a 3-pointer and sliced the lead to 28-25.

A Nate Rutkowski layup made it, 31-25 with 59 seconds left in the quarter.

Cole Boudria passed inside to Kingston Cordeiro. He made a layup  and cut the lead to 31-27.

Hopedale over threw a pass out of bounds, giving the Wildcats the ball with 15 seconds left in the quarter. Cole Boudria brought up the ball and made a pass over to his brother, Owen and he buried a 3-point torpedo at the buzzer to cut the lead to 31-30 at halftime.

Gallant scores eight points for Wildcats in the third quarter

A Max Gallant jumper just inside the 3-point line, gave Westport a 32-31 lead one minute into the second half.

“You got to give Max credit,” Owen Boudria said of his teammate. “He has stepped up huge, hitting threes and playing relentless defense. He was struggling to start the season and it’s tough to gain that confidence back. But he did it. Throwing haymakers and playing hard defense on their best player.”

Hopedale took the lead right back with a Danny Carroll layup and began to settle in to the lead.

An Owen one-handed jumper cut the lead to 53-34 with 5:30 remaining in the third.

Max Gallant sank a 3-pointer to slice it to 39-37.

Hopedale took a 46-39 lead on a jumper by Nate Rutkowski with 2:21 to play in the quarter.

Coach Boudria called a time out and the beleaguered Wildcats walked off the court to the bench.

A drive to the basket and a layup by Brayden Lewis gave the Blue Raiders their largest lead, 48-39, with 1:53 to play in the third.

Westport didn’t cave.

Max Gallant buried his second 3-pointer of the quarter, cutting the lead to 48-42.

The Wildcats made a stop and Owen Boudria sped down court and passed inside to Krynicki. The Wildcats small forward ran the Blue Raiders gauntlet and was fouled. He made one free throw to trim the lead to 48-43. But a Hopedale jumper by Brayden Lewis put the Blue Raiders back up 50-43 to end the quarter.