The Westport girls basketball team is playoff bound after crushing Cape Cod Academy 60-30 on Tuesday and dominating Fairhaven 56-16 on Thursday to end the regular season with a record of 19-1. The Wildcats with a power ranking of 5, earned the 5th seed in the 44 team MIAA Division 5 State Tournament that starts this week. Westport, led by head coach Jen Gargiulo, received a first round bye and the right to play on their home court until the round of 8 where they could meet 4th seeded Renaissance School.

“We’re all excited,” said senior co-captain Korynne Holden. “This is one of the best records that we’ve had in a long time. Going into states, it gives us such a confidence boost and we feel like we’re going to go pretty far this year.”

Holden led Westport with 30 points in the two games, scoring 21 against Cape Cod Academy and 7 in the Fairhaven game. The quick, athletic guard, who scored her 1000th point in February, is a two dimensional player that has the speed to finish the fast break and the outside shot to bury 3-pointers.

“It wasn’t just a personal accomplishment, but a team accomplishment,” She said of scoring 1000 points. “It shows how well we work together, the hard work and the effort, and the chemistry that we have as a team.”

Holden is also filthy on defense, disrupting opposing guards, making steals and rebounding when needed. She made 6 steals, 8 rebounds and dished out 11 assists against Cape Cod and Fairhaven.

Holden’s guard mate, junior point guard Julia George, has also been terrific both offensively and defensively. The pair work well together forcing turnovers on the press and running the offense. George scored 14 points in the two games last week. She also had 13 rebounds, 6 steals, and 10 assists.

Emergence of Rezendes helps to make Wildcats a contender

The emergence of freshman forward Skylar Rezendes that has helped make the Wildcats legit. Rezendes has a nice inside jumper and a great scoring touch. The lengthy freshman can both rebound and drive to the basket. She netted 25 points in the two games, pulled down 18 rebounds, made 3 blocks and 2 steals.

Her inside presence has made life much easier for senior co-captains Sarah Perry and Meghan Molloy, both hard-nosed forwards that can bring it defensively. Perry scored 23 points against Cape Cod and Fairhaven, made 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals. She injured her knee in Westport’s Elite 8 loss to Sutton last season and after a long comeback and an excellent senior year she’s ready to finish the job this time.

“I feel like a lot of people didn’t expect me to come back the way that I did,” said Perry. “I put a lot of work into it every day and I can’t wait to show other teams that.”

Perry who wears a knee brace doesn’t let it affect her play.

“It’s not going to,” she said. “I’m ready to go.”

Molloy’s strength is on defense. She’s physical and bothersome on opposing forwards, can rebound and make steals and lately, her scoring has been coming around too. She scored 9 points in the two games last week.

“It’s been a development over the season,” she said. “I was struggling with my shot. We talk about what you can control with Coach G, and that’s your effort and your defensive ability. And with states coming up, my offense has followed too. And that’s been nice.”

Westport also has a deep bench with tall athletic Jenna Egby, Tess Silvia, Kylie Hazel, Molly Costa and others waiting to get their shot on the court. Coach Gargiulo has the Wildcats playing together as a team and working on the little things to get ready to take on better competition in the playoffs.

“We run the floor really well,” said Molloy. “At this point in the season we are very compatible. We know where each other are on the court at all times. We move the ball really well and it’s helping a lot on offense.”

Next up: Westport will play at home against the winner of 28th seeded New Mission and 37th seeded Rockport, who play on Tuesday night.