Owen Boudria scored 41 points as Westport outlasted Avon 74-72 in overtime in the Division 5 Round of 32 at home on Friday night. The 15-6 Wildcats move on to play 6th seeded John J. Duggan Academy in the Round of 16 on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

“I took a look at his face when time was starting to run out in the game,” said Coach Boudria. “I I knew what he was thinking, because I’ve  seen him in the backyard as a little kid when he would count down the game, 10 seconds, 9 seconds, 8 seconds, and it was the same face. Alright, I got to score now.”

Boudria scored 24 of his 41 points in the second half and 6 points in overtime all while fighting through leg cramps, in a back and forth, intense, ruckus of a game. 

The senior star also broke the Westport High School all-time scoring record, during a pop-up jumper to tie the game in the fourth quarter. By end of game, Boudria had accumulated 1591 points during his career, eclipsing former Wildcat, Mike Noonan's mark of 1580, back in 2002-2006. The game was stopped briefly for a mini ceremony. The humble senior held a banner with his family and took a picture to memorialize the record at center court. 

“The record is nice,” Owen Boudria said after the game. “But my goal was to win the game.”

The Panthers, who fell to Westport twice during the regular season, came out firing and punched Westport in the mouth, taking an early 19-3 lead in the first quarter. Avon junior captain Tommy Edwards drained a pair of 3-pointers and a pair of jumpers for 10 of his team high 30 points.

“Mike Hays and the Avon team did an exceptional job,” head coach Scot Boudria said. “They were well prepared, they battled and they were super smart.”

“We called a bunch of time outs,” said Cole Boudria. “I just kept saying, we have to keep working. We have to keep going.”

The younger Boudria began Westport’s comeback by burying a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 19-6. Then he drove in for a basket and added a free-throw for 6 of his 14 points in the first quarter. He also sank a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter as Westport began to claw back into the game.

“I caught fire,” Cole said. “We were nervous. But once we settled down, We started working as a team and that’s when we started rolling.”

The Wildcats began to find the basket. Wilfred DeJesus scored 4 points. Will Quinlan and Kingston Cordeiro each added a basket, Alex Krynicki sank a free throw, after getting to the line and Owen Boudria scored 11 points as the Wildcats cut the lead to 39-32 at halftime. 

“When we were down 19-3, I said I got to step up, do my thing and score,” Owen Boudria said. “I wasn’t losing this game, not in my senior year.”

Kingston Cordeiro, a sophomore guard scored 6 points in the second half and 2 more in overtime. “He was awesome,” Coach Boudria said.

Cordeiro mostly scored on an open layup from under the basket as Avon put all their effort into trying to stop Mr. Unstoppable.

Owen Boudria came out after halftime and had his way with the Panthers, scoring 17 points in the third quarter, 6 more in the fourth and 5 more in overtime. The Wildcats set picks as the sinewy athletic star worked his magic, dunking fast breaks, draining a 3-pointer, burying pop-up jumpers and snaking his way to the basket for layups.

Westport cut the lead to 55-53 after the third quarter setting up a wild fourth with lead changes every possession. The game ended in a 64-64 tie in regulation.  

The battle continued into overtime. Owen Boudria put Westport up, 73-71 with 1:15 left to play. He took an inbound baseline pass from brother Cole and willed his way through the Avon defense for a layup to give Westport a 73-72 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.

Avon drew a foul on their next possession. Sophomore Douglas Ateku missed both foul shots. A steal by Max Gallant gave the Wildcats the ball back with 24 seconds left and a one point lead. Cole again inbounded the ball to his brother Owen. This time the pair passed the ball between themselves until Cole was fouled with 19 seconds left.

The sophomore sank one of two free throws to extend Westport’s slim lead 74-72.

Avon grabbed the rebound on the second free throw and raced down court. The Panthers threw up a pair of desperation 3-pointers as the gym whipped into a frenzy. Krynicki grabbed the final rebound as time ran out.

The Wildcats had won. 

It’s surreal that I’m the leading scorer of the school,” Owen Boudria said. “There’s thousands of kids walking through the school. Thousands of players playing basketball and I’m the leading scorer. It’s a great feeling, but I’m not worried about that now. I’m worried about the next win. I believe that we can make it to the final four. I believe that we can make a championship push.”

Westport scoring: Owen Boudria scored 41 points, Cole Boudria scored 14, Kingston Cordeiro scored 10, Wilfred DeJesus scored 4, Alex Krynicki scored 3 and Will Quinlan scored 2.