Leah Sylvain scored 15 points as Westport girls basketball team improved to 10-1 after squashing Avon 48-11 in a MAC league away game on Friday evening. Sylvain, the Wildcats’ senior point guard has been playing with more confidence this season. 

“I’ve been driving to the basket a lot more this season,” she said. “I’m taller and I have more moves that I can use to get by opponents instead of plow through them.”

The senior co-captain also dished out 3 assists and also made 7 of the Wildcats 19 steals. Junior forward Meghan Molloy led the team with 9 of the team’s 32 rebounds during the Avon victory. 

“Defensively we are very strong,” said Sylvain. “Teams have a lot of difficulty getting by us.”

That proved to be true against the Falcons who scored just 6 first half points and only managed 5 more in the second half.  Westport has been dominating  defensively all season. 

“The team puts 110 percent into their defense,” said Wildcats head coach Jen Gargiulo. “You have to buy into defense. It’s not a stat, it’s not flashy. They transition well, they rotate well, they communicate well and we make teams uncomfortable.”

Coach Gargiulo credits Westport captains Sylvain, Korynne Holden and Sarah Perry for the team’s defensive buy-in. 

“They push their teammates to be better in practice and during games,”  she said.

Sophomore guard Julia George got the offense going as she drained a 3-pointer and a jumper for 5 points in the first quarter as Westport raced out to a 16-4 lead. Holden, a junior guard, scored 8 of her 12 points in the first half as the Wildcats led 24-6 at the break.

“My speed really works to an advantage against most teams,” Holden, a co-captain said. “This year since our defense is so good, we are making a lot of steals and it’s benefiting our fast break.”

Westport won all three of their games this week as they Walloped Wareham 52-29 on Monday and crushed Holbrook 56-7 on Wednesday. 

This week we’ve been successful,” said Coach Gargiulo. “It was a true test having three games in a week. It puts a lot on the girls. We really wanted that bounce back win on Monday.” 

Both today and Wednesday were team wins,”she said. “Seven to eight kids’ names in the scorebook and defense translated into offensive opportunities. We are really working as a team. They believe in each other and they have fun. That’s why we’ve been so successful.”   

Scoring: Korynne Holden netted 12 points, Julia George scored 8, Jenna Egbe scored 5, Sarah Perry scored 4, Meghan Molloy and Shelby Orr each scored 2. 

Next up: Westport travels to Bishop Connolly on Wednesday at 4 p.m.