Boston Warrior AAU Boy's Basketball: Warrior News: Westport wins with despite Williams 55
Westport wins with despite Williams 55
BOYS BASKETBALL: Westport wins with despite Williams 55
By January 03, 2008 6:00 AM
Westport won the rematch of its Division 4 South Sectional semifinal over Avon the same way they won last winter — with quantity over quality, though with a bit more drama this time around.The Panthers' Akeem Williams poured in 55 points against the Wildcats, but visiting Westport got career bests from Nick Jagoe, Justin Couto, Connor Sowersby and Zach Glover and beat Avon 102-94 in overtime to stay unbeaten."I played nine kids and I couldn't have won without all nine of them," Westport coach Scot Boudria said. "Everyone contributed a little bit."Trailing by five points with eight seconds to play in regulation, Sowersby scored to cut the lead to three, and Glover went to the line on the Wildcats next possession."Our original plan was to make the first and miss the second for the put back and the tie," Boudria said, "but he missed the first."Boudria reset his 3-point shooters on the perimeter and instructed Couto and Sowersby to tip the ball out toward the line. Instead, Glover front-rimmed the shot, got his own rebound, dribbled out and hit a well-contested turn around three fading away from the hoop to tie the game."He an incredibly athletic kid, so I knew he can do that," Boudria said. "It's not something you want him to have to do, but it's something he can do."The Wildcats were far more successful from the foul line in overtime, with Couto, Jagoe and Matt Medeiros combining to go 11-for-12. Westport fouled out Williams in overtime, but at the price of three point guards of their own — Glover, C.J. Moss and Jordan Carvalho — leaving Medeiros and Jagoe to handle the ball in the closing moments.
Westport trailed by as many as 18 and led by 14 before Williams took over late in the third quarter and scored every point for Avon on an 18-6 run that got the Panthers back in the game."Williams took over," said Boudria, who at times played three defenders on the Avon point guard. "It was painful to watch as a coach but beautiful to watch as a spectator. You feel so helpless when your guys are working so hard, but he's hitting shot after shot and going to the free throw line time after time."But in the end, having the best player on the court didn't mean as much as having the deeper team."I've been coaching for 16 or 17 years and this is one of the best games I've ever been a part of," Boudria said. "The kids showed a lot of heart. For a young team that played only two seniors and one junior they showed a lot of perseverance."
