Milestone: Westport's Korynne Holden reaches the 1,000-point plateau against Avon

WESTPORT — When it comes to scoring points, Korynne Holden is all about team.

So it came as no surprise when the Westport tri-captain reached a rare milestone on Friday night against Avon, she spoke team first.

Holden became the fifth Wildcat girls basketball player to reach the 1,000-point plateau on a driving lay-in just a minute into the contest. She needed just four points on the night in the 58-22 win over the Panthers.

"I would not have scored a 1,000 points if I did not have my teammates," Holden said. "I did not do this by myself. It's not just a personal milestone but I feel it's a team milestone.

"We've had two different girls who now hit a 1,000 points. I feel like it's kind of a testimony of the trust we have with each other and the support that we show one another."

Holden joins Tracy Kaliffe (1985), Kellie Fournier (2001), Sam Medeiros (2015) and former teammate Leah Sylvain (2022). The Westport resident's proud parents, mom Lisa and dad Jeremy, were on hand along with Holden's grandparents and younger brother, Jensyn.

"It's an outstanding accomplishment," said Westport head coach Jennifer Gargiulo, whose team improved to 14-1. "It speaks for the desire of the girls to always improve. Both of these athletes [Leah and Korynne] has set the bar for playing with intensity, never taking a play off and really pushing their teammates to get better. I'm super proud of Korynne and she absolutely deserves tonight."

Holden began playing basketball in the third grade. She also participated in soccer. This past fall, Holden was named the 2023 Herald News Girls Soccer Player of the Year.

Last season, Holden helped lead the Wildcats to a spot in the Division 5 Elite 8 contest. This year, she scored a career-best 32 points against Fairhaven.

Holden is ranked fifth in her graduating class and has offers from UConn, University of Rhode Island, Assumption and the University of New Hampshire. She has not decided on basketball.

On a night where the Westport girls basketball team celebrated National Girls and Women in Sports Day, Holden reminisced while watching the young girls of tomorrow take part in fun activities during the game.

Vote: 15 Girls Basketball players up for Herald News Player of the Week for Jan. 29-Feb. 3

"I definitely was one of those kids out there tonight back in the days," she smiled.

Holden reached a special feat on Friday. She said all it took was hard work, dedication and just being a good teammate.

"It's an award for an individual but also a team award," Gargiulo said. "These opportunities don't happen if we don't get the assists, the offensive rebounds and the defensive rebounds. I have had the honor of coaching her for the last five years. I'm proud of her and proud of the team. They have been a cheerleader [for her] all this time."

Herald News and Taunton Daily Gazette sports editor Steven Sanchez can be reached at ssanchez@heraldnews.com. You can follow him on Twitter @Chezsports

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Westport tri-captain becomes the fifth player to reach 1,000 points