Boys Basketball Sports

Andover Falters In Consecutive Games

With a Worcester defender tight on his back, Post-Graduate Sam Jefferson ’16 steadied his feet and jumped for a 3-pointer that sailed through the air and swooshed through the hoop. Jefferson tallied a total of 25 points against Worcester, aiding Andover Boys Basketball in its narrow 67-58 win on Friday. On Saturday, Andover suffered a 66-42 loss to Noble and Greenough School, its New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) rival. In its third game of the week on Wednesday, Andover fell 79-62 to Tilton, dropping its record to 5-9.

Against Worcester, Andover got off to a roaring start and excelled both offensively and defensively. Jefferson posted a 50.09 percent shooting rate, which helped Andover build a double-digit lead throughout the contest.

Co-Captain Andrew Reavis ’17 said, “Beating Worcester was really good for us. It was our first win against a [NEPSAC] team in a really long time here, and we were really happy to get that.”

Against Nobles, Andover excelled early on, but as the match drew out, Andover began to suffer the effects of playing two games in just two days. There were multiple stretches where Andover outscored Nobles, but Andover ultimately succumbed to a loss due to its waning energy and lacking defense.

“One big thing that we are working on is just being consistent with our energy, because sometimes we get really complacent. So, as a team, we are just focusing on having a focused mentality and really bearing down right now. A big thing that we are working on is transition defense, which we were really poor [at doing] against Nobles, and we want to correct that,” said Reavis.

On Wednesday against Tilton, Andover maintained its usual offensive prowess and restored its focused defense; Tilton, however, overcame Andover by 17 points.

Jefferson said, “We’ve had really good games and have done really good things in games, and now we just need to put all of those things together into each game from here on out. Every aspect that we become successful in, whether it be a new play or a defensive steal, will give us the confidence we need to [make it to playoffs]. We’re a very good team with very good players, we just have to concentrate on the game at hand, one play at a time.”

This weekend, Andover hopes to improve to a playoff-qualifying record against Thayer and St. Sebastian’s.