Fighting off defenders, Post-Graduate (PG) James Lewis ’17, drove to the basket and threw down a powerful two-handed slam over a St. Sebastian’s defender. His dunk added to a large lead for Andover Boys Basketball, and the team would go on to win the game 82-54.
Along with the Saturday win against St. Sebastian’s, Andover earned a tight 77-75 victory against Thayer on Friday, but fell 72-63 to Tabor on Wednesday. Andover’s record now stands at 6-12.
During Saturday’s game against St. Sebastian’s, Andover seemed to play near flawlessly, running its plays with success and playing with precise ball movement, eventually leading to a 28 point win.
Jackson Emus ’19 said, “Over the weekend we did a great job of executing on offense; a lot of the time we would keep the ball moving and our offense would be solid. Our guys were cutting and moving the ball and because of that we were able to perform very well. We also executed our motion offense today; guys were cutting where they were supposed to, setting screens, moving the ball.”
PG Kailan Lee ’17 said, “On Saturday, we executed well, we were patient with the ball and made plays when we had to in order to get the win. We shot the ball really well as a team. Specifically, [Captain Andrew Reavis ’17] and Dallion [Johnson ’20] hit a ton of 3-pointers and James was huge for us inside.”
Andover’s game on Friday against Thayer remained tight throughout the competition. It was a back-and-forth battle, consisting of several lead changes, especially late in the second half. In the end, Andover’s defense played an integral role in the victory, securing a key stop on the final possession to keep its two-point lead.
Lee said, “Friday’s game was more of a defensive effort. Guys stepped up and we got big stops down the stretch. Jason Reynolds stepped up big and locked down their best guy in the last minute of the game.”
Emus added, “Our big thing on defense in practice this week has just been limiting the amount of open looks we give up. We did a great job of this.”
On Wednesday, Andover fell to Tabor in a close game. The team went down by 17 points in the second half, but cut the deficit to four points late in the game. Ultimately, the team lost 72-63.
Akshay Mundra ’18 said, “We played really well in spirits today, but we need to be more consistent on both ends of the floor. We didn’t execute as well as we had hoped.”
Johnson added, “We have to box out and everyone has to crash the boards on the defensive end. We can’t let the opposing team out hustle us. It’s all about effort.”
Andover looks to bounce back from this loss as the team hosts Williston Northampton this Saturday at 12:00 p.m.
