Needing a crucial stop to maintain its lead, Andover Boys Basketball blanketed Tabor’s guards in the final seconds of Andover’s 56-55 nail-biter victory over a hungry and talented Tabor squad. The victory lift Andover’s record to an even 10-10.
“It was unbelievable,” said Jake Howell ’14. “Tabor had the chance to tie or win the game in the last possession, but we didn’t allow that to happen. We played great defense down the stretch, and for this reason, we came away with a solid victory.”
Tabor had no answer for Andover’s big men, and as a result, Andover’s swung the ball to its forwards throughout the game. This strategy was evident in the stat line: while Co-Captains Ryan Hartung ’12 and Thomas Palleschi ’12 each normally average about 16 points per game, forward Palleschi finished the game with 23 points, 15 rebounds, and 4 blocks, while guard Hartung finished with just 10 points.
“Palleschi was phenomenal,” commented Greg Devlin ’14. “We just kept feeding him the ball and he kept scoring. They really couldn’t stop him. I was surprised he had as few points as he did, because he could have scored on every single one of our possessions.”
Howell and Christian Jaster ’12, both forwards, finished with seven and nine points, respectively. Like Palleschi, they each worked hard in the paint and created a large number of scoring opportunities.
“We put in a lot of work down low,” said Howell. “We kept pounding the ball in, and we kept getting good shots. They couldn’t stop us in the paint.”
“We let our lead slip away once again, but in the end we were determined to succeed and that’s what gave us the win,” added Jaster. “Our defense really pulled through for us. We stayed in a man to man since we controlled them well in that. We were mostly able to take their top guys out of the game and on offense we played our inside-outside game.”
“We need to use the momentum from this win and continue with it,” said Palleschi. “The season is coming to a close, and we really want to end on a good note. It’s important that we finish strong, not just for the seniors that are graduating this year, but for everyone that has put in hard work throughout the season.”
Andover looks to improve its record against Brooks this Wednesday.