Sports

Girls Basketball Defeats Exeter; Seniors Lead Team on Offense

Heading into the last game of their Andover careers, Sarah Beattie ’07 and Kristen Macdonald ’07 stepped up their games and put up big numbers against Phillips Exeter on Saturday, leading Andover to a 51-45 win. Both Kelly Fox ’08 and Missy Wingard ’08, two of Andover’s top scorers, were sidelined due to injury, so Andover went into the game knowing that it had to boost its game. This was the last basketball game that Co-Captains Macdonald and Stuart Anderson ’07 and fellow Seniors Sarah Beattie, Jane Peters, and Kara Hollis would ever play for Andover. “It was the Seniors’ last game, so we wanted to go out with a win for everyone,” said Catherine Coppinger ’09. All of the Seniors for Andover contributed to this win. Although Andover won against Exeter earlier this season, it knew that it would be difficult to secure another victory because of Exeter’s skilled players. During the week before the Exeter game, Coach Boardman had the girls work on strategy in addition to the normal practice routine. After the pep rally on Friday, the team watched a movie of its game against Exeter to review the techniques needed to win. “This was really helpful,” commented Peters. Andover was able to pick up a few of the plays that Exeter used often and was able to stop them. Because Andover didn’t make the tournament this year, Coach Boardman wanted the team to play like this game was the championship. Although Andover never trailed Exeter, the score was extremely close throughout the entire game. Andover scored first, but Exeter soon came back and tied it up. The back-and-forth play continued throughout the first half, with Andover up by two at the half. The entire game was a battle between the two rivals, each matching the other’s scores and defensive blocks. Although Beattie and Macdonald led the way offensively for Andover, each hitting a few three point shots, fellow Seniors Anderson, Hollis, Peters all added key points, rebounds and solid two-way play for Andover. Exeter played hard and smart and kept within scoring distance the entire game. During the last minute, Exeter trailed by only three points but foul shots sunk by Anderson and Hollis sealed the win for Andover. Hailee Minor ’08 played outstandingly and added several key rebounds and well-timed, important points. “The great thing about this game was that we really put our loss against BB&N aside,” said Peters. During this game there was no trouble keeping the focus and energy up. Although Slam was there, the girls were not allowed to perform because the game was not played on Andover’s turf. The Andover support at the game was immense, causing great excitement among Andover the Andover players and building their thirst for victory. Although the injuries of sidelined teammates Fox and Wingard were slightly worrisome for Andover, Peters comments, “We were still psyched to beat [Exeter] and the injuries did not really effect the level of play too much.” The win against Exeter was a great way for the Seniors to end their basketball careers at Andover. Andover finished out the season with an 8-10 record, falling one game short of making the postseason. The remaining players hope to improve next year, surpassing this season’s success and making it to the tournament.