Under the leadership of new Head Coach Terrell Ivory ’00, Andover Boys Basketball matched up evenly with Pingree in its pre-season scrimmage on Tuesday, winning the first of three periods, losing the second and tying the third.
Following longtime Head Coach Leon Modeste’s retirement from coaching the basketball team, Ivory is only the sixth coach to head the Andover Boys Basketball program. After completing a postgraduate year at Andover, Ivory went on to play basketball at Davidson College, where he earned letters all four years and captained the team in his senior year.
Following his playing career, Ivory went on to join the men’s basketball coaching staff at both Colgate University and Davidson University.
“Coach Ivory is pushing us really hard, and although the scrimmage did not go as well as we hoped, he is definitely starting to figure out what we need to work on and making the necessary adjustments in practice,” said Captain Brendan O’Connell ’13.
Andover will look to O’Connell for leadership and support on the court.
“Brendan is a great captain and does a great job of being vocal and communicating,” said Ivory. “He also makes things work off the court and gets the guys ready to go for each game. More than anything, the success of this program means everything to him, and that’s also helped him with his success.’
O’Connell returns as the team’s leading non-senior scorer from last year, a season in which he played in all 24 games and scored 147 points in total.
Seniors Sahil Bhaiwala ’13, Larry Flynn ’13, JJ Hayward ’13 and Rory Ziomek ’13 will play an important role in setting the tone for the season.
Andover welcomes the addition of six new players to the team, including Flynn.
“Because the younger guys are going to look up to [the Seniors], it’s really important for [the Seniors] to play hard, work hard and do all the little things to win games so the younger guys will follow in their footsteps,” said Ivory.
With the loss of former Co-Captains Tom Palleschi ’12 and Ryan Hartung ’12, who accounted for more than half of Andover’s points and rebounds last season, Andover will have to find a way to make up for its lack of size.
“Because we’re small, we’re a little quicker. So we’re going to really try to push the ball and get the ball down the court quicker. But that also means we have to get stops on defense, and play great team defense,” added Ivory.
“We’re not going to always to be the most athletic team or the most talented team, but we’re definitely going to be one of the most hardworking teams, because each one of these guys plays their heart out on the court,” continued Ivory. “With that being said, our goal is to get better one practice by one practice and be the best when the tournament comes around.”
Andover hopes its hard work and selfless play will lead to a win in its home opener tonight against St. Paul’s School.
