Girls Basketball Sports Winter Sports

Girls Basketball Edges Exeter by Four Points in Nail-biter

With under 30 seconds left in the game, Janneke Evans ’18 sank a baseline jumper for Andover Girls Basketball against Phillips Exeter Academy to secure a 46-42 victory. Later in the week, Andover lost 67-27 to Tabor, the highest-ranked team in the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) Class A division, which dropped the team’s record to 5-8.

Against Exeter, Andover’s offense was created largely in the post. Evans was a force in the paint, scoring a career-high 13 points in the game.

Evans was at the forefront of a strong effort from Andover’s returners.

“I think, especially among returners, our drive and heart really fueled everyone. Another thing that contributed was that the team started passing the ball and using every person on the court in each and every possession,” said Evans.

Co-Captain Emma Kelley ’17 said, “We swung the ball around the arc. Most importantly, we had some clutch passes into the posts, who capitalized and scored during crucial moments.”

Exeter started the game shooting very well against Andover’s zone defense. In an effort to overcome its early deficit, Andover shifted to a man-to-man defensive strategy, which changed the course of the game.

“After trying out our zone defense on Exeter, they managed to get some shots off, so we switched to man to man defense for the rest of the game. We shut down their top players and used the momentum of our stops and steals on defense to get points or draw fouls on offense,” said Humes.
Having emerged victorious in the first clash between the two teams, Andover looks forward to its next matchup with its perennial rival in the upcoming Andover/Exeter contests.

Humes said, “Winning against Exeter the first time gives us an edge for the second game. On the other hand, Exeter is going to want revenge, so we need to continue to improve until the last A/E game.”

On Wednesday, Antonia Tammaro ’17 led the team with nine points against Tabor, which has captured the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball National Championship for the past three years. Tabor featured players committed to NCAA Division I Schools such as University of South Carolina and University of Connecticut.

Andover viewed the game as an opportunity to improve, and its main goal heading into the contest was to break Tabor’s suffocating press.

“We knew Tabor had some very talented players, and we knew they were going to press us, so we focused on breaking their press and being strong on the ball,” said Humes.
Andover will travel to Holderness this Friday.

Editor’s Note: Emma Kelley is a Features Editor for The Phillipian.