Cassidy Musco ’19 brought the ball down the court, shot a layup, and secured two more points for Andover game against Deerfield on Saturday. Musco’s 18 points helped Andover Girls Basketball defeat Deerfield 68-50, claiming its second win of the season. On Wednesday, Andover lost 50-45 to St. Paul’s. Its record now stands 2-8.
Aggressive offensive play and an effective team dynamic helped Andover secure its 18-point win on Saturday, according to Brooklyn Wirt ’21.
“Saturday’s game was a really good game for the team. A lot of people [played] very well. We all just came together, and I think everything is getting to where it is supposed to be. We are figuring out how we are supposed to play as a team since there are a lot of new people,” said Wirt.
On Saturday, Musco’s play was crucial in the team’s win, according to Wirt and Head Coach Elizabeth Monroe. Musco was just one assist away from a triple-double, meaning she nearly had three statistics over double digits. She secured a double-double with more than ten points and over ten rebounds, an impressive feat.
Despite its win, Andover’s high number of fouls proved to be a challenge in both games this past week, according to Coach Monroe.
Coach Monroe said, “We were able to play with focus and intensity for the whole game. We played really great defense, and we executed on our offense. We really need to work on fouling. We got into foul trouble in both games, and that’s what ultimately caused the loss in our game against St. Pauls.”
On Wednesday, Andover worked hard to maintain high energy levels, but ultimately lost by just five points against St. Paul’s.
Co-Captain Janneke Evans ’18 said, “We are going to work on keeping our energy high… That is something that was our goal for the game today, so we want to keep on doing that. People worked together. People hustled the whole time, and they never gave up.”
Wirt added, “Wednesday’s game was very close. We had a lot of players who went to the basket well. Hannah McGrath [’20] was really taking it to the hole. Janneke Evans played really great post-offense and post-defense. One of [St. Pauls’] players was a post and was very [skilled], but Janneke managed to shut her down.”
Andover will play Kimball Union Academy in a home game this Saturday.
