Co-Captain Molly Katarincic ’18 secured two offensive rebounds and putbacks after a slow start for Andover Basketball on Saturday. The team displayed great resilience against Kimball Union Academy, but ultimately fell short 37-51. On Wednesday, Andover fell to Brooks in a tight 41-42 loss after another hard-fought game.
After trailing KUA by nine points just three minutes into the game, the team showed a new founded momentum, according to Katarincic.
Katarincic said, “[We were] coming back to be almost tied at halftime…at the end they came out on top because they happened to be in an upswing with a few minutes left, and they ran away with the score.”
Hannah McGrath ’20 added, “We were able to stay with them the whole game. Not one team controlled momentum of the game for the whole 32 minutes.”
According to McGrath, Andover improved its transition defense in this game.
In an email to The Phillipian, McGrath said, “We marked up the open men on transition defense which we had struggled with in previous games.”
Claire Brady ’20 and Emily Hardy ’20 were important parts of the Andover offense on Saturday, according to McGrath and Katarincic.
McGrath said, “[Brady] took very strong drives to the basket… [and] kept us in the game with big momentum plays such as her three in the second half.”
“Hardy made some really critical shots which were instrumental in shifting the momentum when we needed it,” said Katarincic.
In an email to the Phillipian Hardy said, “We have been doing a great job of moving the ball on offense which has allowed me to get the ball in a good position to score.”
The team will continue to work on pushing the ball upcourt and maintaining momentum through cuts and screens on the offensive end, according McGrath.
Against Brooks, Andover looked to adjust its strategy and drive to the hoop. Resilience was a key factor for the team on Wednesday, as the two teams fought until the final seconds, according to Hardy.
Hardy said, “We got off to a fast start in the first half. We went back and forth for the entire game, and it came down to the last few seconds of the game…We did a great job of boxing out and crashing the boards on both offense and defense, which is something we had a bit of trouble with against KUA.”
Andover will match up against Exeter away next Saturday.
