Dallion Johnson ’20 serves as Co-Captain as a Lower.
Post-Graduate Derrick Herrick ’18 sprinted down the lane to chase a rebound, grabbed the ball and dunked it through the net. Andover went on to win 66-58 against St. Sebastian’s for its second straight win of the week. Last Friday, the team faced off against Thayer and won 72-70, despite the absence of Head Coach Terrell Ivory ’00 due to his ejection from the team’s previous game. The team’s record now stands at 4-15.
According to Matteo Whelton ’20, Coach Ivory’s unfortunate absence from the game against Thayer did not stop the team from executing their game plan.
“We tried to go through the same routine. We didn’t change anything. It was a lot of the same stuff, but it was different because he wasn’t there. We tried to keep at as normal as usual,” said Whelton.
Hogan Linzy ’19 added, “TI’s absence put a chip on our shoulder. We wanted to come away with a win for our coach and for the program.”
Coach Ivory said, “The good thing about our team is that a lot of the stuff we’re doing, we’ve been practicing a lot, so a lot of it is just habit. They knew I wasn’t going to be coaching, and I talked to the assistant coaches about what the expectations were and what the game plan was. I told them I trusted them, and they executed.”
Andover started out the game with a sizable lead, but Thayer managed to crawl back into the game and made it a close fight as the clock winded down. According to Whelton, the team’s success was a result of strong performances on both ends of the court.
“It was a good game. They came back and put up a good fight but, in the end, we came out with a win which was much needed as a team. It was a mixture of good offense and good defense. We put those two things together, and we played a good all around game where we executed what we wanted on offense and played lockdown defense on the other end,” said Whelton.
Linzy added, “Overall we played very well as a team. Colby [Gendron ’18] and Dallion [Johnson ’20] were two very big pieces in our win. Dallion hit four or five threes, and Colby was aggressive on the glass. Our three-two defense was a big part of our win because it gave Thayer’s offense problems.
Against St. Sebastian’s, the team carried its momentum from Friday’s game and was able to win through smart all-around play, according to Johnson and Coach Ivory.
Johnson said, “We executed our plays on offense, giving us good shots from all over the floor. Our bigs set strong screens, causing havoc for the defenders. There were plenty of mismatches that we took advantage of down low.”
“It’s always nice to get a road win. We were in control the whole game. I think the teams that we play are really tough, but these are two games that we thought we were favored to win, and you have to win those games. We came out and played hard, and our effort was great. We put ourselves in a position to be successful, and it worked out,” said Coach Ivory.
Andover looks to extend its two game winning streak when it travels to play Williston this Saturday.
