Girls Basketball Sports Winter Sports

Girls Basketball: A/E Preview

Having already played Phillips Exeter Academy twice this season, winning 57-31 the first meeting and 53-39 the second, Girls Varsity Basketball is anticipating its third meeting with Exeter on Saturday for Andover/Exeter Day. Though the scores may not reflect it, the Exeter team has been quickly improving over the course of the season and has been posing more of a challenge every time it competes against Andover. In the most recent game against Exeter, Andover began the second half with a deficit but managed to make its way to a 14 point victory.

Captain Molly Katarincic ’18 said, “I think the thing about Andover/Exeter every year is that it’s close no matter what. The game’s always decided by less than five points; it’s always really emotional.”

Brooklyn Wirt ’21 added, “[Exeter is] a scrappy team and they won’t give up even when they are down by a few points.”

According to Katarincic, the team is working to make sure it does not begin the game with too much confidence, as the intense energy of Andover/Exeter can create unpredictable game outcomes.

Katarincic said, “I know that Exeter is going to come out stronger than we’ve seen them yet this season. I think we will be battling complacency on Saturday so we will have make sure that we know that it is going to be a dogfight and that we will have to give it our all if we want the result to be a win. I think as long as we put 100 percent effort and play our game, we should be able to come out on top.”

To prepare for the game, the team had a film night where it watched the video clips from the most recent game against Exeter and analyzed the plays.

The team will work to prevent Exeter from being able to get shots off. Additionally, the Exeter team is skilled at both zone and man defense which poses a challenge to the Andover team’s style of offense, according to Katarincic.