Matteo Whelton ’20 scored 20 points for Andover in their game against Holderness last Wednesday.
Lorenzo Mills PG’19 stole the ball and dunked on a St. George’s defender to give Andover momentum heading into halftime. In the second half, Andover went on to defeat St. George’s 60-45.
Co-Captain Dallion Johnson ’20 said, “[Mills] went down the lane and no one really saw it coming, but he just rolled up and dunked on the guy. It really brought up the energy. It gave a big energy boost.”
The team added a 68-58 victory against Holderness on Wednesday to bring its season record to 2-0.
According to Head Coach Terrell Ivory ’00, the team’s commitment to working hard defensively allowed it to find success.
“Saturday was great. St. George’s was a young team, but the first few minutes were pretty close. Then, our defense helped us sort of separate a little from them. Something we really wanted to emphasize this year was defense. It is one of those things that I just knew as a coach; I had to do a better job of teaching that. However, we also have some really talented players that are committed to the defensive side of the ball. I think we are going to be fine offensively; we are going to be able to score,” said Coach Ivory.
Johnson said, “[Coach Ivory] was talking to us about rebounding and defense. He put in a new defense strategy that has been working for us… But for pregame and warm-up, we really just worked on layups.”
Although the matchup with Holderness on Wednesday was close for most of the game, Andover pulled through and earned another win. The team, however, was not satisfied with its level of play, according to Johnson.
“We turned the ball over, took bad shots, and had defensive breakdowns. We did not play that well, and it was kind of ugly. Even though we won, we have some work to do as a team,” said Johnson.
Before its two matchups against St. George’s and Holderness, Andover played a scrimmage against Brooks and had a strong performance, according to Coach Ivory and Johnson.
The team chemistry will be a key factor to the team’s success this winter, according to Coach Ivory.
Coach Ivory said, “I said this the other day to my assistant coach. I love how much they care about one another. They support one another. Teams have personalities. The personality of our team is that they care about one another.”
With a strong beginning to their season, the team will participate in the Roundball Classic this weekend and face St. Andrew’s on Wednesday.
