Girls Basketball Builds on Home Win Streak
Jan 17, 2020
In a close game against Brewster, Kiley Buckley ’23 came off the bench and scored 19 points, leading Andover in rebounds and keeping the team in the game. Although the team fell to Brewster 59-50 on Wednesday, earlier in the week they defeated Choate 56-46 on Saturday. Andover’s record is now 5-4.
In its first game of 2020, Andover had a slow start against Choate, according to Katherine Marquis ’21. However, the team was able to bounce back and clinch an exciting win, according to Buckley.
“The game on Saturday [had] a rough start. We were down pretty quickly into the game, but we pulled it together and came back just as fast,” wrote Marquis in an email to The Phillipian.
“The highlight of the game was definitely in the last few seconds when the gym was so electric. It was exciting to win a close game in front of our home crowd,” said Buckley.
Before its game against Choate, Andover focused on improving its defense as well as its offensive plan, according to Buckley and Marquis.
“After break, we worked a lot on hustling up and down the court and preparing for Choate. We also spent a whole practice focusing on defense,” Buckley wrote.
“We spent the week working on fundamentals of the game and incorporating more post play and different cuts into our offense. We also practiced a lot of different screens to get each other open,” said Marquis.
Andover’s hard work in practice paid off against Choate, and Andover found success on both ends of the court, specifically in stopping Choate’s offensive talent and maintaining its strength on defense, according to Buckley and Marquis.
“The team was successful at stopping Choate’s biggest threats and working hard on defense. We stayed strong throughout the whole game and kept the energy up,” Buckley wrote.
“The out-of-bounds play worked really well for us because Choate played a zone defense when we in-bounded the ball from the baseline, leaving players open to shoot on the baseline,” added Marquis.
As a result of its loss to Brewster, Andover will focus on improving the aspects of the game that they can control in its upcoming game against Governor’s, according to Head Coach Elizabeth Monroe.
“To bounce back against Governor’s we need to get back to doing the effort based things that we can control on the court: talking on defense, boxing out, and getting back in transition. Those have been the core of our success this season, and we need to get back to those basics,” wrote Monroe.
“What we need to work on before the next game is boxing out on defense and communicating with each other on the court. Doing these things could help us get to the next level,” Buckley said.
Andover will look to continue its home win streak when it faces Governor’s this Friday. The team will also travel to Milton on Saturday.
