Kennedy Herndon ’23 (left) and Kiley Buckley ’23 (right) are two of three co-captains on Girls basketball.
Though displaying improvement later in the game, Andover Girls Basketball ultimately lost 37-68 to Brooks on Wednesday. The team’s record now stands at 7-7.
According to Hope Nardone ’23 and Elise Minor ’24, the team headed into the game understanding the strength of Brooks. The team approached the game as an opportunity for improvement, while still putting forth its best effort.
Nardone said, “Going in knowing how strong of a team Brooks is, it was kind of more of an opportunity for growth and improvement, rather than a win for us. It was a team that we were going to lose to [since] they’re undefeated.”
Minor added, “We did go in knowing that they were a way more talented team than us, and we did know that they were going to win this game, but that didn’t stop us from trying our best. We kind of used this as an opportunity to get better and practice our plays.”
According to Buckley, the game against Brooks was one of Andover’s toughest games of the season. However, Buckley emphasized the progress made by the team throughout the game.
“The game against Brooks today was arguably our toughest game yet. They were bigger than us and had some girls with a lot of experience in competitive basketball. Our offense in this game got better as we went along, they played a lot of high pressure defense which made it hard for us to score but, we were able to get to the rim many times. Our defense in the game was okay. Similar to offense, it got better as we went on,” Buckley wrote in an email to The Phillipian.
Brooke Hannan ’23 noted the struggle which Andover’s defense faced at the beginning of the game. Though, she noted that the defense improved as the game progressed.
“I think our defense was pretty good. Of course, there were many times where we let things go that we shouldn’t have. I think it was a bit harder in the beginning with the starting lineup, but it got better as the starting lineup got subbed out more,” said Hannan.
According to Nardone, the second half of the game was played better than the first. Nardone attributed this improvement to clear communication on defense.
“I think the team, overall, kept a pretty good composure in the sense of we didn’t get too down on ourselves I think. In the second half, we did a better job of talking on defense and communicating, although we still could have done better. I think our energy prior to the game was good,” Nardone said.
In upcoming games, the team is looking to improve its offensive play, according to Minor. She added that players on the team should take time to hone on their individual skills.
Minor said, “As a team, we really need to go through offensive plays. All of us need to work on things individually, as all basketball players do. We do need to go for our plays more because I feel like in practice we focus on a lot of things that we should do in the offseason, rather than in the actual season.”
Andover Girls Basketball will face Choate at home on Friday.
Editor’s Note: Hope Nardone ’23 is a News Editor for The Phillipian.
