Ava Davey ’25 prepares to pass the ball.
Co-Captain Hope Nardone ’23 weaves through Middlesex defenders and drives to the net.
Putting up a three pointer, Kennedy Herndon ’23 secured a 69-54 victory for Andover Girls Basketball against Middlesex on Saturday. The team followed that game with a loss to Proctor Academy (Proctor) on Wednesday. Andover’s record now stands at 8-8.
According to Co-Captain Hope Nardone ’23, the team’s strength against Middlesex was communication. The team was able to capitalize with transition points and showcased stout defense.
“We came out pretty strong in the first half. This was our best transition game, we had a lot of transition points, which was kind of unusual for us, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction. We had rounds where we played really good defense. I think communication was key for a part of that. And there are definitely some things to work on. There are other part moments we didn’t box out, we didn’t rebound too well. But I think we did a good job of pushing the ball [and] running the court,” said Nardone.
Nardone pointed out places that the team needs to work on to prepare for future games. She hopes the team can make progress on rebounding and fouling less in practices.
“I would say they got a lot of second chance points, meaning there [was] a shot and we didn’t box out, and then they’d get a second chance and they’d make that, and they had a lot of foul shots. We actually got into a little bit of foul trouble, which is a little bit unusual for us. I think that’s just because we had moments where we didn’t communicate on defense, so we’d get stuck, and then we’d end up fouling. We can always work on help defense, that would have helped us foul less, so I’d say rebounding and fouling less was something to work on. Also, we could have crashed the boards more on offense as well, because we were shooting a lot of threes,” said Nardone.
Andover’s match-up against Proctor was an exciting, yet difficult match-up, according to Ava Davey ’25. She added that the defensive rebounding was a strong aspect of the game, but it took the team a while to get into rhythm and work the court more to their advantage.
“We really did well with our rebounding on defense. It took us a while to get our shots going. But after a while, they started to fall like after the second [half] we were down by a good amount and then we kind of kept our heads in the game, and we brought it back to a 15 point [difference], which I think was pretty good,” said Davey.
Emerson Buckley ’25 stated that Co-Captain Herndon and Valerie Ha ’24 played great games against Middlesex. However, collectively, there was a notable play in the third quarter with three back to back threes that brought energy back to the game.
Buckley said, “Kennedy was great, but I think we went on a little run in the third quarter that was really good. So that run was nice. We scored about nine points off like three threes. I think there was one by Kennedy, one by Hope, one by Valerie. So that was really great. And it definitely got us on, around and got us excited.”
Leading a younger team, Co-Captain Kiley Buckley ’23 stressed the importance of gaining confidence as individuals on the court. She emphasized the importance of confidence for Andover.
“I think making those adjustments [is] really helpful, not just in that game, but being able to make those second half adjustments help us in future games and I think just help a lot of younger girls gain confidence. I think that’s something that we’ve really been working towards just because we are [a] younger team and even me, Hope, Kennedy, and Brooke, we only have one year of experience, so I think confidence is a big key,” said Buckley.
Knowing that the upcoming games would be challenging ones, Herndon hoped that the team will be able to focus on their strengths collectively and run the court efficiently. However, she added that the team must place importance on having fun.
Herndon said, “They are going to be tough teams [on] Wednesday and Saturday. Right now, I’m just really hoping that we are able to focus on what we’re good at, during those games to help us stay close, in terms of score wise, or be able to have control of the game more during those games, because they’re really really tough teams, and most importantly have fun because sometimes I know, nerves get to a lot of players, and then sometimes people don’t end up having fun, but I really hope that we can come out and enjoy ourselves.”
Andover Girls Basketball will look to defeat Dexter Southfield away on Friday.
