During the first half of Wednesday’s game, KJ Edwards PG ’23 received an outlet pass, following up with a dunk that drove the team’s momentum in the first half of its game against Dexter Southfield. Andover ended up on top, 71-70, making it the team’s second win of the new year after winning against Tabor Academy on Saturday, 88-80. The team’s record now stands at 5-5.
Playing in honor of Cancer Awareness, the team supported the cause by wearing shirts that said “Andover Fights Cancer.” According to Dylan Bronner PG ’23, coordinated offensive plays and vigorous defense contributed to the game’s outcome.
Bronner said, “I think we did better offensively, but we still did play really good defense throughout the majority of the game, because we went up early and maintained the lead for the entire game. We almost let it go a little bit at the end. We gave up some easy threes when they started to make a small comeback, but I think offensively… our plays ran well… Closing out games is a problem we’ve had all season, so I think going into this week, we’re just going to be trying to go up early and close it out.”
Against Dexter, the intensity of the game was unwavering in the first half after Edwards’ dunk. But after half-time, Dexter quickly got back into the game and Andover fought to hold on to its lead.
Edwards said, “I was getting the offense going, but just comparing it to Saturday’s game, I’d definitely say that we played better on Saturday… We started to gain a bit of momentum after that play and we were able to pick it up, but it slowly died after, which is unfortunate.”
On Wednesday, with only 30 seconds remaining, Dexter was able to tighten the gap from a six point game to just one, quickly gaining on Andover. According to Isaiah Harris ’24, the team hopes to keep momentum going by holding onto its leads throughout the rest of the season.
“Coach [Terrell Ivory ’00] stresses [finishing strong] a lot. I guess, keeping our foot on the gas and just maintaining that lead and applying pressure to the other team. I’d say for a lot of our games we’re getting too comfortable near the end, especially when we’re up by a lot. Like I said before, just keeping our foot on the pedal and just closing the game out [is important],” said Harris.
Captain Colby Duggan ’23 put up a stellar performance against Tabor after not playing against Brooks due to health concerns, according to Bronner. He stressed Duggan’s skills in creating space and dominating offensively.
Bronner said, “It was Colby’s first game back because he’s been sick for a little while. And he was kind of like the light of our offense. He was really dominant inside and not having a big man these past two weeks has been rough. Having him back just opened up the floor for everybody else. He was making a bunch of good reads, getting busy in the paint, and getting buckets.”
In the upcoming games, Bronner hopes that the team can hold its momentum until the end of the game, as well as implement more offensive plays.
“A couple games we’ve lost were games we were winning at a point and definitely games that could’ve been won if we held on at the end. I think going into this week, we have a game tomorrow and Saturday is just going to be trying to go up early and close it out,” said Bronner.
Andover plays Deerfield Academy this Saturday.
