Girls Basketball has won four of its last five games.
Andover Girls Basketball defeated Kimball Union Academy (KUA) 70-41 on Saturday, but followed up their win with a loss against Brooks on Wednesday. Its record now stands at 9-7.
On Saturday, Co-Captain Kennedy Herndon ’23 surpassed 1,000 points in their Andover career, the second person to do so in Andover Girls Basketball history. Leila Boesch-Powers ’24 applauded Herndon’s constant determination and congratulated them for the milestone.
“I think one of the most exciting moments of this game was when one of our three captains, Kennedy Herndon, got a thousand points. It was in the second quarter, and we were all hopeful that [they] would get it, but it was still a special moment when [they] did get it because [they were] the first person [since]…1990 on the girls varsity basketball team to achieve this. So it was very cool. [They are] very hardworking and it was great to see [them] finally get there,” said Boesch-Powers.
Immediately after the one-thousandth point, team members awarded Herdon with a customized ball and posters on the court. Herdon described their initial reaction to the achievement.
“Scoring my one-thousandth point was a dream come true. I felt relieved once I hit the one thousand mark because it has been something I have wanted since the beginning of my basketball career,” said Herndon.
Herndon went on to explain what the team did well and what it could have improved on in Saturday’s game against KUA. The team succeeded in having a strong defense, according to Herndon.
“As a team, we were able to find the open player on offense, knock down open shots…steal the ball on defense. [On the other hand, in] the first quarter, rebounding was something that we could have done better,” said Herndon.
Boesch-Powers highlighted Ava Davey ’25 as a key player in Saturday’s game. Davey’s high energy throughout the game motivated other teammates, according to Boesch Powers.
“I’m going to give a shout-out to Ava Davey. Not only do I think she played super well, because she did get a bunch of clutch baskets and played really good defense, but she kept the energy up throughout the whole game. She was a really good teammate and kept everybody else hype and excited and contributed a lot to the final score, not only because she scored but because she kept everyone else engaged, excited, and having a good time,” said Boesch-Powers.
Ruby Kokinos ’26 described the atmosphere of Wednesday’s game as full of excitement. After Herndon’s 1000th point on Saturday, the team was excited to return to its home court to maintain that spirit.
“I’d say the atmosphere of the game was really exciting, especially among the team. Our captain Kennedy scored her 1,000 point on Saturday, and this was our first home game since then, so there was a lot of energy surrounding that. I think we also all knew that Brooks would be a good matchup, and so that also contributed to the energy,” said Kokinos.
Though the team fell to Brooks, Kokinos believed her teammates performed well. Towards the end of the game, the quality of play declined, but everyone put forth their best efforts, according to Kokinos.
“Brooks is a good shooting team and I think that we were really holding out on defense against them, and even though towards the end things started to get a little bit messier from both teams, everyone put in a lot of effort and worked really hard,” said Kokinos.
Andover Girls Basketball will be playing Middlesex on Saturday and Austin Preparatory School on Wednesday.
