Alami Rodriguez ’27 dribbles the ball down the court
Girls Basketball (7-9) faced a tough stretch of games, suffering hard-fought losses to Kimball Union on Saturday and a challenging Brooks team on Wednesday. Despite the setbacks, the team remained determined, giving its best effort throughout each game. Moving forward, it will come down to how the team can improve on the small details and work on its discipline to close out the season strong.
Saturday’s game at Kimball Union was intense, with a loud home crowd creating a challenging environment. Andover embraced the challenge, using the atmosphere to fuel its energy and effort.
“It was [an] away game so Kimball Union had a lot of their home crowd there. There was a lot of cheering against us, but we still had a lot of parent support there. The energy was really high. There were a lot of people there, which is always exciting, even if they’re rooting against you… We were able to feed off of their energy a lot,” said Co-Captain Sophie Dandawa ’25.
Emerson Buckley ’25 recalled how Ava Davey ’25 hit back-to-back three-pointers early on, energizing the team and setting a standard for the rest of the game. She also highlighted Laney Cafua ’27 on her all-around high effort performance that helped the team on offense, defense, and in transition.
“Ava Davey had a great game. She started us off hitting two-three’s back-to-back, which really set the tone for this game. She pumped us up a lot and made us want to really play hard.That was a huge play. Also, Laney Cafua had a great game, just running all over, running the floor on offense, getting a lot of transition points, and then also playing really tough defense,” said Buckley.
Dandawa was proud of how the team maintained intensity for the full duration of the Kimball Union game, and noted that its strong performance, despite the loss, should try to be replicated for the rest of the season.
“That was the toughest game we played all season. We played really, really hard and we were very consistent for the full 32 minutes so that was really good for us and I hope we keep that up for the remainder of the season,” said Dandawa.
During the Brooks game, Head Coach Jennifer Weissbach spoke about the strong home support, emphasizing the lively environment and the team’s appreciation of peer and fan encouragement.
“We had a lot of fans. I also coach field hockey and I know a lot of the field hockey players were in the stands today and so it was fun to see them supporting their peers and their friends. So grateful to them and also grateful for SLAM. They just really create a fun environment and it’s really fun to play at home. We’re very grateful to do that in front of our friends and family,” said Weissbach.
Weissbach praised the team’s competitive spirit, particularly its strong work ethic and determination on every possession. However, she stressed the need for greater discipline on both ends of the court, wanting to focus on that in practices leading up to the next game.
“I’m most proud of our team is how hard we compete. The level at which we’re competing and the effort [in] every single possession was there today. It was clear today and really incredible to watch and be a part of. Moving forward, we need to be a bit more disciplined offensively and defensively. Discipline is an area that we’re going to work on for the next couple of games [and] the next couple of days to get us ready for Saturday’s game,” said Weissbach.
As the season progresses, Weissbach asserted the importance of focusing on small details, both offensively and defensively, as well as within the team.
“Continuing to focus on the little things offensively, defensively, and between our team… that matters to me and that matters to the team. How we treat each other, how we support each other, how we lift each other up. All of those things are top priority and we will continue to do that up until the very last day of the season,” said Weissbach.
Girls Basketball will play at Middlesex this Saturday.
