2/22 – Andover: 60, Belmont Hill: 59
Boys Basketball secured a dramatic come-back victory over Belmont Hill, where a loss would have put them out of playoff contention. The win sets up a matchup against Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter) — a victory will grant the team a spot in the postseason while a loss will end its season. With the game against Exeter coming up, the team is now focused on extending their season with a performance that matches the resilience it displayed against Belmont Hill.
Jaylen Edmonds ’27 described the tense back-and-forth nature of the game as Andover trailed for nearly the entire contest. He mentioned that the team only led in the last two seconds, when Solomon Marshall ’25 sank the game-winning shot.
“We ended up winning. The exact score was 60-59, and it was a good game. We were down most of the game. Actually, the only time we were up was the last two seconds of the game after Solomon hit that big shot. It was a lot of fighting back. We started the game down, we were down for a majority of it,” said Edmonds.
Edmonds recalled how, despite being six points with just 90 seconds remaining, the team’s focus on little details helped it recover and ultimately take the win. He also added that the victory gave the team a significant confidence boost heading into its matchup against Exeter.
“The win gave us a lot of confidence going into our next game. It was nice to know that our work paid off because we had been fighting back the whole entire game being down by 11 points, to being down by six with a minute and 30 seconds left to go. It was doing the little things that helped us come back: rebounding, passing, moving, making the extra shot, talking on defense. It was a collective of all of us coming together at that one time and not folding under pressure and adversity,” said Edmonds.
With playoffs on the line, Edmonds shared that the team will continue to carry a must-win mindset toward the upcoming Exeter game. He also noted that the high stakes of this game serves as a strong motivator.
“To be honest, it doesn’t feel any different from any other game because that’s how we’ve been looking at every game. Every one of these past two games, we have had to win if we even want the chance to play in the playoff. This is the same predicament as last year, where we have to win this game [to make the playoffs]. That just gives us an extra edge because we know how much this game means to us and its potential for the playoffs,” said Edmonds.
Boys Basketball will travel to Exeter on Saturday for Winter A/E.
