Sophie Stetson ’29 drives to the basket.
1/31 – Andover: 45, Kimball Union: 49
2/4 – Andover: 46, Brooks: 69
Girls Basketball faced two challenging opponents this past week. The team played Kimball Union Academy (KUA) on Saturday, losing by four points, before returning to the court to play Brooks on Wednesday, where it lost by 23 points. Across both games, the team persisted through strong defensive efforts.
According to Sophie Stetson ’29, Andover cooperated with each other well against KUA, playing with an unselfish style where strong bonds and spirit among team members were emphasized.
“We played really well together as a team. Everyone was playing their hardest and we were all bringing energy and lifting each other up. It wasn’t just a one-person game. We were sharing the ball, and we were playing as a team rather than just having one person take over. That was a highlight of the game, being able to play together as a team unselfishly,” said Stetson.
Reflecting on Saturday’s game, Maddie Marshall ’29 elaborated on the physicality and struggles during the close matchup. A low-scoring third quarter for both teams highlighted Andover’s defensive capabilities, but also emphasized the need for a more effective offense.
“We actually played aggressive and strong the whole time. [KUA] had a bigger team. Sometimes the rebounds didn’t go our way and shots didn’t fall the whole time. But it was definitely a great game and we played really aggressively. It really just came down to the end. During the third quarter, both sides didn’t score that much. We only scored three points and they scored six points. But that means we were playing good defense. We just have to get our offense going a little more,” said Marshall.
As the team looked ahead to its game against Brooks, Marshall pitched her positive outlook on future games, hoping to bounce back after falling to Kimball Union.
“The goal is to just have another good practice and work hard prior to the game. Just because we lost before doesn’t mean we can’t win,” said Marshall.
After Saturday’s loss against KUA, the team looked to apply its reflections immediately. Chloe Abou-Ezzi described how this mentality translated into its game, allowing it to catch up to its opponent.
“By the end of the third quarter, going into the fourth [quarter], it was a six-point game, opposed to at halftime when it was around a 15-point game or something. We definitely closed the gap a little bit, and we went on our own run, and we were playing with a lot of intensity, which was really good. One difficulty [or] weakness in the game was that, despite playing with so much intensity and playing hard and with a lot of effort, the other team wanted it more,” said Abou-Ezzi.
According to Abou-Ezzi, instead of dwelling on its previous loss, the team emphasized its new focus on learning, adjustments, and maintaining a consistent energy moving forward in their game against Brooks. Although it lost again, the team implemented a strong 1-3-1 defense that it hopes to continue to use effectively, with one top chaser, three defenders across the middle, and one low defender.
“We will learn from this experience and see that this is what happens when we don’t play with the heart that we normally do and with the energy that we normally do. It’s about learning from it, and reflecting on it, and understanding that this should be the only time we play like that … Moving forward, our 1-3-1 defense works really well. We’re going to finalize that and work a little bit more on transition defense because [Brooks] did have a lot of really good transition points on us. We’re going to work on that and push to the end in practice,” said Abou-Ezzi.
Girls Basketball will play Middlesex at home this Saturday.
