| Worcester | 58 |
| Andover | 52 |
Scoring 15 points, Kelly Fox ’08 provided tremendous support in Andover’s game with Worcester Academy on Saturday. Unfortunately, Fox’s performance was not enough to save Andover from defeat. Worcester won the New England Championship last year. This year, its three six-foot-plus players made Andover work twice as hard to win rebounds and block shots. However, the tall and talented opponent gave Andover an opportunity to compete at a high level. With Worcester considered one of the strongest teams in the league, Andover entered the competition determined to play with its most intense game yet. Coach Lani Boardman said, “[It was] our best game of the year,” a comment later reinforced by Captain Kristen Macdonald ’07 who describe the play as “really back and forth.” Worcester kept a consistently narrow lead throughout the majority of the game, despite Andover’s hard-working offense. Fox’s 15 points included three key 3-pointers, while Missy Wingard ’09 scored 14 points. Captain Macdonald scored 11 points on offense and played a smart defensive game as well. She noted, “We knew their guards weren’t good shooters from outside.” This observation helped Andover immensely, enabling the team to limit Worcester to only 28 points at the halftime, while keeping close behind with 24 points on the offensive end. At one point, late in the second half, Andover pulled ahead of Worcester by seven points.Towards the end of the game, though, Worcester allowed only six points in the last eight minutes. The skilled Worcester players forced Coach Boardman to keep the starters on the court the better part of the game. Towards the end, fatigue set it, inevitably hurting Andover. Another disadvantage came with a debatable call by the referee. During the last two minutes of the game, Worcester called a timeout after a loose ball stopped the clock. Coming out of the timeout, Worcester was awarded possession when it arguably should have been Andover’s ball. Worcester won by a narrow six points in a final score of 52 – 58. While discouraged by the loss, the players found the competition to be a phenomenal display. “We’re getting better every game,” says Kara Hollis ’07, “we’re going to hit our peak in the right time of the season.” The highlight of the game must have been Captain Macdonald’s amazing block, of which she said, “I actually got up and blocked a shot from a 6’3” or 6’4” girl.” Before the game with Brooks—whom Andover previously beat 46-23 in December—on Thursday, Hollis noted, “They were missing some players before—they’re going be tougher.” Regardless, Captain Macdonald said, “We’re prepared for Brooks.” Upcoming games for Andover include a face-off with Exeter this Saturday. “Exeter is a very good team, we lost to them twice last year” said Captain Macdonald. However, Hollis added, “If we play the same way we played against Worcester, we shouldn’t have trouble against Exeter.”
