Ryan Hartung ’12 scored an astounding 31 points, with seven three-pointers, against Brimmer & May on Saturday in Andover’s 74-71 loss. Hartung’s seven threes broke a school record for three-pointers made in one game. “Gibby [Graves ’11] worked the ball around well and set me up for plenty of wide open shots that I was fortunately able to knock down,” said Hartung. The team looked very much in control early in the game against Brimmer, as Andover sported an 8-2 lead just one and a half minutes into the game. Brimmer, however, quickly caught up and kept its lead for the entire game. “We were right there the whole time,” said Coach Leon Modeste. “We just could not do anything with their #1. He controlled the game and scored 34 points on us.” “We didn’t play a full 32 minutes defensively,” said Hartung. “We are going to have to change that going into the playoffs. You can’t beat great teams unless you give 100 percent on both ends of the court for a full 32 minutes, which we know we are capable of doing after beating Worcester earlier this year.” Hartung scored almost half of Andover’s points with his 31 point performance. “Ryan has been so great because he’s adjusted his game,” said Coach Modeste. “He now has a lot of weapons.” Max Lippe ’11 and Tom Palleschi ’12 also helped out in the near win, each achieving double-doubles in rebounds and points. Andover was able to grab one win on the week against Deerfield on Wednesday. Lippe led Andover to a comfortable 40-31 lead at halftime with five threes. Andover increased its lead with similar play in the second half, and Lippe threw down a dunk on one of Deerfield’s biggest players. The game ended with a lopsided score of 72-52, and Lippe finished with 19 points. Captain Mark Hanson ’11 scored 10 points in the game, including one three-pointer. Hartung said, “Mark played very aggressively against Deerfield, and it clearly paid off as he had a great game.” Last Thursday at Brooks, however, Andover was not as fortunate. Brooks jumped out to an early lead in the game and never looked back, holding a 35-27 lead at halftime. Andover, suffering from the loss of Ray Barry ’11 due to injury, was able to win the second half, but its efforts were not enough, and the team lost by four in the league game. “Where Brooks lacked in size, they made up for it in speed and quickness,” said Brendan O’Connell ’13. “They played really well as a team, and in the end we were not able to finish them off.” With the league win against Deerfield, Andover moves on to its game against Exeter (7-10). If the team can win its last regular season game, it can secure a third or fourth seed in the playoffs and be in contention for a 2011 championship.
